Originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy , the city was absorbed into the Holy Roman Empire in The domain of the counts of Neuchatel was first referred to as a city in The city came under Prussian control from until , with an interruption during the Napoleonic Wars from to The German name for the town is Neuenburg , which also translates roughly as "new castle".
The longer form Neuenburg am See "Newcastle by the lake " is sometimes used to disambiguate it from the numerous other Neuenburgs , especially Neuenburg am Rhein. Italian names included Neocastello [ 22 ] which is occasionally seen in contemporary contexts [ 14 ] and Nuovo Castello.
The oldest traces of humans in the municipal area are the remains of a Magdalenian hunting camp, which was dated to 13, BC. It was discovered in during construction of the A5 motorway at Monruz La Coudre. The site was about 5 m 16 ft below the main road. Around the fire pits carved flints and bones were found. In addition to the flint and bone artifacts three tiny earrings from lignite were found.
The earrings may have served as symbols of fertility and represent the oldest known art in Switzerland. This first camp was used by Cro-Magnons to hunt horse and reindeer in the area. Azilian hunters had a camp at the same site at about 11, BC. Since the climate had changed, their prey was now deer and wild boar. During the 19th century, traces of some stilt houses were found in Le Cret near the red church.
However, their location was not well documented and the site was lost. In , during construction of the lower station of the funicular railway, which connects the railway station and university, the settlement was rediscovered.
