The turbulent birth of the youngest Swiss canton

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In 1964, Jura separatists impeded the anniversary celebration of the 1914 war mobilisation, below the statue of the unknown soldier at Rangiers. Keystone

Activists destroyed the famous statue on June 1, 1984. It has never since been restored. Keystone

A 1965 anti-Bern demonstration in Delémont. Keystone

In 1983, activists from the Jura youth independence movement burned the words "Free Jura" onto the pitch of the Stade de Suisse in Bern. Keystone

The same youth wing disrupts a parliamentary session in Bern on December 11, 1968. Keystone

In 1969, the government delivers a copy of a "civil defence" book to all Swiss households, outlining how to react in case of a potential attack by Warsaw Pact forces. In November, young Jura separatists burn hundreds of copies in front of parliament buildings in Bern. Keystone

Anti-separatist demonstrators in Moutier in 1974: in June, Jura voters accept with a small majority to secede from canton Bern. Keystone

On March 18, 1972, anti-Bern demonstrators fill in tram-lines with fresh tar. Keystone

Rolan Béguelin, an emblematic figure for the Jura movement, voting in the historic 1974 ballot on the cantons independence. Some 82.3% of Swiss citizens were in favour. Keystone

François Lachat, president of the Jura Consituent Assembley, announcing the vote result in Delémont, September 24, 1978. Keystone

In 1982, Vellerat declares itself a free commune as a protest against its continued rule by canton Bern. In 1996, after a complex democratic process, it will finally join canton Jura. Keystone

In 2004, a Jura supporter returning home after celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the 1974 vote. Keystone

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Exactly 40 years ago, on September 24, 1978, Swiss voters gave the go-ahead for the creation of the new canton of Jura, which seceded from canton Bern after several years of strife.

An emphatic majority of Swiss voters, some 82.3%, came out in favour of the new canton, leaving the path clear for the districts of Délemont, Porrentruy, and Franches-Montagnes to break from Bern and form their own canton – Switzerland’s 26th.

The Jura region had been given to canton Bern following the 1815 Congress of Vienna, after passing through the hands of the bishop of Basel and – during the Revolution and Napoleonic Empire – France. 

The integration of the region’s french-speaking and Catholic minority into mainly German-speaking and Protestant Bern proved problematic, however, and tensions escalated notably in the 1960s, before being peacefully settled at the ballot box.

That’s not to say the story is over: just last year, Moutier, a French-speaking town in western canton Bern, voted by a tiny majority to secede to the young canton Jura. The results have since been challenged, however, and the question yet to be sealed.