Foyer d'éducation de Prêles

Foyer d'éducation de Prêles
Formation1920
TypeReformatory
PurposeDetention and re-education of male youth
Location
Region served
Canton of Bern
OwnerCanton of Bern
Formerly called
Maison d'éducation de la Montagne de Diesse
Maison de discipline de Trachselwald (predecessor)

The Foyer d'éducation de Prêles (also known as the Maison d'éducation de la Montagne de Diesse, and in German as the Erziehungsanstalt Tessenberg) was a reform school for boys aged 14 to 20 in the canton of Bern, Switzerland.

Created in 1920 and closed in 2016, it was located across the municipalities of Prêles, Diesse, and Nods on the Plateau de Diesse. Known successively as a maison de discipline (until around 1930), then a maison d'éducation, and finally a foyer d'éducation (from 1970), its history was marked by repressive practices that persisted until the early 1970s. Young people placed there came primarily from the canton of Berne and other regions: about two-thirds were committed under juvenile criminal law, and one-third under administrative detention or guardianship measures.