Grand Marais () in Seeland is a region in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, at the foot of the first mountain range of the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

contained by the three lakes of Morat (Murten),

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

and Bienne (Biel). Before the huge hydrological works

Jura water correction The correction of the waters of the Swiss Jura consisted of a wide series of hydrological undertakings carried out in Switzerland in the region of the three lakes: Lake Murten connected to Lake Neuchatel by the Broye Canal, the latter connec ...

, it was a

marshland In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

that covered . Before the correction the entire Grand Marais, along with the whole of Seeland was prone to very severe recurring floods. After the Jura water correction, the former marshland has become very valuable

agricultural land Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other organism, forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous ...

and made the whole area the most important region in Switzerland for growing

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

. The main town and centre of vegetable trading is

Müntschemier Müntschemier () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Seeland (administrative district), Seeland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. History Müntschemier is fi ...

. There are two

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

s with surrounding agricultural compounds: Bellechasse ( Witzwil) and St. Johannsen.

External links

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Anstalt Massnahmezentrum St. Johannsen

ETH-UNS Case Study «Perspektive Grosses Moos – Wege zu einer nachhaltigen Landwirtschaft»
{{Coord, 46, 58, 39, N, 7, 06, 36, E, region:CH-BE/CH-FR_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Geography of Switzerland