Loveresse is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (Jura Bernois). History Loveresse is first mentioned in 1148 as de Loveresce though this document is probably a late 12th-century forgery. In 1225 it was mentioned as Loverasse. In the 12th century both Bellelay Abbey and the college of canons of Moutier-Grandval Abbey owned lands or rights in Loveresse. During the second half of the 13th century, Bellelay Abbey expanded their holdings in the village and became the main landowner there. In 1404 the Prince-Bishop of Basel granted extensive rights to Loveresse in a bid to attract settlers. The village church was part of the parish of Tavannes-Chaindon. When the parish converted to the new faith of the Protestant Reformation, Loveresse also converted. It remained part of the parish until 1928 when it joined the Reconvilier parish. By the beginning of the Early Modern era, the village was owned by the provost of Moutier-Grandval. After the 1797 French victory and the Treaty of Campo Formio, Loveresse became part of the French Département of Mont-Terrible. Three years later, in 1800 it became part of the Département of Haut-Rhin. After Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna, Loveresse was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815. In the late 19th century, several watch manufactures established shops in Loveresse. However, none of them survived the worldwide Great Depression. In 1906 the Canton of Bern purchased the hospice in the Vallée de Tavannes. It was converted into a girls' boarding school. In 1975 the building was converted into a clinic for the Bellelay region, and it was used in that capacity until 1987. After 1987 it was used as an agricultural training school, the Centre de formation et de vulgarisation agricole du Bernese Jura. Geography Loveresse has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 46.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 48.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.8% is unproductive land. During the same year, housing and buildings made up 2.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 41.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 6.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the