Freiberg
As Freiberge or French Franches-Montagnes region in the southwest is the Swiss canton of Jura referred. Geographically, neighboring areas of the Canton of Bern are also included in this landscape. The Freiberg Mountains form an area of around 200 km² at an average of 1000 m above sea level. M. located high plateau in the Jura , which politically belongs to the district of Freiberge (French Franches-Montagnes ) . The most important place is Saignelégier .
geography
The high plateau of the Freiberg Mountains is around 25 km long, a maximum of 9 km wide and extends between La Chaux-de-Fonds in the southwest and the Delsberg basin in the northeast. The landscape is bounded in the north and northwest by the deeply cut Doubstal , in the west by the Combe de Valanvron , in the south by the ridge of the Montagne du Droit . To the east, the Franches-Montagnes gradually merge into the significantly stronger relief zones of the Vallée de Tavannes and the Sorne catchment area .
The high plateau is characterized by several ridges and ridges in parallel to the west-south-west-east-north-east. In between there are wide, often boggy hollows. There are only minor differences in relief; the hollows are mostly at 950 to 1020 m above sea level. M. , while the ridges 1050 to 1100 m above sea level. Reach M. The highest point of the Freiberg mountains is 1185 m above sea level. M. the Point de Vue west of Les Breuleux .
Thus the Freiberg Mountains are characterized by a slightly undulating natural landscape. Around 20% of the area is forested (predominantly fir and spruce forests), around 36% of the area is covered by so-called forest or wythe pastures ( pâturages boisés , typical pastures of the High Jura with mighty spruce trees standing individually or in groups), 40% is with Meadow or arable land existed, while the rest is made up of settlement areas. The meadow and pasture land are separated from each other by dry stone walls.
geology
Geologically, the Freiberg Mountains form a transition zone between the strongly folded chain Jura and the weakly folded Plateaujura, which is why the zone is also called the Jura der Freiberg . As part of the Jurassic Folding in the late Miocene and Pliocene around 2 to 10 million years ago, pronounced case folds with flat apex and steeply to vertically sloping legs emerged behind the characteristic anticlines and synclines of the Chain Jura. Probably because of this, the development of synclines in this area has been largely suppressed. Later erosion processes , such as B. the cryoplanation led to a further leveling, so that today the fold structure is morphologically only weakly recognizable.
Competent rock layers from the upper Jurassic period ( Malm ) are present on the ridges , especially the Sequan and Kimmeridge limestone . As a result of the limestone subsoil, typical karst phenomena such as sinkholes and ponors ( sinkholes ) are present on the Freiberg mountains . A large part of the fallen precipitation seeps away immediately into the karstified subsoil. That is why there are practically no surface rivers on the entire plateau. The seeping water emerges again in karst springs in adjacent valleys ( Vallon de Saint-Imier , Vallée de Tavannes , Doubstal). The formation of dry valleys, some of which are deeply indented, in the eastern section of the Sorne catchment area indicates that earlier drainage was at least partially above ground.
Due to the erosion of hilltops and ridges, adjacent hollows were lined with layers of marl and clay , which sealed the permeable subsoil. In this way, also typical for the Franches-Montagnes, flat and raised bogs (e.g. La Tourbière, Plain de Saigne) and individual bog lakes (Étang des Royes, Étang de la Gruère , created by damming in the 17th century) were able to develop in the basins .
population
| year | Residents |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 9811 |
| 1870 | 11837 |
| 1900 | 11560 |
| 1910 | 11469 |
| 1930 | 9660 |
| 1950 | 9454 |
| 1960 | 9652 |
| 1970 | 9159 |
| 1980 | 8726 |
| 1990 | 9076 |
| 2000 | 9758 |
The geographical region of the Franches-Montagnes (not exactly to be equated with the Franches-Montagnes district) has around 9900 inhabitants (end of 2004). The main town is Saignelégier with 2142 inhabitants. The landscape is made up of 13 communities. From northeast to southwest these are: Saint-Brais , Lajoux , Les Genevez , Montfaucon , Les Enfers , Le Bémont , Saignelégier , Muriaux , La Chaux-des-Breuleux , Les Breuleux , Le Noirmont and Les Bois in the canton of Jura and La Ferrière in the Canton of Bern . Other communities in the Vallon de Saint-Imier and Tramelan have a share in the Freiberg high plateau, but the main settlements are in the adjacent valleys.
The population of the Freiberg Mountains reached their highest level as early as 1870. Strong waves of emigration, which were mostly triggered by economic crises, occurred at the beginning of the 20th century and from 1960 to 1980. Since then, significantly more newcomers have been recorded.
economy
Since the beginning of the settlement of the Freiberg mountains, agriculture has played a very important role as an industry. In addition, glassworks were operated along the Doubs, especially in the 17th century . In the course of the 18th century, the textile and watchmaking industries took their place , which were initially carried out at home, but later concentrated on Les Breuleux, Le Noirmont and Saignelégier with the construction of factories. The watch industry reached its peak in the 1960s. During the quartz crisis of the 1970s, various companies had to close, which also had a strong impact on the region's population development.
Agriculture with dairy farming and cattle breeding (especially horse breeding) is still of great importance today ; Due to the altitude, arable land is only available on small, particularly conveniently located areas. In the secondary sector, wood processing, precision engineering and several companies in the watch industry dominate.
Culture and tourism
Since the crisis of the 1970s, the Freiberg region has focused its development on tourism. Saignelégier is an important center for summer and winter tourism. Since 1985 it has had a large leisure center with a swimming pool, sports halls, conference rooms, an ice rink and a hotel. There is a golf course in Les Bois. There are 150 km of marked bridle paths and driving paths. In numerous stables you can hire horses you have brought with you, rent horses or take part in a carriage ride. There are designated restaurants that are set up to cater for trail riders. The extensive plateaus are ideal for cross-country skiing in winter.
Every year since 1897, on the second Sunday in August, Saignelégier has held the Marché-Concours national de chevaux, a national horse market. This festival attracts thousands of visitors from regions far outside the canton of Jura.
traffic
Despite their peripheral location in Switzerland, the Freiberg Mountains are relatively well developed for traffic. The main road 18 runs from Delsberg via Saignelégier to La Chaux-de-Fonds; Another main road leads from Tavannes on the A16 motorway via Tramelan to Saignelégier. The Freiberg Mountains were connected to the railway network on December 7, 1892 with the opening of the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds narrow-gauge railway . The continuation of the line to Glovelier was inaugurated on May 21, 1904. On December 16, 1913, the line from Le Noirmont to Tramelan was finally put into operation. The entire network has been operated by the Chemins de fer du Jura since 1944 .
history
An early but still extremely sparse development of the high plateau began in the 7th century, starting from the monasteries of Saint-Ursanne and Saint-Imier , in order to gain summer pastures for the cattle. A gift from Rudolf III. of Burgundy , the area was subordinated to the Bishop of Basel in 999 . As the first settlement on the plateau, Montfaucon was mentioned in 1139 in a document from Pope Innocent II . It was then called Mons Falconis and was owned by the chapter of Saint-Ursanne. Until the 14th century, this name was also used for the entire plateau.
Probably in the late 13th century, the noble family von Muriaux founded the Spiegelberg Castle on a rocky ridge high above the Doubstal as the center of a small lordship that was acquired by the Prince-Bishop of Basel in the first half of the 14th century .
On November 17, 1384, the then Prince-Bishop Imer von Ramstein issued a license for the region, which was still hardly populated. This gave immigrants and their descendants exceptional freedoms, because they should be exempt from interest and tithes on their cleared land forever. This gave the area the name Franches Montagnes (in German, Freiberge), mentioned in 1384 as Fryenberg and in 1595 as La Franche Montagne des Bois . As a result, mainly settlers from Saint-Ursanne, Val de Ruz and Burgundy settled on the Franches- Montagnes. They cleared the area, made it arable and gradually founded today's villages. An episcopal Meier, later a kastlan or bailiff, who had his seat partly in Saint-Ursanne, partly at Schloss Spiegelberg and from 1691 in Saignelégier , was in charge of the Freiberg mountains .
The Freiberg population suffered from various famines, particularly during the Thirty Years' War when the villages were pillaged and pillaged by Swedish troops. From the 16th to the 18th century, the Freiberg Mountains served as a refuge for Anabaptist families from the Emmental , who were persecuted there for their beliefs.
With the invasion of the French troops in 1792, the end of the freedom rights of the area was sealed. From 1793 to 1815 the Franches-Montagnes belonged to France and were initially part of the Mont-Terrible department , which was connected to the Haut-Rhin department in 1800 . As a result of the decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the region came to the canton of Bern and was largely combined in the Franches-Montagnes district.
As part of the Jura question , a clear majority of the Freiberg population voted in a referendum in 1974 in favor of the creation of the new canton. As border communities in the Moutier district , Lajoux and Les Genevez voted in 1975 to separate from Bern. With the establishment of the canton of Jura on January 1, 1979, they therefore moved to the new Jura district of Franches-Montagnes.
Attractions
The region's sights are worth mentioning:
- the open natural and park landscape of the Freiberg mountains with the individual courtyards in the characteristic Freiberg style (whitewashed facades; living and work rooms as well as stables are mostly all united under a single large roof)
- the moor lake Étang de la Gruère
- the Spiegelberg ruins on a ridge above the Doubstal
- the churches of Montfaucon (formed the mother parish of the Franches-Montagnes) and Saignelégier
Web links
- Claude Rebetez: Freiberge. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Coordinates: 47 ° 12 '15.6 " N , 6 ° 58' 47.2" E ; CH1903: 565235 / two hundred twenty-eight thousand two hundred fifty-seven