LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS – NEUCHÂTEL
The City of La Chaux-de-Fonds located in the “Watch Valley” of the Canton of Neuchâtel is considered the focal point of the Swiss watchmaking industry. It is the birthplace of Louis Chevrolet, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jaquet-Droz, and of course our own François Robert. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, La Chaux-de-Fonds was completely destroyed by fire in 1794 and rebuilt in the 1800s as a single industry town – watchmaking. The city was described by Karl Marx in his Das Kapital as a huge factory town.
The focus of any visit to the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds has to be the International Museum of Horology – the study of time keeping. The Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH), as it is known in French, is home to more than 4500 collection pieces, and is considered today as having one of the broadest & most comprehensive watch collections in the world. During your visit to the museum you’ll be introduced to Pierre Jaquet-Droz, the celebrated Swiss watchmaker & mechanic from the 18th century. His astonishing automated mechanisms, among which is an android made of 6000 pieces, fascinated the world’s most important people of the time. They still do today. For a look at the “writer”, check out the video. Amazing!
Would you like to go back in time and experience first hand what it must have been like to be a smuggler or a customs officer along & across the French-Swiss border in the Jura mountains? If you do, an adventure awaits you that will take you from Morteau on the French side to La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. You’ll not only have the opportunity to be fully immersed into the world of smuggling, you’ll have the pleasure of exploring stunning landscapes and exceptional natural & heritage sites. Hope that you have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the “Orlogeur” on the Chemins de la Contrebande.
Enjoy the web sites & videos by clicking on the highlighted links above.
The City of La Chaux-de-Fonds located in the “Watch Valley” of the Canton of Neuchâtel is considered the focal point of the Swiss watchmaking industry. It is the birthplace of Louis Chevrolet, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jaquet-Droz, and of course our own François Robert. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, La Chaux-de-Fonds was completely destroyed by fire in 1794 and rebuilt in the 1800s as a single industry town – watchmaking. The city was described by Karl Marx in his Das Kapital as a huge factory town.
The focus of any visit to the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds has to be the International Museum of Horology – the study of time keeping. The Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH), as it is known in French, is home to more than 4500 collection pieces, and is considered today as having one of the broadest & most comprehensive watch collections in the world. During your visit to the museum you’ll be introduced to Pierre Jaquet-Droz, the celebrated Swiss watchmaker & mechanic from the 18th century. His astonishing automated mechanisms, among which is an android made of 6000 pieces, fascinated the world’s most important people of the time. They still do today. For a look at the “writer”, check out the video. Amazing!
Would you like to go back in time and experience first hand what it must have been like to be a smuggler or a customs officer along & across the French-Swiss border in the Jura mountains? If you do, an adventure awaits you that will take you from Morteau on the French side to La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. You’ll not only have the opportunity to be fully immersed into the world of smuggling, you’ll have the pleasure of exploring stunning landscapes and exceptional natural & heritage sites. Hope that you have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the “Orlogeur” on the Chemins de la Contrebande.
Enjoy the web sites & videos by clicking on the highlighted links above.