La Chaux-de-Fonds

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La Chaux-de-Fonds

Canton	Neuchâtel
District	La Chaux-de-Fonds
Coordinates	47°6′N, 6°50′E
Population	37374 (December 2003)
Area	55.66 km²
Elevation	1000 m
Postal code	2300
SFOS number	6421
Mayor	Pierre Hainard
Website	www.chaux-de-fonds.ch
Twin towns	Winterthur (Switzerland), Frameries (Belgium)
La Chaux-de-Fonds

La Chaux-de-Fonds is the capital of the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers from the French border. After Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city in the French-speaking part of the country.

1 History
2 Culture
3 Economy
4 Transport
5 Notable people
6 Watch companies connected
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

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

In the middle of the 14th century, the forests found there have been colonised from the south. The region was under the authority of the lords of Valangin. Agriculture was the main activity. The first church has been built in 1528. The city became at the end of the 16th century an important crossroad between Neuchâtel and Franche-Comté.

City of La Chaux-de-Fonds in winter

The community has grown during the Thirty Years' War, mainly because of its strategic position for trade. But economic activity really begins in the 18th century with the development of lace and watchmaking industry. Pierre Jacquet-Droz and his family is one of the most famous watchmakers of this time. He is best known for his automata.

In 1794, the city was devastated by fire. Charles-Henri Junod created the new city's plan in 1835, as a grid. The central avenue is named the Avenue Léopold Robert.

[edit] Culture

The city holds the international watchmaking museum, showing the history of watches. Watchmaking companies such as Accurist have offices in the city.

Art Nouveau had a great influence on architecture and culture in the city.

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.

[edit] Economy

The city's economy is based on industry and watch manufacturers. Famous watchmaking manufacturers include Girard-Perregaux founded in Geneva in 1791, TAG Heuer, Corum, Breitling, Juvenia, the Marathon Watch Company, Ulysse Nardin, Invicta and others.

[edit] Transport

The city is served by Les Eplatures Airport and has a trolleybus transport system.

[edit] Notable people

Its most famous native sons are the architect Le Corbusier, born here as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in 1887, Louis Chevrolet, born in 1878, founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company and Blaise Cendrars, novelist and poet, born as Frédéric Louis Sauser in 1887.

Other notable people born in La Chaux-de-Fonds include Louis-Leopold Robert, a painter, born in 1794, Numa Droz, a politician, born in 1844, and Adrienne von Speyr, a modern Catholic mystic, born in 1902.

Among the watchmakers, are the Gallet family: ^[1]

Julien Gallet (1806-1849), who moved north from Geneva in 1826 and founded Gallet & Cie;^[1]
Lucien Gallet (1834-1879), son of Julien, who expanded the company into Chicago;^[1]
Léon L. Gallet (1832-1899), eldest son of Julien and patriarch figure of the growing company.^[1] The company premises on Rue du Parc became too small, and expansion was made by acquiring the company Grumbach & Co., formerly producing watches of the brand name Electa.^[1] Gallet & Co. was renamed as the Electa Gallet Watch Manufactory. Léon L. Gallet played an important role in the social life in La Chaux-de-Fonds.^[1] He founded together with Longines in St. Imier, the Intercantonal Company for Industrial Development of the Jura area. Léon L. Gallet was marketing his watches in Europe, with a special emphasis in England.^[1].

Léon Gallet also commissioned the "Villa Gallet" (which still retains its original name) situated in the "Parc Gallet" in the southern part of the town from architect René Chapallaz, who was Le Corbusier's architecture teacher. The "Villa Gallet" is considered as an important contribution of "Art Nouveau" in La Chaux-de-Fonds. ^[2].

[edit] Watch companies connected

The Gallets' best customer and, from 1877, exclusive distributor in the US, was the wholesale dealer Jules Racine, a cousin of the Gallets.^[1] Jules Racine distributed watches from the Gallet brand, as well as with his own brand names ("Racine" since 1870), Jules Racine, Lady Racine, Racine Royale; also, Jules Racine distributed specifically American brand names like "Bridgeport", "Burlington", "Chancellor", "Commodore", "Continental Watch Company" (Continental W.C.), "Eureka", "Mars", "National Park", "Security", "Select", "Solar", "Success", "The Governor" and others.^[1] The style of the cases, bands, watch face and hands were tuned to the American taste, the watch movements however, were always acquired from La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.^[1]

[edit] Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Gallet Group Inc. - Gallet Geneva 1685 - History" (part 2), Gallet Group Inc., 2007, webpage: Gallet-hist.
^ (1982) L'Inventaire Suisse d'Architecture: 1850-1920, Volume 3, Bienne, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Coire, Davos. Bern: Société d'Histoire de l'Art en Suisse.