Orvin

Orvin is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura . Above it, there is a small year round resort, called les "Prés-d'Orvin".

In 999 King Rudolph III of Burgundy gave Moutier-Grandval Abbey and its lands, including Orvin, to the Prince-Bishop of Basel. The village remained under the Bishop's direct control until 1295, when the Lords of Orvin received the village as a fief. They held the village until the end of the 14th century, after which it passed to the d'Orsans family and then the Lords of Rondchâtel. After the Rondchâtel line died out, the village returned to the Bishop's control who placed it under the ecclesiastical vogt of Biel. The first town charter of 1352 was expanded and revised in 1643 and confirmed by the Bishop in 1668. It remained in effect until the end of the Ancien Régime. Starting in the 14th century, the feudal levies of Orvin were part of a company from Erguel and under the control of Biel. However, between 1649 and 1852, they formed a separate company with its own banner. The military company became a major local corporation, which became quite wealthy through offering loans.

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