UNESCO World Heritage

La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning

Two towns that tick alike

The towns of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, situated in the Jura mountains of the Canton of Neuchâtel, bear witness to the successful symbiosis between their urban setting and their watchmaking industry. After suffering devastating fires, their reconstruction in the early 19th century was carefully planned. The chequerboard design of the roads and constructions was specifically adapted to the requirements of the thriving industry. Many of the buildings displayed a well-thought-out combination of living quarters, production areas and offices. Today, they are a testimony to the history of local craftsmanship and industry. The fact that the region is still an important international watchmaking centre is proven by the many well-known watch brands which have their headquarters here.

Factsheet
Date of Inscription

2009

Criteria of Inscription

iv

Category

Cultural Heritage

Region

Neuchâtel

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Visitor centre
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
A fantastic multimedia space dedicated to the Watchmaking town planning. The ideal place to unravel the secrets of this UNESCO World Heritage site: a multimedia ...
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Guided tour
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
Comfortably explore the connection between urbanism and watchmaking. The comfortable seats allow visitors to effortlessly explore every corner of the city and ...
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Attraction
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
This is a magnificent building complex built between 1890 and 1900, and consists of a factory section placed between two bourgeois apartment houses. The company ...
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Attraction
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
This striking, four-story factory was built for the Election watchmaking brand between 1895 and 1900. The composition makes use of the ternary and binary rows of ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
Around 1913, this commercial building from around 1890 housed the workshop of Paul Montandon-Gnägi, a watchmaking manufacturer and trader. Towards 1950, it ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
A fine residential building from around 1890. Note the row of windows that indicate its orginal use as workshops. In 1898, the premises were occupied by a firm producing ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
This fine mixed-purpose building from around 1902 has an original, elegant architecture. Note the fine stained glass in the bow window. Bow window: Protruding ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
In 1854, the renowned watch manufacturer Constant Girard married Marie Perregaux, the daughter of a maker of chronometers in Le Locle. This was the birth of ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
Built in 1901 by architect Louis Reutter, this mixed-purpose building housed the company Mosimann & Cie from 1908 until 1952. In 1926, the firm took on the name ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
Nicknamed "the eagle", this residential building with a metropolitan look is adjacent to a larg factory. It was built in 1906 by architect Léon ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
A commercial building plus a small factory, this is the creation of the builder Romério Fils, from 1905. The turret lends a certain air of nobility to these ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
Mixed bourgeois residential building (note the stained glass windows in the living area) built in 1910 by architect Henri Grishaber for Alphonse Arnoud. The neo-baroque ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
This building, by architect Louis Bobbia, was built in 1906 for the company Graizely & Cie, which patented the "Hebdomas" watch with an eight-day movement ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
During the 18th century, the traditional dwelling in the Neuchâtel Mountains was a farm, of which one part was reserved for cattle and the other for the family. ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
A veritable industrial complex built in 1890 at nr. 6a, Boulevard du Château (the former name of the street). The firm Veuve Charles-Léon Schmid & ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
A German immigrant who had settled in Saint-Imier, Léon Breitling installed his watchmaking firm on the Ruelle Montbrillant in 1892, which led to the name ...
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Point of interest
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
The building, from 1889, has housed a factory making watch cases since 1895 under the original owners' names: J. Guillod fils. On the ground floor, note the ...
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Destination
La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
Programme suggestion to discover the UNESCO World Heritage Site "La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning" in one day.   10:00 ...
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