Fontanezier

Canton of Vaud · District: Jura-Nord vaudois · 58 inhabitants (census around 2010, the last period before the merger)

Part of the municipality of Tévenon

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Fontanezier

The village's name derives from the late Latin fontana (spring, fountain), reflecting the site's abundance of natural springs. The first known written mention dates from 1403, in the form «Fontanisy». According to a single source consulted, not confirmed by the Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, the name would also be linked, in the local patois, to the expression «vert tsi lo vezin» (towards the neighbours), referring to the bourgeois Duvoisin family, originally from the place; this information would deserve to be cross-checked against other sources before being regarded as established.

Founding of Fontanezier

No founding act for the village is documented in the sources consulted. Occupation of the site is presented as relatively late within the Middle Ages. Fontanezier belonged to the seigneury of Grandson; the Duvoisin family held its fief from 1270 until the end of the Middle Ages. The village then followed the fate of the bailiwick of Grandson, placed under joint administration in 1476, then divided between Berne and Fribourg in 1484.

History of Fontanezier

1270. The Duvoisin family holds the place of Fontanezier in fief, under the seigneury of Grandson, and will keep it until the end of the Middle Ages.

1403. First known written mention of the place, in the form «Fontanisy».

1476. Fontanezier is integrated into the joint bailiwick of Grandson.

1484. A new division attributes the bailiwick of Grandson to Berne and to Fribourg.

1798. Fall of the Ancien Régime; the region comes under the regime of the Helvetic Republic.

1803. Fontanezier is attached to the new canton of Vaud and to the district of Grandson; the village then has 71 inhabitants.

1850. The village reaches its demographic peak with 159 inhabitants.

1897. Fontanezier, until then attached to the parish of Champagne, is detached from it and becomes a filial of Villars-Burquin.

1900. The population stands at 108 inhabitants, a sharp decline since 1850, in a context of emigration.

1917. Villars-Burquin, on which Fontanezier had depended since 1897, becomes a parish in its own right.

1927. The municipality adopts a coat of arms depicting three fountains, replacing three shells that had previously appeared on it, referring to the origin of the village's name.

1950. The population, still predominantly agricultural and affected by the village's isolation from the main transport routes, falls to 81 inhabitants.

1961. According to the Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, the village's historic fountains are destroyed in this year, during a period marked by connection to an intermunicipal water network; another source claims, on the contrary, that these fountains still exist today as an identity-defining feature of the village. This contradiction between the sources consulted would deserve to be cross-checked.

1989. In a context of difficult municipal finances, the municipality invests in wastewater treatment and various infrastructure renovations.

2000. The population stands at 70 inhabitants.

2006. The district of Grandson is abolished; Fontanezier joins the new district of Jura-Nord vaudois.

2009. On 27 September, the electorates of Fontanezier, Romairon, Vaugondry and Villars-Burquin approve in a vote the merger agreement of the four municipalities.

2011. On 1 July, the merger comes into effect: Fontanezier loses its status as an independent municipality and becomes a locality of the new municipality of Tévenon, which then has a little over 700 inhabitants.

Population of Fontanezier

1803

159

1850

108

1900

1950

2000

2010

Historic sites in Fontanezier

The three historic fountains. The village took its name from the site's abundance of natural springs, symbolised by its fountains, which have appeared since 1927 on the municipal coat of arms in place of three shells. The Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse states that these fountains were destroyed in 1961, while another source claims that they still exist today as a central element of the village's identity; these two pieces of information contradict each other and would deserve to be cross-checked before being presented as certain.

The Crozat pasture. The territory of the former municipality extended from the village, at 825 metres above sea level, up to the Crozat pasture, at 1364 metres, evidence of the place's agro-pastoral vocation on the slopes of the Vaud Jura.

Traditional village life. According to a single source consulted, the village once had a post office, a dairy, two cafés, a grocery shop and craftsmen (nail-makers, match-makers and pannier-makers), reflecting a local economic activity that has since disappeared; this information would deserve to be confirmed by an additional source.

Sources

Other villages near Fontanezier

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