Bienne

Bienne, in German BIEL, a town of Switzerland, in the canton of Bern, 56 miles SW. of Basel by rail, beautifully situated at the base of the vine-clad Jura, and at the foot of the Lake of Biennie. Pop. (1890) 16,937, engaged in the manufacture of watches, leather, cotton, &c. Biennie is mentioned as early as 814. From 1262 it belonged to the bishops of Basel; but in 1352 it entered into an alliance with Bern, and after the Reformation was essentially a free and independent city until 1798, when it was annexed to France. In 1815 it was united to Bern.—THE LAKE OF BIENNE, lying 1424 feet above sea-level, extends 9 miles north-eastward along the base of the Jura Mountains, its greatest breadth being 3 miles. It receives the surplus waters of Lake Neuchâtel by the Thiel, by which river it again discharges its own. Its maximum depth is 256 feet. Towards its head is the Île St Pierre, to which Rousseau retired for two months in 1765.