Le Locle
Encyclopedia
Le Locle is a municipality
in the district of Le Locle in the canton
of Neuchâtel in Switzerland
.
It is situated in the Jura mountains
, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds
.
It is the third smallest city in Switzerland (in Switzerland a place needs more than 10,000 inhabitants to be considered a city).
Le Locle is known as a center of Swiss watchmaking, even cited as the birthplace of the industry, with roots dating back to the 1600s. The municipality has been home to manufactures such as Terrasse Watch Co., Tissot
, Ulysse Nardin
, Zenith
as well as Universal Geneve
, before the latter company relocated to Geneva. The town's history in watchmaking is documented at one of the world's premier horological museums, the Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle
, Monts Castle
, located in a 19th century country manor on a hill north of the city Restored historic underground mills (grainmill, oilmill, sawmill) can be seen in a cave located about one kilometer west of the city center.
and export
s of watch
es. The industry of watch making was brought to Le Locle in the 17th Century by Daniel JeanRichard, a self taught watchmaker who encouraged the farmers of the area to start manufacturing watch components for him during the long winters. In the 20th Century was added the minute micro mechanical
industry
.
The watchmaking cities of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds 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 (around 1000 m (3,280.8 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. They were rebuilt in the early 19th Century, after extensive fires.
Along an open-ended scheme of parallel strips on which residential housing and workshops intermingle, their town planning 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. Their 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.
Already Karl Marx
described 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.
period (6000-5000 BC) in shelter in the Col des Roches. The site includes the oldest pottery found in the Canton of Neuchâtel, along with many tools, the molar of a mammoth and deer and wild boar bones. The shelter was discovered in 1926 by a customs official and was the first site of its kind studied in Switzerland.
However, between 4000 BC and the Middle Ages
nothing is known about the Le Locle area.
around Le Locle, were cleared by colonists who later received the status of free peasants. These first free farmers received a charter in 1372 which codified their rights and freedoms. At the beginning of the 15th century, this charter was reconfirmed during the foundation of the Mairie or town government. The inhabitants of Le Locle were given the right to own land that they had cleared, as long as they continued to farm it and paid taxes on it. The feudal lords granted them these freedoms to encourage settlements in the mountains. Beginning in the 14th Century Le Locle and La Sagne formed a parish
together. The Church of Mary Magdalene in Le Locle was built in 1351.
As a result of increasing cross-border conflicts, in 1476, Le Locle entered into a defensive alliance with Bern.
In 1502, 37 people in Le Locle were given the opportunity to pay £1780 for the title of "Citizen of Valangin". These citizens had the privilege to lead the community and to choose their own mayor and bailiff.
. This old church was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. A German church was built in 1844, but demolished in 1967. The Catholic chapel was built in 1861.
In 1592, the Valangin fiefs returned to the County of Neuchatel, but neither the legal status of residents of the Mairie of Le Locle or its function as a district court was affected. The 1476 alliance with Bern remained in effect and during the Thirty Years' War
as well as the invasion of Louis XIV
in Franche-Comte
, Bernese soldiers came to support the town. Le Locle sent soldiers to support their ally in 1712 during the battles of Mellingen and Villmergen
.
Le Locle's location near the French border meant that the town often enjoyed a close relationship with France. This was especially true during the years leading up to the French Revolution
. Many residents of Le Locle met in the Jacobin
club in Morteau
swear their support of the Constitution of 1792. The revolutionary spirit led to conflicts between supporters of the revolution and the old government. The subsequent government repression drove many residents of Le Locle into exile in the spring of 1793. Several hundred people moved to Besançon
, where they found work at the National Watch Factory which had been established by the National Convention
. When they returned to Le Locle, they brought skilled watchmakers along with a republican attitude.
In 1707, the Principality of Neuchâtel went to King Frederick I in Prussia
of the Berlin-based Hohenzollern
, who then ruled Neuchâtel in personal union
. Napoléon Bonaparte deposed King Frederick William III of Prussia
as prince of Neuchâtel and appointed instead his chief of staff Louis Alexandre Berthier
. In 1814 the principality was restored to Frederick William III. A year later he agreed to allow the principality to join the Swiss Confederation, then not yet an integrated federation
, but a confederacy
, as a full member. Thus Neuchâtel became the first and only monarchy to join the otherwise entirely republican Swiss cantons. This changed in 1848, when the peaceful Neuchâtel Revolution started in Le Locle. The royalist forces quickly surrendered and on 28 February 1848, the flag of the Helvetic Republic, a symbol of the republic, was hoisted over the city. The new republic and canton established the Le Locle Prefecture, which existed until 1935. During the unsuccessful counter-revolution of 1856 the town was briefly occupied by the royalists.
Le Locle was repeatedly burned by large fires (1683, 1765, 1833). It was rebuilt to its present appearance in the second quarter of the 19th century, as it became a center of the watch industry.
The city government established the high school in 1855 and opened a teacher training college in 1866 followed by a trade school in 1897. The watchmaking school was established in 1868 which was the foundation for the technical school established in 1901-02. This school eventually became the Engineering Department of the Haute école d'arts appliqués Arc as well as the engineering school of the inter-regional vocational education center Montagnes neuchâteloises.
The city made great efforts in the construction of railways. The first line to La Chaux-de-Fonds (1857) was joined by lines to Besançon (1884) and Les Brenets (1890). Nevertheless, Le Locle suffers from a certain isolation and a large amount of traffic that is only passing through.
Le Locle owes its prosperity essentially to the watch industry, in particular the manufacture of precision watches and machine tools. Daniel Jean Richard was among the pioneers who founded this branch of industry in and around Le Locle. In the Le Locle region, there were only some 77 watchmakers who were active in 1750. By 1800, that number had increased to over 800. Watchmaking began to replace agriculture and lace making as the main industries. By the end of the 18th Century the city employed about 500 lace makers.
Le Locle was home to a number of famous watchmakers and inventors, including Abraham-Louis Perrelet
, Jacques-Frédéric Houriet, Frédéric-Louis Favre-Bulle and David-Henri Grandjean. In the 19th Century the town was known for its pocket and marine chronometers. The watchmaking industry transformed Le Locle into an industrial city. Initially all the work was done by hand in small shops, but by the last quarter of the 19th Century the first factories were built. The introduction of mechanized production, pushed the industry from completed watches toward machine tools and watch components. During the two World Wars, some plants, such as Zenith, later Dixi, specialized in the production of weapons. Watchmaking also required a number of associated artists and inventors. The bookseller and publisher Samuel Girardet (1730-1807) started decorating clock cases and eventually founded a dynasty of artists and engravers. The Huguenin became famous for their work painting clock housings and medals. Opening in 1856, the chocolate and confectionery factory Klaus operated until 1992.
As in most watchmaking cities in the Jura, the political and social life in Le Locle was heavily influenced by the ideas of radicalism, socialism
and later anarchism
. Professor James Guillaume proposed the creation of a section of the Workers International in 1866. German-speaking socialist organizations including the Grütliverein and the Arbeiterverein testify that by the end of the 19th Century, many workers from the German-speaking Switzerland worked in Le Locle. The Socialists organized themselves into a political party in 1897 and by 1912 were a majority in the municipality. In 1956, they allied and were supported by the Swiss Party of Labour. The Socialists lost their seat in the local government council in the 1992 elections, to the movement Droit de parole, which does not have a traditional party platform. In 2004, for the first time the council was determined by a plebiscite, which gave the Swiss Party of Labour (PdA) three seats, the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
(PS) and the liberale Parti progressiste national one seat each.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 26.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops and 33.8% is pastures and 19.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The capital of the Le Locle district is located at an elevation of 946 metres (3,103.7 ft).
of the municipal coat of arms
is Lozengy Gules and Or, on a Bar Argent a Barrulet wavy Azure, in Base on a panel Argent issuant from three mounts Vert as many Pine trees of the same. However, the official coat of arms (which is rarely used) is Quartered: bendy of eight serrated gules and vert in 1 and 4 and or five flamules azure issuant from the flank in 2 and 3, overall a cross argent.
Most of the population speaks French
(9,264 or 88.0%) as their first language, Italian
is the second most common (423 or 4.0%) and German
is the third (203 or 1.9%). There are 6 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The population was made up of 3,593 Swiss men (35.7% of the population) and 1,354 (13.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 3,949 Swiss women (39.3%) and 1,156 (11.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 3,884 or about 36.9% were born in Le Locle and lived there in 2000. There were 1,882 or 17.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,576 or 15.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,639 or 25.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 22.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 20.7%.
, there were 3,891 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 5,133 married individuals, 867 widows or widowers and 638 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 4,713 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household. There were 1,787 households that consist of only one person and 229 households with five or more people. , a total of 4,584 apartments (81.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 391 apartments (6.9%) were seasonally occupied and 663 apartments (11.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 5.71%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
and the Museum d’horlogerie, City Hall, the Immeuble, Moulins souterrains du Col-des-Roches (Cave mills in the Col des Roches), the Villa Favre-Jacot and Zenith SA are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site:
La Chaux-de-Fonds/Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning (since 2009) and the entire town of Le Locle is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the PdA Party which received 24.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(22.38%), the SVP
(20.57%) and the LPS Party
(16.13%). In the federal election, a total of 3,204 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 49.3%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 7,160. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 71, of which 49 were in agriculture, 17 were in forestry or lumber production and 5 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 5,141 of which 4,944 or (96.2%) were in manufacturing, 1 was in mining and 150 (2.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,948. In the tertiary sector; 591 or 30.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 79 or 4.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 128 or 6.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 13 or 0.7% were in the information industry, 58 or 3.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 94 or 4.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 349 or 17.9% were in education and 409 or 21.0% were in health care.
, there were 4,232 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,877 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.3 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 26.2% of the workforce coming into Le Locle are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.2% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 13.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.6% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 56 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.53% of the population), there were 27 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 677 individuals (or about 6.43% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 329 (or about 3.12% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 27 individuals who were Buddhist
, 1 person who was Hindu
and 8 individuals who belonged to another church. 2,415 (or about 22.94% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 599 individuals (or about 5.69% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 1,035 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.7% were Swiss men, 22.1% were Swiss women, 15.6% were non-Swiss men and 6.7% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 10 kindergarten classes with a total of 185 students in Le Locle. In the same year, there were 31 primary classes with a total of 564 students.
, there were 622 students in Le Locle who came from another municipality, while 250 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Le Locle is home to the Bibliothèque de la Ville Le Locle library.
with: Sidmouth
, Devon
, UK Gérardmer
France
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Le Locle in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Neuchâtel in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
It is situated in the Jura mountains
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city of the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometres from the French border. After Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of...
.
It is the third smallest city in Switzerland (in Switzerland a place needs more than 10,000 inhabitants to be considered a city).
Le Locle is known as a center of Swiss watchmaking, even cited as the birthplace of the industry, with roots dating back to the 1600s. The municipality has been home to manufactures such as Terrasse Watch Co., Tissot
Tissot
Tissot is a luxury Swiss watchmaker company founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile Tissot who established the Tissot factory in the Swiss city of Le Locle, in the Neuchâtel area of the Jura Mountains....
, Ulysse Nardin
Ulysse Nardin
Ulysse Nardin is a watch manufacturer founded in 1846 in Le Locle, Switzerland. Historically Ulysse Nardin was best known for being a manufacturer of marine chronometers, but today Ulysse Nardin produces complicated mechanical watches.-History:...
, Zenith
Zenith (watchmaker)
Zenith SA is a Swiss watch manufacture started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot at the age of 22, in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel.Zenith has a long reputation for the quality and precision of their watches, with 1,565 1st-place precision awards to date...
as well as Universal Geneve
Universal Geneve
Universal Genève SA is a Swiss luxury watch company, founded in 1894 as "Universal Watch".Since its beginnings, the company has produced complete watches with in-house movements, and throughout the 20th century, distributed many notable and important timepieces...
, before the latter company relocated to Geneva. The town's history in watchmaking is documented at one of the world's premier horological museums, the Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle
Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle
The Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts is a municipal museum specializing in horology, located in Le Locle, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland...
, Monts Castle
Monts Castle
Monts Castle is a castle in the municipality of Le Locle of the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-References:...
, located in a 19th century country manor on a hill north of the city Restored historic underground mills (grainmill, oilmill, sawmill) can be seen in a cave located about one kilometer west of the city center.
Unesco World Heritage Sites
Both towns owe their survival to the manufacturingManufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
and export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
s of watch
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
es. The industry of watch making was brought to Le Locle in the 17th Century by Daniel JeanRichard, a self taught watchmaker who encouraged the farmers of the area to start manufacturing watch components for him during the long winters. In the 20th Century was added the minute micro mechanical
Micromechanics
Micromechanics is the analysis of composite or heterogeneous materials on the level of the individual constituents that constitute these materials.- Aims of micromechanics of materials :...
industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
.
The watchmaking cities of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds 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 (around 1000 m (3,280.8 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. They were rebuilt in the early 19th Century, after extensive fires.
Along an open-ended scheme of parallel strips on which residential housing and workshops intermingle, their town planning 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. Their urban planning has accommodated the transition from the artisans’ production of a cottage industry to the more concentrated factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
production of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Already Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
described La Chaux-de-Fonds as a “huge factory-town” in Das Kapital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
, where he analyzed the division of labour
Division of labour
Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...
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.
Prehistory
The earliest traces of human settlements come from the end of the MesolithicMesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
period (6000-5000 BC) in shelter in the Col des Roches. The site includes the oldest pottery found in the Canton of Neuchâtel, along with many tools, the molar of a mammoth and deer and wild boar bones. The shelter was discovered in 1926 by a customs official and was the first site of its kind studied in Switzerland.
However, between 4000 BC and the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
nothing is known about the Le Locle area.
Middle Ages
In 1150 the valley, in which Le Locle would later be built, was granted by Renaud and William Valanginian to the abbey of Fontaine-André. In 1360, John II of Aarberg, the Lord of Valanginian, received Le Locle as a fief from Count Louis of Neuchatel. The heavily wooded portion of the Jura MountainsJura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
around Le Locle, were cleared by colonists who later received the status of free peasants. These first free farmers received a charter in 1372 which codified their rights and freedoms. At the beginning of the 15th century, this charter was reconfirmed during the foundation of the Mairie or town government. The inhabitants of Le Locle were given the right to own land that they had cleared, as long as they continued to farm it and paid taxes on it. The feudal lords granted them these freedoms to encourage settlements in the mountains. Beginning in the 14th Century Le Locle and La Sagne formed a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
together. The Church of Mary Magdalene in Le Locle was built in 1351.
As a result of increasing cross-border conflicts, in 1476, Le Locle entered into a defensive alliance with Bern.
In 1502, 37 people in Le Locle were given the opportunity to pay £1780 for the title of "Citizen of Valangin". These citizens had the privilege to lead the community and to choose their own mayor and bailiff.
Early modern era
The tower of the Church of Mary Magdalene, the landmark of the city, arose early in the 16th Century. A few years after the tower was built, in 1536, Le Locle converted to the protestant faithProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. This old church was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. A German church was built in 1844, but demolished in 1967. The Catholic chapel was built in 1861.
In 1592, the Valangin fiefs returned to the County of Neuchatel, but neither the legal status of residents of the Mairie of Le Locle or its function as a district court was affected. The 1476 alliance with Bern remained in effect and during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
as well as the invasion of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
in Franche-Comte
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
, Bernese soldiers came to support the town. Le Locle sent soldiers to support their ally in 1712 during the battles of Mellingen and Villmergen
Battles of Villmergen
The Battles of Villmergen were two battles between Reformed and Catholic Swiss cantons. They occurred on January 24, 1656 and July 24, 1712 at Villmergen, Canton of Aargau, Switzerland ....
.
Le Locle's location near the French border meant that the town often enjoyed a close relationship with France. This was especially true during the years leading up to the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Many residents of Le Locle met in the Jacobin
Jacobin
Jacobin may refer to:* Jacobin , a member of the Jacobin club, or political radical, generally* The Jacobin Club, a political club during the French Revolution* Jacobin , an American leftist political magazine....
club in Morteau
Morteau
Morteau is a commune, in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Geography:This little city is situated in a widening of the Doubs river valley....
swear their support of the Constitution of 1792. The revolutionary spirit led to conflicts between supporters of the revolution and the old government. The subsequent government repression drove many residents of Le Locle into exile in the spring of 1793. Several hundred people moved to Besançon
Besançon
Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
, where they found work at the National Watch Factory which had been established by the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
. When they returned to Le Locle, they brought skilled watchmakers along with a republican attitude.
In 1707, the Principality of Neuchâtel went to King Frederick I in Prussia
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
of the Berlin-based Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
, who then ruled Neuchâtel in personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
. Napoléon Bonaparte deposed King Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
as prince of Neuchâtel and appointed instead his chief of staff Louis Alexandre Berthier
Louis Alexandre Berthier
Louis Alexandre Berthier, 1st Prince de Wagram, 1st Duc de Valangin, 1st Sovereign Prince de Neuchâtel , was a Marshal of France, Vice-Constable of France beginning in 1808, and Chief of Staff under Napoleon.-Early life:Alexandre was born at Versailles to Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Baptiste Berthier ,...
. In 1814 the principality was restored to Frederick William III. A year later he agreed to allow the principality to join the Swiss Confederation, then not yet an integrated federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
, but a confederacy
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
, as a full member. Thus Neuchâtel became the first and only monarchy to join the otherwise entirely republican Swiss cantons. This changed in 1848, when the peaceful Neuchâtel Revolution started in Le Locle. The royalist forces quickly surrendered and on 28 February 1848, the flag of the Helvetic Republic, a symbol of the republic, was hoisted over the city. The new republic and canton established the Le Locle Prefecture, which existed until 1935. During the unsuccessful counter-revolution of 1856 the town was briefly occupied by the royalists.
Le Locle was repeatedly burned by large fires (1683, 1765, 1833). It was rebuilt to its present appearance in the second quarter of the 19th century, as it became a center of the watch industry.
Modern Le Locle
Because the small Bied river often flooded the valley, a channel was cut through the valley to the Col des Roches at the beginning of the 19th century. Until 1898 the river was used to provide power for several underground mills.The city government established the high school in 1855 and opened a teacher training college in 1866 followed by a trade school in 1897. The watchmaking school was established in 1868 which was the foundation for the technical school established in 1901-02. This school eventually became the Engineering Department of the Haute école d'arts appliqués Arc as well as the engineering school of the inter-regional vocational education center Montagnes neuchâteloises.
The city made great efforts in the construction of railways. The first line to La Chaux-de-Fonds (1857) was joined by lines to Besançon (1884) and Les Brenets (1890). Nevertheless, Le Locle suffers from a certain isolation and a large amount of traffic that is only passing through.
Le Locle owes its prosperity essentially to the watch industry, in particular the manufacture of precision watches and machine tools. Daniel Jean Richard was among the pioneers who founded this branch of industry in and around Le Locle. In the Le Locle region, there were only some 77 watchmakers who were active in 1750. By 1800, that number had increased to over 800. Watchmaking began to replace agriculture and lace making as the main industries. By the end of the 18th Century the city employed about 500 lace makers.
Le Locle was home to a number of famous watchmakers and inventors, including Abraham-Louis Perrelet
Abraham-Louis Perrelet
Abraham-Louis Perrelet, , born in Neuchâtel in Switzerland was a Swiss horologist.Perrelet invented a self-winding mechanism in 1770 for pocket watches...
, Jacques-Frédéric Houriet, Frédéric-Louis Favre-Bulle and David-Henri Grandjean. In the 19th Century the town was known for its pocket and marine chronometers. The watchmaking industry transformed Le Locle into an industrial city. Initially all the work was done by hand in small shops, but by the last quarter of the 19th Century the first factories were built. The introduction of mechanized production, pushed the industry from completed watches toward machine tools and watch components. During the two World Wars, some plants, such as Zenith, later Dixi, specialized in the production of weapons. Watchmaking also required a number of associated artists and inventors. The bookseller and publisher Samuel Girardet (1730-1807) started decorating clock cases and eventually founded a dynasty of artists and engravers. The Huguenin became famous for their work painting clock housings and medals. Opening in 1856, the chocolate and confectionery factory Klaus operated until 1992.
As in most watchmaking cities in the Jura, the political and social life in Le Locle was heavily influenced by the ideas of radicalism, socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and later anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. Professor James Guillaume proposed the creation of a section of the Workers International in 1866. German-speaking socialist organizations including the Grütliverein and the Arbeiterverein testify that by the end of the 19th Century, many workers from the German-speaking Switzerland worked in Le Locle. The Socialists organized themselves into a political party in 1897 and by 1912 were a majority in the municipality. In 1956, they allied and were supported by the Swiss Party of Labour. The Socialists lost their seat in the local government council in the 1992 elections, to the movement Droit de parole, which does not have a traditional party platform. In 2004, for the first time the council was determined by a plebiscite, which gave the Swiss Party of Labour (PdA) three seats, the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(PS) and the liberale Parti progressiste national one seat each.
Geography
Le Locle has an area, , of 23.1 square kilometre. Of this area, 12.41 square kilometre or 53.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.91 square kilometre or 29.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.69 square kilometre or 15.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.05 km² (12.4 acre) or 0.2% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 26.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops and 33.8% is pastures and 19.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The capital of the Le Locle district is located at an elevation of 946 metres (3,103.7 ft).
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Lozengy Gules and Or, on a Bar Argent a Barrulet wavy Azure, in Base on a panel Argent issuant from three mounts Vert as many Pine trees of the same. However, the official coat of arms (which is rarely used) is Quartered: bendy of eight serrated gules and vert in 1 and 4 and or five flamules azure issuant from the flank in 2 and 3, overall a cross argent.
Demographics
Le Locle has a population of . , 26.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of -2.8%. It has changed at a rate of 0% due to migration and at a rate of -2.2% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(9,264 or 88.0%) as their first language, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
is the second most common (423 or 4.0%) and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
is the third (203 or 1.9%). There are 6 people who speak Romansh.
, the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The population was made up of 3,593 Swiss men (35.7% of the population) and 1,354 (13.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 3,949 Swiss women (39.3%) and 1,156 (11.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 3,884 or about 36.9% were born in Le Locle and lived there in 2000. There were 1,882 or 17.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,576 or 15.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,639 or 25.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 22.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 20.7%.
, there were 3,891 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 5,133 married individuals, 867 widows or widowers and 638 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 4,713 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household. There were 1,787 households that consist of only one person and 229 households with five or more people. , a total of 4,584 apartments (81.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 391 apartments (6.9%) were seasonally occupied and 663 apartments (11.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 5.71%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Ancien Hôtel des Postes, Monts CastleMonts Castle
Monts Castle is a castle in the municipality of Le Locle of the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-References:...
and the Museum d’horlogerie, City Hall, the Immeuble, Moulins souterrains du Col-des-Roches (Cave mills in the Col des Roches), the Villa Favre-Jacot and Zenith SA are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site:
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
La Chaux-de-Fonds/Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning (since 2009) and the entire town of Le Locle is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
.
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the PdA Party which received 24.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(22.38%), the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(20.57%) and the LPS Party
Liberal Party of Switzerland
The Liberal Party of Switzerland was a party with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party to establish FDP.The Liberals....
(16.13%). In the federal election, a total of 3,204 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 49.3%.
Economy
, Le Locle had an unemployment rate of 7.6%. , there were 95 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 38 businesses involved in this sector. 5,355 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 196 businesses in this sector. 2,409 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 300 businesses in this sector. There were 4,855 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.0% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 7,160. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 71, of which 49 were in agriculture, 17 were in forestry or lumber production and 5 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 5,141 of which 4,944 or (96.2%) were in manufacturing, 1 was in mining and 150 (2.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,948. In the tertiary sector; 591 or 30.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 79 or 4.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 128 or 6.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 13 or 0.7% were in the information industry, 58 or 3.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 94 or 4.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 349 or 17.9% were in education and 409 or 21.0% were in health care.
, there were 4,232 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,877 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.3 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 26.2% of the workforce coming into Le Locle are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.2% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 13.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.6% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 3,582 or 34.0% were Roman Catholic, while 3,140 or 29.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 56 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
(or about 0.53% of the population), there were 27 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 677 individuals (or about 6.43% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 329 (or about 3.12% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There were 27 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, 1 person who was Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and 8 individuals who belonged to another church. 2,415 (or about 22.94% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 599 individuals (or about 5.69% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Le Locle about 3,445 or (32.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 1,035 or (9.8%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 1,035 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.7% were Swiss men, 22.1% were Swiss women, 15.6% were non-Swiss men and 6.7% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 10 kindergarten classes with a total of 185 students in Le Locle. In the same year, there were 31 primary classes with a total of 564 students.
, there were 622 students in Le Locle who came from another municipality, while 250 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Le Locle is home to the Bibliothèque de la Ville Le Locle library.
Twin towns — Sister cities
Le Locle is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Sidmouth
Sidmouth
Sidmouth is a small town on the English Channel coast in Devon, South West England. The town lies at the mouth of the River Sid in the East Devon district, south east of Exeter. It has a population of about 15,000, of whom 40% are over 65....
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, UK Gérardmer
Gérardmer
Gérardmer is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.-Culture:The Fantastic'Arts festival of horror and fantastic film has been held in Gérardmer each year since 1994.-External links:...
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...