Neuchâtel Canton, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Neuchâtel canton ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
The County of Neuchâtel flourished, for three centuries, and in 1530, the people of Neuchâtel accepted the Reformation, and their city and territory were proclaimed to be indivisible from then on. With increasing power and prestige, Neuchâtel was raised to the level of a principality at the beginning of the 17th century. At the turn of the 19th century, the King of Prussia was defeated by Napoleon. On September 12, 1814, Neuchâtel became the capital of the 21st canton, but also remained a Prussian principality. It took a bloodless revolution in the decades following for Neuchâtel to shake off its past and declare itself, on March 1, 1848, a republic within the Swiss Confederation. Neuchâtel is a French speaking canton.