Morbier (Jura)
| Morbier | ||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | |
| Department | law | |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Claude | |
| Canton | Morez | |
| Community association | Haut-Jura | |
| Coordinates | 46 ° 32 ' N , 6 ° 1' E | |
| height | 650-1,180 m | |
| surface | 41.58 km 2 | |
| Residents | 2,292 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 55 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 39400 | |
| INSEE code | 39367 | |
| Website | www.morbier.fr | |
Morbier is a commune in the French department of Jura in the region Bourgogne Franche-Comté . On January 1, 2007, Tancua merged with Morbier.
geography
Morbier is located at 825 m , two kilometers north of Morez and about 21 km northeast of the city of Saint-Claude . The village extends in the High Jura , in a panoramic location on a terrace north of the Bienne valley cut , around 130 m above the Morez basin, on the ascent to the Col de la Savine.
The area of the 41.58 km² municipal area covers a section of the French Jura. The landscape around Morbier is characterized by parallel ridges and depressions, which are oriented towards the southwest-northeast according to the direction of the fold of the Jura in this area. From a structural geological point of view, they represent a series of anticlines and synclines , which mainly consist of rock layers from the Upper Jurassic period .
Long stretches of the southern boundary are the course of the Bienne, which is sunk deep into the Jura ridges in an erosion valley. From here, the municipal area extends northwards over the terrace of Morbier into the forest area of the Forêt de la Joux Devant (up to 1100 m ) and into the wide longitudinal hollow of the Combe de Morbier (on average at 950 m ). This hollow, mainly pastureland, is flanked in the north-west and north by the extensive forest area of the Forêt du Mont Noir (up to 1169 m ) and in the south-east by the ridge of the Roche des Trois Commères ( 1084 m ) and Les Chaumelles ( 1152 m ). This main part of the community area has no above-ground runoff because the rainwater seeps into the porous calcareous subsoil. In various places there are typical karst phenomena such as sinkholes and cart fields .
With a narrow tip, the municipality extends south-east into the valley of the Evalude , which flows into the Bienne at Bas-de-Morez. The left slope of the valley with the terrace of Les Crêtets also belongs to Morbier. The terrace is dominated by a cliff that belongs to the Risoux anticline . At the edge of the Risoux plateau of the Crêt de la Grande Rêche , Morbier's highest elevation is reached at 1180 m . The municipality is part of the Upper Jura Regional Nature Park (French: Parc naturel régional du Haut-Jura ).
In addition to the actual village, Morbier also includes various settlements, hamlets, farm groups and individual farms, including:
- Les Buclets-d'Amont ( 910 m ) north of the Bienne valley
- La Combe-Froide ( 905 m ) in the Combe of Morbier
- Les Marais ( 930 m ) on the plateau north of Morbier
- La Combe de Morbier ( 990 m ) on the edge of the Forêt du Mont Noir
- Les Frasses ( 847 m ) on the southern slope of the Evalude
Neighboring municipalities of Morbier are Lac-des-Rouges-Truites and Chapelle-des-Bois in the north, Bellefontaine in the east, Hauts de Bienne in the south and west and Grande-Rivière Château and Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux in the west.
history
The place name Morbier developed from the original Mort-Bief , which actually means dead stream and refers to a former, dried up stream. In the 14th century Morbier received certain rights of freedom. Together with Franche-Comté , the village came to France with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678. In the late 17th century the watch industry was introduced in Morbier, which developed into the most important branch of industry in the 19th century. In addition, thanks to the proximity to Morez, various eyewear manufacturing companies established themselves. With the opening of the railway line from Champagnole to Morez in 1900, Morbier was connected to the French railway network.
The area changed on January 1, 2007, when the previously independent municipality of Tancua was incorporated into Morbier.
Attractions
The current parish church of Morbier was built in the 19th century. There is a chapel in Combe-Froide that was built around 1600.
population
| Population development | |
|---|---|
| year | Residents |
| 1800 | 1,880 |
| 1836 | 2,090 |
| 1872 | 1,681 |
| 1911 | 1,433 |
| 1946 | 886 |
| 1962 | 1,217 |
| 1968 | 1,273 |
| 1975 | 1,547 |
| 1982 | 1,667 |
| 1990 | 1,964 |
| 1999 | 2,069 |
With 2292 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), Morbier is one of the medium-sized communities in the Jura department. Thanks to the economic boom, Morbier already had around 2100 inhabitants by 1840. After that, a slow decline was recorded. After 1911, due to the two world wars and the Great Depression, a decrease of almost 40% was recorded until 1946. Since 1950 there has been a renewed surge in growth, so that today about the same number of inhabitants are counted as during the peak in the 19th century.
Economy and Infrastructure
Morbier developed from a former agricultural community into an industrial location in the course of the 19th century. Other important industries today include the watch industry, the manufacture of glasses and glasses frames, and wood processing. Traditional cheese production ( Morbier ) also plays an important role. Thanks to the large surrounding area, dairy farming and cattle breeding also have a certain significance. In the meantime, thanks to its beautiful location, Morbier has also turned into a residential community. Many workers commute to Morez to work.
As a resort in a popular excursion area in the High Jura, Morbier today also benefits from tourism, especially from winter tourism, when cross-country skiing can be practiced on the Jura plateau. The slopes above the village are accessed by two ski lifts for alpine skiing.
The village is well developed in terms of traffic. It is on the main road N5, which leads from Geneva over the Col de la Faucille to Champagnole and Dole . There are other road connections with Tancua and Chapelle-des-Bois. Morbier has a train station on the railway line that runs from Morez to Champagnole.
Sons and daughters of the church
- Hervé Balland (* 1964), former French cross-country skier
