Courtelary is a municipality of the French-speaking Bernese Jura, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Courtelary is first mentioned in 968 as Curtis Alerici in a list of the properties of Moutier-Grandval Abbey.

[3] In addition to Moutier-Granval Abbey, the Cathedral chapter of Saint-Imier owned properties in the village which were managed for them by the Lords of Fenis-Neuchâtel.

In 1530, Biel began forcing the entire Erguel region to accept the Protestant Reformation.

This interference in local affairs pushed the residents of the valley to create an alliance with the town of Solothurn.

In 1604 with Solothurn's support, the appeals court moved from Biel to Courtelary which brought limited self-rule back to the valley.

Two years later the seat of the Erguel Bailiwick moved to Courtelary's New Castle (which later became the town hall).

During the Thirty Years' War, in 1639, the village was plundered and partially burned by the troops of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar.

[3] In 1726, the Prince-Bishop of Basel, Johann Konrad von Reinach-Hirzbach, attempted to modernize and consolidate his extensive land holdings.

He tried to sweep away the numerous local laws, customs and rights and replace them with a central government ruled according to the principles of enlightened absolutism.

Riots and revolts against the new government broke out almost immediately in the Erguel valley and the region remained a center of anti-government activity.

[4] In 1733 a meeting at the Courtelary Castle exploded into a riot and the Prince-Bishop's bailiff, Benoît-Aimé Mestrezat, was forced to flee the city.

In 1792 and 1793, heavily influenced by the French Revolution, the revolutionary National Assembly of Erguel was established in Courtelary.

In contrast, the surrounding mountain pastures were used by Anabaptist sharecroppers to raise dairy cattle and other livestock.

The lower transportation costs from the railroad allowed a wood pulp factory to be built in Courtelary.

A few precision machine and watch parts factories were built during the early 20th century, but during the 1970s these industries declined.

[6] Courtelary consists of two sections, the main village down in the valley and a number of individual farms up (about 900 meters (3,000 ft) above sea level) on the mountains.

On the following day, 1 January 2010, it became the capital of the newly created Arrondissement administratif Jura bernois.

[7] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules on a Bend Argent three Linden Leaves pointing to base sinister.

In the tertiary sector; 25 or 14.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 2.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 18 or 10.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 21 or 11.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 8 or 4.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 14 or 7.9% were in education and 41 or 23.2% were in health care.

The wettest month is June during which time Courtelary receives an average of 126 mm (5.0 in) of rain or snow.

This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.