Saint-Blaise NE

NE is the abbreviation for the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland and is used to avoid confusion with other entries of the name Saint-Blaise .

Saint Blaise
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Neuchâtel (NE)
District :	No district division
BFS no. :	6459
Postal code :	2072
UN / LOCODE :	CH SAB
Coordinates :	565 594  /  207236 coordinates: 47 ° 0 '55 "  N , 6 ° 59' 10"  O ; CH1903:  five hundred and sixty-five thousand five hundred ninety-four  /  207236
Height :	440  m above sea level M.
Height range :	424–1140 m above sea level M.
Area :	8.86  km²
Residents:	3212 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	363 inhabitants per km²
Website:	www.saint-blaise.ch
Location of the municipality

Saint-Blaise is a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland . The former German name Sankt Blasien is no longer used today.

geography

Saint-Blaise is 440  m above sea level. M. , 5 km northeast of the canton capital Neuchâtel (linear distance). The village extends at the southern foot of the Jura , on the north bank of Lake Neuchâtel , on both sides of the village stream Le Ruau .

The area of ​​the 8.9 km² municipal area comprises a section of the shoreline on Lake Neuchâtel in the area of ​​the mouth of the Ruau. To the east, the area extends over the lowland with Lake Loclat to the height of the Plateau de Wavre ( 470  m above sea level ). In the north, the municipality extends over the Roches de Châtollion ( 671  m above sea level ) and the valley of the Ruau to the anticline of the Chaumont , whose southeast slope (La Grande Côte) is densely forested. At the height of the Chaumont is 1140  m above sea level. M. reached the highest point of Saint-Blaise. In 1997, 18 percent of the municipal area was in settlements, 54 percent in forests and woodlands, 27 percent in agriculture and a little less than 1 percent was unproductive land.

The hamlets of Voëns ( 584  m above sea level ) and Le Maley ( 617  m above sea level ), both in a hollow on the southern slope of the Chaumont, as well as some individual farms belong to Saint-Blaise . The neighboring municipalities of Saint-Blaise are Hauterive , Neuchâtel , Cressier , Cornaux and La Tène .

Historic aerial photo by Werner Friedli from 1970

population

Population development
year	1850	1900	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000
Residents	1056	1650	1859	2412	2586	2788	2930	3117

With 3212 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018), Saint-Blaise is one of the larger municipalities in the canton of Neuchâtel. Of the residents, 82.6% are French-speaking, 7.8% German-speaking and 3.5% Italian-speaking (as of 2000). The population has increased significantly, especially since 1950.

politics

The voting shares of the parties at the 2015 National Council election were: FDP 38.6%, SP 25.4%, SVP 14.0%, GPS  7.4%, PdA 5.3%, glp 4.1%, CVP 3.0 %, BDP 1.0%.

economy

Saint-Blaise used to be mainly a winemaking village, but developed into an industrial community towards the end of the 19th century and a residential community over the course of the 20th century. Today, Saint-Blaise has grown together with the neighboring communities of Hauterive and Marin-Epagnier. On the slopes above the north shore of Lake Neuchâtel, which are optimally exposed to the sun, viticulture is practiced (see also the article Viticulture in Switzerland ), although this is no longer as important as it used to be. At the eastern edge of the village a larger industrial and commercial area was created, in which, among other things, an industrial bakery, a watch factory and mechanical engineering companies are located.

From 1903 to 1934, the Martini company was located in Saint-Blaise , the most important and most successful Swiss production facility for cars .

traffic

Saint-Blaise maritime train station

Catholic Church in Saint-Blaise, built in 1939

The community is well developed in terms of traffic, it is located on the main road 5 from Biel / Bienne to Neuchâtel. In December 1995 the town center was relieved of through traffic after the opening of the A5 motorway . The motorway runs at a low altitude along the bank, mostly in open-cast tunnels. After construction, the lakeshore was redesigned and a recreation zone was set up.

On November 7, 1859, the railway line from Neuchâtel to Le Landeron was opened with a station in Saint-Blaise, the western part of which is in the municipality of Hauterive. The second station in Saint-Blaise is on the Neuchâtel- Bern line , which was inaugurated on July 1, 1901. Saint-Blaise is also served by the network of Transports en commun de Neuchâtel et environs , including line 1 of the Neuchâtel trolleybus . A Postbus course runs via Enges to Lignières . Furthermore, during the summer months, Saint-Blaise is connected to the other Seeanstösser communities as well as to Lake Murten and Lake Biel via the shipping network on Lake Neuchâtel .

history

The place can look back on a very long tradition of settlement. Already around 3000 years BC The area was inhabited. Remains of a pile dwelling village from the Bronze Age , traces of settlement by Helvetian farmers, as well as traces from the Roman and Migration Period were found, which indicates a possible continuous settlement for 5000 years.

The first written mention of the village was in 1011 under the name Arins . In 1209 the name Sanctus Blasus appeared , which initially only applied to the lower part of the village, while the upper part was still called Arens . Saint-Blaise had belonged to the county of Neuchâtel since the 13th century and was part of the Thielle Bailiwick. From 1648 Neuchâtel was a principality and from 1707 it was linked to the Kingdom of Prussia through personal union. In 1806 the area was ceded to Napoleon I and came to the Swiss Confederation in the course of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 , whereby the kings of Prussia until the Neuchâtel trade in 1857 also remained princes of Neuchâtel. In 1888 the hamlets of Voëns and Le Maley, which previously formed a separate municipality, were connected to Saint-Blaise.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Saint-Blaise

Today's Reformed Church (Temple) Saint-Blaise was built in the 15th and 16th centuries in the Gothic style with a striking front tower and arched portal. It stands on the site of a Carolingian chapel and is the only historic building in Saint-Blaise to be classified as a Historic Monument of National Importance.

In the center there are numerous patrician houses from the 16th to 18th centuries, including the Maison de la Dîme from 1581 with a hexagonal stair tower and the Maison Neuve from 1660, also with a stair tower. The Hôtel communal dates from 1694. The mill (moulin du Haut) was rebuilt by Jean Dardel at the beginning of the 16th century. The mill wheel has been in operation again since 1979 (but not the mill).

Right on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel is the Laténium , an important archaeological museum on the culture and history of the Celts , especially the La Tène period .

Parish partnership

In 1961, Saint-Blaise entered into a partnership with the German city ​​of St. Blasien in the Black Forest ( Baden-Württemberg ).

literature

• Clottu, Olivier: Histoire de Saint-Blaise. - Saint-Blaise, 1995.
• Saint-Blaise, 1890–1930: un village ou cœur d'une région. - Saint-Blaise, 1987.

Web links

Commons : Saint-Blaise  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the municipality of Saint-Blaise (French)
• Olivier Girardbille: Saint-Blaise. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

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 . 
2. ^ Election du Conseil National du October 18, 2015, Résultats des partis - Les suffrages. (aspx) (No longer available online.) Chancellerie d'État neuchâtelois, October 18, 2015, archived from the original on November 1, 2015 ; Retrieved October 30, 2016 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.