Glacières de Sylans
Glacières de Sylans was a commercial enterprise on the banks of the Lac de Sylans in the Ain department for the extraction and distribution of natural ice . The production of natural ice is a form of raw materials management that no longer exists today . The company followed the tradition of the Glacières de Paris , who had been bringing ice to cities for cooling purposes since the 16th century . Around 1900 the annual production was 300,000 t , which was transported away by several freight trains every day. The last iron harvest took place in 1917 - also due to transport difficulties caused by the First World War. The 150 m long company building, now in ruins, characterizes the southern coast of the lake.
Starting position
The natural mountain lake Lac de Sylans in the Jura-Quertal Cluse de Nantua , built up by rubble from a landslide, formed the basis for ice production.
Several factors still favor reliable annual ice formation in the months of November to March:
- The elongated lake stretches over 2 km, but is only 200 to 250 m wide, lies roughly in a west-east direction and is shaded on the south bank by a steep mountain slope.
- Both mountain slopes on the longitudinal banks are steep and forested, which reduces winds and keeps the daily air temperature flat.
- The lake has a shallow depth averaging 10 m (calculated from volume by surface).
- Part of the inflow is in the east, part of the outflow is also in the east. The water retention time in the lake is around 200 days.
- The height above the sea is almost 600 m.
The clear, medium-hard water comes mainly from the Ruisseau de Charix and the valleys to the east and north.
Foundation and operation
The initiator and founder of the company was the restaurateur Joachim Moinat (1830–1890) from Café de Paradis in Nantua , who realized that his guests would rather drink chilled lemonades in summer. In November 1864 he acquired the rights to use the lake from the community and sold his café so that he could devote himself entirely to his new vision. First he built a wooden hut to store the ice cream and sold his product himself to the surrounding restaurants. In 1869 he built a larger stone warehouse, which was renovated in 1875 and then expanded repeatedly. These buildings had a double-shell, one meter thick stone wall with insulation made of sawdust, the buildings from 1905 onwards were made of Hennebique reinforced concrete.
The business flourished and ten years later, depending on the hardness of the winter, he employed between 150 and 300 people. The Bourg-en-Bresse – Bellegarde railway, which runs directly along the lakeshore , was completed in 1877 and greatly benefited his company. Moinat had a siding built on the line in 1883 and was soon able to load 20 to 30 wagons a day, which were only on the move at night due to the lower temperatures. Before that, he had to transport the ice cream to the Bellegarde-sur-Valserine train station on horse-drawn carts . The freight wagons with ice went to Lyon, Geneva and Paris, and occasionally even to Algeria.
Despite long working hours in two-shift operation, employment in the low-work winter time was a welcome opportunity for poor mountain farmers to earn a living. The two shifts went from six to six o'clock with an hour break at midnight and noon. The year-round permanent workforce was 30 people, who were primarily entrusted with loading the freight trains, but also with maintenance work on the buildings and machines.
Decline, ruin and preservation
In 1885 Moinat withdrew from the business and sold it to the Glacières de Paris . Prosper Roget became director at the lake, who further industrialized the business and ensured even greater economic success. At the turn of the century, the facilities also included a canteen and a chapel.
The invention of the electric chiller for making ice cream quickly put an end to the business model. In addition, there were reduced transport options during the First World War and a generally reduced demand due to economic depression. In 1921 the Société des Glacières de Paris withdrew from business. Different companies tried their luck with different activities on the site, but the increasing dilapidation of the buildings on the soft bank terrace made it necessary to close the property to the public. In 2007 the Communauté des Communes du lac de Nantua (CCLN) acquired the site with the aim of documenting and conveying the history and importance of the building fabric. Numerous information boards around the fence have been providing information on this since 2012. Other events organized by the tourist office take place on the spacious grounds surrounding the building during the year.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pierre Vinçard: Les Ouvriers de Paris: alimenation . Gosselin, 1863, p. 321 f. (French)
- ↑ Suivi de la qualité dulac de Sylans (Ain) Année 2008 . RAPPORTS Ministère de l'Écologie, de l'Énergie, du Développement durable et de l'Aménagement du territoire, Direction régionale de l'environnement Direction régionale de l'environnement Rhône-Alpes, p. 7/55 (PDF, French)
- ^ Fiche de synthèse masse d'eau plan d'eau: Lac de Sylans (French).
- ↑ a b Information boards in the area (French / English)
- ↑ a b History of the Glacières de Sylans . In: NantuArt, August 2016, No. 13 (French)