Champagne
Origin of the name Champagne
First mentioned in 885 in the form «Campania»; «Champanes» appears in 1228 (to be cross-checked). None of the sources consulted explains the etymology of the name. The municipal coat of arms, three gold mushrooms on a blue field, is a canting arms playing on the village's name.
Founding of Champagne
The area was inhabited in Roman times (coins, remains at La Râpe, a Gallo-Roman villa in the hamlet of Saint-Maurice) and in the early Middle Ages (Burgundian graves). None of the sources consulted names a founder of the village. Emperor Charles the Fat handed the villa of Champagne to a certain Vodelgise, who ceded it in 888 to the bishop of Lausanne. The village then belonged to the lordships of Grandson and Montagny-le-Corbe, and under Bernese rule to the common bailiwick of Grandson. Champagne and Saint-Maurice were originally two separate villages that grew together over time, perhaps because they depended on different lordships before the Burgundian Wars (to be cross-checked). The municipality comprises the village and the hamlets of Saint-Maurice, Les Pasquières and Sous le Closel, and stretches from Lake Neuchâtel to the first slopes of the Jura. The inhabitants, the Champagnoux, are nicknamed the Spiders («lè z'Aragne») or the Mushrooms.
History of Champagne
Roman period. Roman presence attested by coins, remains at La Râpe and a Gallo-Roman villa at Saint-Maurice.
early Middle Ages. Burgundian graves containing iron belt plates inlaid with silver.
885. First mention, «Campania».
888. Vodelgise, who had received the villa from Emperor Charles the Fat, cedes it to the bishop of Lausanne.
12th century. A parish church dedicated to Mary is attested (to be cross-checked).
1228. Mention of the church of Saint-Maurice («Sanctus Mauricius»); the prior of Saint-Jean in Grandson presents the priest.
15th century. Construction of the porch of the church of Saint-Maurice.
1476. After the Burgundian Wars, Champagne belongs to the common bailiwick of Grandson, administered by Bern and Fribourg until 1798.
1532. Adoption of the Reformation: Saint-Maurice becomes one of the four Reformed parishes of the bailiwick and the seat of a consistory, with Champagne, Romairon and Fontanezier.
1561. Construction of the parsonage (to be cross-checked).
1697-1699. Partial rebuilding of the church of Saint-Maurice.
1788. Inhabitants create a seal with the three mushrooms without permission; the authorities ask the bailiff of Grandson to destroy it, but an impression is preserved.
1792. The botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle stays four years in Champagne and plants a cedar there (to be cross-checked).
1798. Under the Helvetic Republic, Champagne belongs to the canton of Léman (1798-1803) and to the district of Grandson.
1871. An old mill with a sawmill is converted into a small factory for watchmaking tools, which later became «La Nationale».
1910. The parish of Saint-Maurice takes the name parish of Champagne.
1918. Official adoption of the coat of arms with the three gold mushrooms.
1962. Founding of an industrial biscuit factory (flûtes).
1998. An agreement between Switzerland and the European Union provides that the name «Champagne» may no longer appear on the village's wines.
2004. The winegrowers give up the name on their white wines (another source dates the ban to 2002, to be cross-checked); sales fall from about 110'000 to 32'000 bottles a year.
2008. After the abolition of the district of Grandson, Champagne belongs to the district of Jura-Nord vaudois.
Population of Champagne
| 1798 | 351 |
| 1850 | 410 |
| 1900 | 619 |
| 1950 | 496 |
| 1960 | 449 |
| 2000 | 653 |
| 2022 | 1'073 |
| 2025 | 1'087 |
Historic sites in Champagne
Church of Saint-Maurice. Parish church of the hamlet of Saint-Maurice, mentioned from 1228, with a 15th-century porch. Seat of one of the four Reformed parishes of the bailiwick of Grandson from 1532, it was partly rebuilt in 1697-1699 and restored in 1904. The parish has borne the name of Champagne since 1910.
Parsonage. Parsonage dated 1561 (to be cross-checked).
Old village centre. The heart of the village, with its restored 18th- and 19th-century houses and farmhouses, is listed in the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance (ISOS).
Candolle's cedar. Cedar said to have been planted by the botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle during his stay in Champagne from 1792; its girth grew from 4.6 m to 6.7 m between 1910 and 1991 (to be cross-checked).
La Nationale. Watchmaking tools company founded in 1871 in an old mill with a sawmill, still in operation.
Remains in Champagne
Roman remains. Roman coins and remains at the place called La Râpe; remains of a Gallo-Roman villa in the hamlet of Saint-Maurice.
Burgundian graves. Early medieval burials, notably at the place called Tombez (to be cross-checked), which yielded iron belt plates inlaid with silver.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Champagne (VD) »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Saint-Maurice (VD) »
- Wikipédia, « Champagne (Vaud) »
- Wikipedia (de), « Champagne VD »
- Wikipedia (en), « Champagne, Switzerland »
- Commune de Champagne, « Portrait »
- Feuille des avis officiels du canton de Vaud, « Alphabet des communes vaudoises : Champagne »
- Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near Champagne
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