St. Peter’s Island in Lake Biel, Erlach and the Jura Water Correction
22 October 2024
St. Peter’s Island (St. Peters Insel/l’île Saint-Pierre) in Lake Biel (Bielersee/lac de Bienne) was an island until 1868 and the largest in Switzerland. Between 1868 and 1875, the lake level was lowered by more than two metres during the first Jura water correction (Juragewässerkorrektion/La correction des eaux du Jura). This project created the passage (4.5 km) and the nature reserve between the town of Erlach and the island.
St. Peter Island and the Jura water correction. Picture: Klosterinsel St. Peter
St. Peter Island
Three pile-dwelling villages were on the island’s southern, eastern and northern edges for centuries BC. Later, the island became a Roman temple district and a place of worship (2nd-3rd century), then a burial place for Merovingian families. The first church was built during the Merovingian period (7th-8th century).
At the beginning of the 11th century, the island was acquired by the Cluny Order. They laid the foundations for a large three-aisled basilica. However, this soon collapsed. The new monastery buildings and the monastery church were built around 1120.
The monastery was dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul, hence the name St. Petersinsel. After the Reformation, the island was handed over to Bern in 1530. The monastery church was destroyed, and the city of Bern used the complex for a long time as a hospital.
The island gained European significance in 1765 after Jean-Jacques Rousseau stayed there. It became a popular destination for emperors, kings, aristocrats, politicians, artists and writers.
Goethe, Cook, Empress Josephine Bonaparte, and the kings of Prussia (who, until 1857, was also Prince of Neuchâtel), Sweden, and Bavaria visited the island.
Today, the island is a hiking area, a nature and agricultural reserve, an open-air museum and a natural monument with a hotel and restaurant.
(Source: D. Gutscher, A. Moser, L’ île Saint-Pierre, Bern, 2010)