Clos du Doubs (region)
The Clos du Doubs is a region in the Swiss canton of Jura . It encompasses the entire section of the Doube valley near Saint-Ursanne , about 15 km west of Delémont , on Swiss territory . The center of the approximately 80 km² region is Saint-Ursanne. The Clos du Doubs in the narrower sense describes the 12 km long and maximum 4 km wide ridge southwest of Saint-Ursanne, around which the Doubs flows on three sides.
As Clos du Doubs (Fr .: commune du Clos-du-Doubs ) is also called the new political community, which on 1 January 2009 from the merger of the former municipalities Epauvillers , Epiquerez , Montenol , Montmelon , Ocourt , Saint-Ursanne and Seleute came into being.
geography
The region of the Clos du Doubs is characterized by the Doube valley, which is cut about 400 to 500 m into the surrounding Jura ranges. The Doubs flows from the Swiss border at Clairbief, a hamlet near Soubey , for around 15 km to the east-northeast, turns north at Montmelon and 2 km further west at Saint-Ursanne. After a further 10 km running route with several turns and two weir dams, it crosses over to French territory near Brémoncourt . In this section, the Doubs has a near-natural to natural river bed over long stretches. Its flat valley floor is generally no more than 200 m wide, only in the area in front of Ocourt is it about 400 m wide. The river itself is about 15-20 meters wide at Ocourt. The valley slopes are mostly very steep, partly criss-crossed by ledges and divided by short side streams by erosion channels. The slopes are mainly composed of mixed deciduous forest, only on flatter areas and on ledges there is meadow and pasture land.
Within the Doubsbogen there is a narrow ridge, also called Clos du Doubs, which forms the eastern continuation of the Maîche plateau . It is divided from east to west into the ridge of Montenol (690 m above sea level), the Chêtelat (841 m above sea level ), the meadow height Fin du Teck (892 m above sea level), the Bois de Villers (at 917 m above sea level, the highest point on the ridge in Swiss territory) and the long ridge of Epiquerez (up to 903 m above sea level).
The northern boundary of the Clos du Doubs region is the Lomont-Mont-Terri chain (up to 940 m above sea level). In the south, the valley slopes of the Doubs lead directly to the high plateau of the Freiberg mountains. The Saint-Brais-Mont-Russelin chain seals off the Doubstal from the Delsberg Basin to the southeast and east . These two chains converge in the northeast of the Clos du Doubs at the Les Rangiers pass crossing (856 m above sea level), so that the region is separated from the rest of the canton of Jura by high Jura chains .
geology
From a geological point of view, the Clos du Doubs belongs to the northern fold of the Jura . However, multiple fault lines lead to a complicated structure of the individual chains. The anticlines are partially thrust over deeper lying flat rock layers of the same deposit period. In addition, the apex of the anticlines was broken open in many places at weak points and removed by erosion . The uppermost competent rock layers in the region are the limestone from the younger Jurassic period ( Malm ). Due to the effect of the erosion , the underlying, softer effinger layers and the limestone banks of the main roe stone ( Dogger ) were exposed.
population
| Population development | |
|---|---|
| year | Residents |
| 1850 | 2514 |
| 1860 | 2643 |
| 1900 | 2248 |
| 1920 | 2548 |
| 1930 | 2328 |
| 1950 | 2437 |
| 1960 | 2340 |
| 1970 | 2032 |
| 1980 | 1764 |
| 1990 | 1601 |
| 2000 | 1511 |
| 2010 | 1408 |
The geographical region of the Clos du Doubs has around 1400 inhabitants (at the end of 2011) and thus has a very low population density. The central place is Saint-Ursanne with around 700 inhabitants. The landscape was made up of eight communities, namely Saint-Ursanne , Seleute , Ocourt , Montenol and Montmelon in the Porrentruy district and Epauvillers , Epiquerez and Soubey in the Franches-Montagnes district . With the exception of Soubey, these municipalities merged in 2009 to form the municipality of Clos du Doubs .
The population of the Clos du Doubs has varied over time, depending on the economic situation. It peaked as early as 1860. Continuous emigration has been recorded since 1950, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. From 1950 until today the population has decreased by over 40%.
economy
Most of the villages of the Clos du Doubs (except Saint-Ursanne) make a living from agriculture . While arable farming , dairy farming and fruit growing predominate on the cultivated land in the lower elevations, the higher elevations mainly serve as summer pastures. The industrial activity is limited to Saint-Ursanne. There is a lime factory, mechanical workshops, watchmaking companies and the woodworking industry. Saint-Ursanne and Soubey also generate income through tourism.
traffic
Until the construction of the railway line from Glovelier to Porrentruy , which went into operation on March 30, 1877, the Clos du Doubs was off the road at that time. The railway crosses under Mont Russelin and Mont Terri in two long tunnels; Various bridges and tunnels also had to be built on the way through the Clos du Doubs region due to the difficult topography.
On the road, Saint-Ursanne could be reached over the pass of Les Rangiers. Other road connections lead from Saint-Ursanne over the pass of Sur la Croix to Porrentruy, through the Doubstal to Saint-Hippolyte in France and via Soubey to Montfaucon . It was only with the opening of the A16 in 1998 that Saint-Ursanne received a significantly faster connection to both the canton capital Delémont and Porrentruy. For the A16, too, two long tunnels had to be driven through the chains of Mont Russelin and Mont Terri.
history
The region of the Clos du Doubs corresponds roughly to the territory of the former provost of Saint-Ursanne. This monastery was probably founded in the 9th century near a hermitage of Ursicinus. Ursicinus was a companion of St. Columban and settled here shortly after 600. Starting from the monastery of Saint-Ursanne, the area of the Clos du Doubs was first cleared and settled, later summer pastures were set up for the cattle , especially on the heights of the Freiberg mountains . In 1210 the provost definitely came under the sovereignty of the prince-bishops of Basel .
After the invasion of French troops, the region of the Clos du Doubs belonged to France from 1793 to 1815 and was initially part of the Département du Mont Terrible , which was connected to the Département Haut-Rhin in 1800 . As a result of the decision of the Congress of Vienna , the region came to the canton of Bern in 1815 , with the northern part of the Clos du Doubs being added to the Porrentruy district and the southern part to the Franches-Montagnes district. There were efforts to reunite the area of the former provost and to raise it to the status of a district, but this was rejected by the canton. On January 1, 1979, the Clos du Doubs came to the newly founded Canton of Jura.
The area has always been predominantly agricultural. An exception was the Bellefontaine ironworks (in the Doubstal between Saint-Ursanne and Ocourt), which opened in 1753 and employed over 300 workers around 1800. However, it had to cease operations in 1861 because competition from abroad was too great.
Attractions
The region's sights are worth mentioning:
- the lonely Doubstal, a beautiful hiking area; the Doubs is ideal for canoeing and cycling
- the medieval town of Saint-Ursanne
- Soubey with its church
