ViaBerna - Stage 02 Tramelan - St-Imier

With the watchmaking village of Tramelan behind you, you head south on the Via Berna and gently upwards along Jura pastures. Above La Bise de Cortébert, you come into view of wind turbines with huge rotors. The blades quietly hum as they turn in the wind, which mostly blows across the heights here. Upon reaching the Col du Mont Crosin, the route makes a turn right, then left, and the path leads directly past the massive wind turbines. After one last gentle ascent through the idyllic landscape, you reach the highest elevation of the Freiberge, Mont-Soleil, equipped with a large solar power plant. To the north, the view extends over Jura pastures; to the south, the Chasseral range and the distinctive gorge of Combe Grède are visible. After a short descent to the mountain railway station, the ViaBerna follows the ridge edge westwards and passes the Belvédère viewpoint. A bit further west, the descent begins leading down to the destination of St-Imier.

The ridge of Montagne du Droit is counted among the Freibergen or Franches-Montagnes. The high plateau lies at around 1000 meters elevation. To permanently settle this rough landscape, the Bishop of Basel issued a charter in 1384 granting settlers on self-cleared land exemption from interest and tithes. Through hard work, the forested mountains were cleared and thereafter called "Freiberge."

The ridge between Mont Soleil and Mont Crosin has become particularly a research site in recent decades for sustainable energy production. The huge rotors of the wind power plant convert the force of the wind into electricity.

The solar cells of the solar power plant also convert sunlight into electric energy. An adventure trail connects the installations of alternative energy production and provides interesting information about future technology, as well as about fauna, flora, and landscape in this area.

St-Imier is the main town of the St.-Immer valley and is also architecturally shaped by watchmaking. The streets were laid out straight from west to east so that the workshops on the ground floors could benefit maximally from daylight.