The rights and freedoms of the villagers were now based on Bernese law and not on the Land Law of Moudon. However, the village church was still part of the parish under the collegiate church of Lausanne. Following the Protestant Reformation in 1555, the parish also included Etivaz until 1713.
Under Bernese rule, the economy experienced a strong upswing. The common land was divided and sold before the end of the 16th Century. The alpine pastures were leased to private cheese makers, who there produced Gruyere cheese. In the 18th Century, the inhabitants of the municipality sold the cheese, from the approximately 2,000 cows, at the market in Vevey. From there it went over the Col de Jaman to Marseille where it was exported to Asia and America.
End of the Ancien Regime and Modern Ch�teau-d'Oex
In 1798, Ch�teau-d'Oex came to the newly formed Canton of L�man. In 1800, a fire destroyed the wooden houses on the central hill. The houses had been built in this style and on the hill to avoid property taxes. Thanks to the efforts of the Dean Philippe-Sirice Bridel enough money was raised to rebuild the houses in stone. The municipality hired masons from Savoy, carpenters from Simmental and plasterers from the lower Gruyere lands lower uplands. In 1803, the Canton of L�man was dissolved with the Act of Mediation and the municipality became part of the new canton of Vaud.
In 1849, the Institute Henchoz opened as a preparatory gymnasium, which replaced the older Latin school. The primary school received a new building in 1907. Starting in 1847 a parish of the Free Church of the Canton of Vaud was established with two priests. The Catholic parish was established in 1896 and the Anglican church parish was created in 1899. Other religious communities, such as the Plymouth Brethren, established churches in the valley.
In the 19th Century, the municipality suffered several several outbreaks of livestock diseases. To protect the dairy industry,
