“The city of La Chaux-de-Fond’s modest, even austere appearance belies its originality, intensity and generosity.
Three figures of world renown were sons of this city.
One was an architect, painter and town planner: Le Corbusier.
Another was a writer, poet and globe-trotter: Blaise Cendrars.
The third was a mechanic, racing driver and car designer: Louis-Joseph Chevrolet.
At 1000 meters above sea-level, this city of 38,000 inhabitants lies in the handsome green setting of the Haut-Jura; its structure, its look and much of its character, indeed its very existence, derives from the watch industry. Like the French prefectures, it is the seat of various administrative and judiciary services of the government of Neuchâtel. It is laid out on a grid pattern born of town planning in a clearly defined and idealistic vein spawned by the Age of Enlightenment, and applied to the city—then only a village—when it was rebuilt after the accidental fire of 1794 during which it was entirely destroyed. Today La Chaux-de-Fonds is Switzerland’s most important 19th-century urban grouping: this was confirmed in 1984, when the State pronounced it a national heritage site. As an architectural melting-pot featuring almost all the building trends of the 19th and 20th centuries, the city boasts a major legacy of Art nouveau treasures.
The collections in the city’s museums—be it the Fine Arts Museum, Historical Museum, International Watchmaking Museum, Natural History Museum or Museum of Farming and Handicrafts—are all enhanced by the architectural beauty of the buildings housing them. The city’s two theatres also ally culture and architecture. One of the two (built in 1836/37 and classed as a National Monument in 1990) has been recently restored: together with the theatre in Bellinzone, it is the only example of Italian-style theatres in Switzerland.”Excerpts taken from the guide book :
La Chaux-de-Fonds bon pied bon œil : découvrez la ville en parcourant ses rues , La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1997 (translation : Margie Mounier).
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Ville de La Chaux-de-Fonds
Tourisme neuchâtelois
