Ballaigues

Ballaigues
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Vaud (VD)
District :	Jura north vaudois
BFS no. :	5744
Postal code :	1338
Coordinates :	521 712  /  175 843 coordinates: 46 ° 43 '45 "  N , 6 ° 24' 52"  O ; CH1903:  521,712  /  175843
Height :	861  m above sea level M.
Height range :	592–1243 m above sea level M.
Area :	9.06  km²
Residents:	1064 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	117 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.ballaigues.ch
Village center
Location of the municipality

Ballaigues is a municipality in the Jura-Nord vaudois district in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland .

geography

Ballaigues lies at 861  m above sea level. M. , 3 km northeast of Vallorbe and 18 km west-southwest of the district capital Yverdon-les-Bains (beeline). The former street line village extends in the Vaudois Jura on the southern slope of the Suchet chain, high above the incised river course of the Orbe .

The 9.0 km² municipal area covers a section of the Vaud Jura. The southwestern border runs along the Jougnena , which flows into the Orbe. The southern border is formed by the Orbe, which has created a deep valley here along a fault in the Jura Mountains system over the course of millions of years. From this valley system, the municipality extends north over the slope of Ballaigues to the anticline of the Suchet, on which at 1244  m above sea level. M. the highest point of the municipality is reached. Here there are extensive Jura high pastures with the typical mighty spruce trees , which either stand individually or in groups. In 1997, 9% of the municipal area was settled, 49% forest and woodland, 41% agriculture and a little less than 1% was unproductive land.

Ballaigues has some individual farms that are widely scattered on the Jura heights. Ballaigues' neighboring municipalities are Vallorbe , Les Clées and Lignerolle in the canton of Vaud and Jougne in neighboring France .

history

Historic aerial photo by Walter Mittelholzer from 1931

The first written mention of the place took place in 1228 under the name Ballevui ; In 1453 the name Bella Aqua appeared . Accordingly, the place name is of Latin origin and means beautiful water . During the Middle Ages , Ballaigues belonged to the lordship of Les Clées . Since 1302 it formed its own small lordship with the neighboring municipality of Lignerolle, which was divided into the individual villages in 1604. With the conquest of Vaud by Bern in 1536, the village came to the Landvogtei Yverdon. After the collapse of the Ancien Régime , Ballaigues belonged to the canton of Léman from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic, which then became part of the canton of Vaud when the mediation constitution came into force . It was assigned to the Orbe district in 1798.

population

With 1064 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018), Ballaigues is one of the smaller municipalities in the canton of Vaud. 92.8% of the residents are French-speaking, 2.5% Italian-speaking and 2.2% German-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Ballaigues was 530 in 1850 and 717 in 1900. Then it rose to 941 inhabitants by 1941. After a small decline in the period that followed, it has remained stable over the past few decades.

economy

Ballaigues was mainly an agricultural village until the middle of the 19th century . Until the 19th century, the town benefited from transit traffic over the Jougne Pass (later the main traffic was handled via Vallorbe) and from border trade. The industrial development of Ballaigues began shortly before 1800 when the Société des Forges du Creux was founded, which manufactured agricultural implements (scythes, later also machines). Operations ceased in 1956. Other important branches of industry since the end of the 19th century were watchmaking , a camera factory and the production of dental instruments. There has also been a wine wholesaler since 1790. Agriculture is now of little importance and focuses on cattle breeding and dairy farming .

traffic

The community has good transport connections. It is on the main road from Orbe to Vallorbe or over the Jougnepass to Pontarlier in France. The center of Ballaigues has been relieved of transit traffic since 1989, when the A9 motorway was opened. The A9 runs below the village with several Lehnen viaducts along the northern slope of the Orbe valley. Ballaigues is connected to the public transport network through the Postbus course that runs from Orbe to Vallorbe.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Ballaigues

Ballaigues has owned a church since the place was first mentioned. The current structure of the Reformed Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste was built in 1711 on the site of the medieval church. Remains of the Roman road that led through the municipality have been preserved in the forest west of the village.

gallery

• 

  Reformed Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste

• 

  Village shop

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  Hotel de la Croix d'Or

Personalities

• Louis Soutter (1871–1942), Swiss painter
• Pierre Arnold (1921–2007), Migros boss

Web links

Commons : Ballaigues  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality
• Guy Le Comte: Ballaigues. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Aerial photography
• Ballaigues on the ETHorama platform

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent and non-permanent resident population by year, canton, district, municipality, population type and gender (permanent resident population). In: bfs. admin.ch . Federal Statistical Office (FSO), August 31, 2019, accessed on December 22, 2019 .