La Chaux-de-Fonds, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

🇨🇭 La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few km south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city located in the Romandie, the French-speaking part of the country.

The city was founded in 1656. Its growth and prosperity is mainly bound up with the watch-making industry. It is the most important centre of the watch-making industry in the area known as the Watch Valley. Partially destroyed by a fire in 1794, La Chaux-de-Fonds was rebuilt following a grid street plan, which was and is still original among Swiss cities, the only exception being the easternmost section of the city, which was spared by the fire. This creates an interesting and obvious transition from the old section to the newer section. The roads in the original section are very narrow and winding, which then open up to the grid pattern near the town square. The famous architect Le Corbusier, the writer Blaise Cendrars and the carmaker Louis Chevrolet were born there. La Chaux-de-Fonds is a renowned centre of Art Nouveau.

In 2009, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, its sister city, were jointly awarded UNESCO World Heritage status for their exceptional universal value.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites The watch-making cities of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle have jointly received recognition from UNESCO for their exceptional universal value.

The Site's planning consists of two small cities located close to each other in the mountainous environment of the Swiss Jura. Due to the altitude (1,000 m [,300 ft]) and the lack of water (porous sandstone underground), the land is ill-suited to farming. Planning and buildings reflect the watch-making artisans' need for rational organization. Rebuilt in the early 19th century, after extensive fires, both towns owe their survival to the manufacturing and exports of watches, to which, in the 20th century, was added the minute micromechanical industry.

Along an open-ended scheme of parallel strips on which residential housing and workshops intermingle, the town's planned layout reflects the needs of the local watch-making culture that dates back to the 17th century, and which is still alive today. Both agglomerations present outstanding examples of mono-industrial manufacturing towns, which are still well-preserved and active. Urban planning has accommodated the transition from the artisans' production of a cottage industry to the more concentrated factory production of the late 19th and 20th centuries. In 1867 Karl Marx was already describing La Chaux-de-Fonds as a "huge factory-town" in Das Kapital, where he analyzed the division of labour in the watch-making industry of the Jura.

It is the tenth Swiss Site to be awarded World Heritage status, joining others such as the Old City of Bern, the Rhaetian Railway and the Abbey and Convent of St. Gallen.

History The region was first inhabited around 10,000 years ago (Mesolithic). A skull and other traces have been found in caves nearby.

In the middle of the 14th century, the region was colonized from the southern Val-de-Ruz. La Chaux-de-Fonds is first mentioned in 1350 as la Chaz de Fonz. In 1378 it was mentioned as Chault de Font.

The region was under the authority of the lords of Valangin. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the second wave of colonization came from the so-called Clos de la Franchise (the valleys of Le Locle and La Sagne). Agriculture was the main activity but the village remained small. In 1531 there were only about 35 people living there. The first church was built in 1528. By 1530, La Chaux-de-Fonds, like the rest of the Valangin lands, converted to the new Reformed faith. The Lord of Valanginian, René de Challant, fixed the boundaries of the parish in 1550. The church and parish provided a political structure and a small community of Valanginian citizens, free farmers and peasants grew up around the church. By 1615 there were 355 people living in the village. In 1616, the low and middle jurisdiction over La Chaux-de-Fonds moved to Le Locle and La Sagne, while the high court remained in Valanginian. Agriculture, supplemented by mills on the banks of the Doubs, continued to dominate. However, at the end of the 16th century, the city became an important crossroad between Neuchâtel, Franche-Comté and the Bishopric of Basel.

The community grew during the Thirty Years' War, mainly because of its strategic position for trade. Economic activity accelerated in the 18th century with the development of the city's lace and watchmaking industries. Pierre Jacquet-Droz, best known for his automata, was a particularly prominent watchmaker of this era.

In 1794, the city was devastated by fire. Charles-Henri Junod created the new city's plan in 1835, and the city is now known for its "modern", grid-like plan, in comparison with most European cities' meandering streets. The central avenue is named the Avenue Léopold Robert.

History of the watch-making industry in La-Chaux-de-Fonds In the second half of the 18th century, the Swiss watch industry was on the rise. Parallel to this and despite residency bans, Jewish traders began to settle in the region, and became involved in the industry. From 1848 onwards, restrictions on residence and settlement of Jews were gradually alleviated in the Canton of Neuchâtel.

In the 1870s, as American companies began to produce watches and watch parts on an industrial scale, the Swiss watch industry experienced a crisis. The traditional model of the individual craftsmen was not compatible with the faster-industrialised production rates, but from the 1880s, modernisation slowly but surely took hold in the Swiss watch industry.

One of the first modern factories was founded by the Ditesheim brothers Achilles, Leopold and Isidore, who had moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1876. Having joined the trade towards the end of the 19th century, many Jewish manufacturers were less bound to the traditional ideas. Thus, they were particularly involved and invested in modernisation processes. The Ditesheim company gained international renown and was renamed “Movado” in 1905.

Encouraged by economic success, more newcomers arrived, among them many Jews. Of the 180 or so medium-sized family businesses in the town, about 30 per cent were owned by Jewish families in 1912. The Jewish community had grown from 541 to 900 members in the span of about 20 years.

During the First World War, the watch companies largely received armament commissions (for instance for the production of precision fuses for artillery shells). These commissions died down with the end of the war. From 1933, with the arrival of the Second World War, Jewish producers began to struggle, as their Jewish contacts in occupied countries increasingly faced persecution. Some Jewish companies in La Chaux-de-Fonds were under surveillance from German spies, suspected of illegally exporting war materials for the Allied Forces.

Geography La Chaux-de-Fonds has an area, as of 2009, of 55.7 square km (21.5 sq mi). Of this area, 30.46 km² (11.76 sq mi) or 54.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 15.52 km² (5.99 sq mi) or 27.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.28 km² (3.58 sq mi) or 16.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.3 km² (0.12 sq mi) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.11 km² (27 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 1.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 8.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.6%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, 24.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.4% is used for growing crops and 40.0% is pastures and 14.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality was the capital La Chaux-de-Fonds district until the district level was eliminated on 1 January 2018. It is located in the Jura Mountains near the French border at an elevation of about 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

Heritage sites La Chaux-de-Fonds is home to 23 Swiss heritage sites of national significance along with the UNESCO World Heritage Site of La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle.

Library/museum/theater: Bibliothèque de la Ville de la Chaux-de-Fonds et Département audiovisuel (DAV), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Musée d‘histoire naturelle, the Musée international d’horlogerie «l’homme et le temps» and the Théâtre et Salle de musique on Avenue Léopold-Robert 27–29 Religious: Synagogue on Rue du Parc 63 Farms: Ferme des Brandt at Les Petites-Corsettes 6, Ferme Haute Fie and Maison Carrée at Le Valanvron 9 and Ferme les Crêtets on Rue des Crêtets 148 Companies: Spillmann SA on Rue du Doubs 32 and Usine électrique at Rue Numa-Droz 174 Houses: Villa Anatole Schwob on Rue du Doubs 167, Villa Fallet on Chemin de Pouillerel 1, Villa Gallet on Rue David-Pierre-Bourquin 55, Villa Jaquemet on Chemin de Pouillerel 8, Villa Stotzer on Chemin de Pouillerel 6 and Maison Blanche at Chemin de Pouillerel 12 Other buildings: the slaughterhouse (Abattoirs) on Rue du Commerce 120–126, the Ancien Manège (collective house from 1968), the crematorium on Rue de la Charrière, the Domaine des Arbres, the Grande Fontaine on Avenue Léopold-Robert and the Loge l’Amitié. After the horrid mudslide that occurred which destroyed the city of La Chaux.

Economy As of  2010, La Chaux-de-Fonds had an unemployment rate of 8.2%. As of 2008, there were 260 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 95 businesses involved in this sector. 10,594 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 550 businesses in this sector. 11,813 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 1,290 businesses in this sector. There were 17,870 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which women made up 46.1% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 19,692. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 208, of which 198 were in agriculture and 10 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 10,153 of which 9,063 or (89.3%) were in manufacturing and 903 (8.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 9,331. In the tertiary sector; 2,287 or 24.5% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 680 or 7.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 571 or 6.1% were in a hotel or restaurant, 150 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 372 or 4.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 573 or 6.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 816 or 8.7% were in education and 2,078 or 22.3% were in health care.

In 2000, there were 8,916 workers who commuted into the municipality and 3,481 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.6 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 19.3% of the workforce coming into La Chaux-de-Fonds are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.1% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 21.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.8% used a private car.

Watch companies Many watch companies started in La Chaux de Fonds: • Ardorextra • Arnold & Son, in 1764 • Ball Watch Company, Webb C. Ball • Bouchet-Lassale SA, in 1978 • Corum • Cyma Watches, 1862 – Schwob Frères and Co. 1892 – Cyma Watch Company • Ebel, by Eugene Blum and Alice Levy, in 1911 • Eberhard & Co., by George-Emile Eberhard, in 1887 • Gallet & Co., by Julien Gallet, in 1826 • Girard-Perregaux, by Constantin Girard and Marie Perregaux, in 1856 • Heuer Leonidas, now TAG Heuer, by Edouard Heuer, in 1860 • Invicta Watch Group, by Raphael Picard, in 1837 • Marathon Watch Co. in 1904 – Founded as Weinsturm Watch • Movado, by Achilles Ditesheim, in 1881 • Omega SA, in 1848 • Rolex trademark, registered by Hans Wilsdorf, in 1908. His company, Wilsdorf and Davis, London, was later renamed Rolex Watch Company, Geneva and Biel/Bienne • Rotary, by Moise Dreyfuss, in 1895 • Solvil et Titus, by Paul Ditisheim, in 1892 • Venus by Paul Arthur Schwarz and Olga Etienne, in 1902 • Vulcain by Maurice Ditisheim, in 1858.

Culture La Chaux-de-Fonds is the home of the Musée International d'Horlogerie (International Museum of Watch Making), originally constructed with funds donated by the Gallet watchmaking family in 1899. The Museum is considered as an important showcase for the history of the timekeeping arts.

Art Nouveau had a great influence on architecture and culture in the city during the late 19th century.

The daily newspaper L'Impartial has been published in La Chaux-de-Fonds since 1880.

The Wakker Prize was granted to La-Chaux-de-Fonds in 1994.

Sport La Chaux-de-fonds is home to HC La Chaux-de-Fonds, a professional ice hockey team that competes in the Swiss League (SL), the second-highest league in Switzerland. Their home arena is the 7,200-seat Patinoire des Mélèzes. The team had a successful stint in the National League (NL) where they played for a few years and won the championship six times in a row, from 1968 to 1973.

La Chaux-de-Fonds also has an amateur football team, FC La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Transport The municipality is located at the junction of four railway lines and has six different railway stations within its borders. The primary station is La Chaux-de-Fonds, others include La Cibourg, La Chaux-de-Fonds-Est, La Chaux-de-Fonds-Grenier, Le Reymond, and Le Crêt-du-Locle.

The city is also served by Les Eplatures Airport and the La Chaux-de-Fonds trolleybus system.