Coffrane
village and former municipality in Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Coffrane is a former municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys, Montmollin, Le Pâquier, Savagnier and Villiers merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Val-de-Ruz.
History
Coffrane is first mentioned in 1092 as de Cusfrano.
Coffrane is also the site of the Battle of Coffrane, 1296.
Geography
Coffrane had an area, as of 2009, of 6.5 square kilometers (2.5 mi2). Of this area, 4.11 km2 (1.59 mi2) or 63.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.71 km2 (0.66 mi2) or 26.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.68 km2 (0.26 mi2) or 10.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.3% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 3.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 3.5% of the area Out of the forested land, 25.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 32.4% is used for growing crops and 16.8% is pastures and 14.0% is used for alpine pastures.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Coffrane” is village and former municipality in Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Coffrane, village and former, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “village and former municipality in Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q70485. VIAF identifies the subject as 3665155286617287180003. Authority coordinates are 47.017, 6.867. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013, 1092, 1296 and 2009.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Coffrane”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Coffrane primary sources, Coffrane archive and Coffrane research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Coffrane”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Coffrane” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.