Val de Ruz
The Val de Ruz , in German outdated Rudolfstal , is a high valley in the Neuchâtel Jura in Switzerland . It lies between Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds and is drained from the Seyon to the south to Lake Neuchâtel . The valley, which covers an area of around 45 km², takes up a large part of the former district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel . The inhabitants of the Val-de-Ruz are called les Vaudruziens .
geography
The Val de Ruz has a rhombic floor plan and extends around 13 km in a south-west-north-east direction; the maximum width is 4.5 km. In the central area, the valley floor is on average 720 m above sea level. M. , but towards the northwest it rises continuously to 900 m above sea level. M. at. The valley stretches from Montmollin in the southwest to Villiers in the far northeast. The basin of Le Pâquier is directly connected to the Val de Ruz by the Klus von Chenau, but is no longer part of the Val de Ruz valley in the narrower sense.
The most important watercourse of the Val de Ruz is the Seyon, which has its source at Villiers and then runs through the south-eastern section of the valley basin before it leaves the valley at Valangin through the Gorges du Seyon . On its way through the Val de Ruz, it gradually sinks into the Tertiary deposits, so that it already flows above Valangin in a valley sunk around 50 m into the hollow. From the northwestern valley flanks of the Val de Ruz, the Seyon receives an inflow through several short side streams.
The Val de Ruz is limited on its southeast side by the height of Serroue (at 843 m above sea level, only slightly higher than the valley basin) and by the Chaumont (up to 1180 m above sea level ). In the north-west of the valley the Jura range runs from Mont Racine ( 1,439 m above sea level ), Tête de Ran ( 1,422 m above sea level ) and Mont d'Amin ( 1,417 m above sea level ).
geology
From a geological point of view, the Val de Ruz forms a broad syncline in the Jura folds between the anticlines of Chaumont and Tête de Ran. The lower layers of the valley basin are filled with tertiary sandstone and marl layers, which were mainly transported here from the north from the Vosges region. Quaternary deposits of both glacial and fluvial origin were deposited on top . In the higher elevations, especially in the north-western section of the Mulde, there are limestones from the Cretaceous period , while limestone layers from the Upper Jurassic Period ( Malm ) emerge on the wooded slopes .
population
The Val de Ruz has around 14,900 inhabitants (end of 2005). The main town and largest town is Cernier with 2033 inhabitants. The valley is made up of 15 communities, all of which belong to the Val-de-Ruz district .
economy
Almost the entire Val de Ruz was cleared early on, the boggy lowlands drained and converted into cultivated land. Summer pastures were established on the surrounding Jura heights. With the exception of Valangin and Engollon, every municipality still has a share in the extensive high pastures on the Tête-de-Ran chain or on the Chaumont. In addition to agriculture, the manufacture of wood and cloth goods as well as hat making was important.
Today the fertile soils in the valley basin are used intensively for agriculture. The villages in the middle and south-east of the Val de Ruz remained dominated by agriculture. A industrialization took place in the villages of Fontainemelon , Cernier and Chézard-Saint-Martin on the northwestern edge instead of the valley whose settlements has now grown together. The important industrial sectors represented in the Val de Ruz today include precision mechanics, mechanical engineering, the electronics industry, the manufacture of furniture and the construction industry. The once important watch industry now only plays a marginal role.
In recent decades, the villages of the Val de Ruz have increasingly developed into residential communities thanks to their beautiful, sunny location. Many of the employed people are commuters who do their work, especially in the Neuchâtel area.
traffic
The valley is well developed in terms of transport. The H 20 runs across the Val de Ruz , a four-lane expressway opened at the end of 1994 and extended to Les Hauts-Geneveys , which connects the two cities of Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds (tunnel under the Vue des Alpes). The old main road runs more or less parallel to it over the pass of the Vue des Alpes .
Since July 15, 1860, the railway line from Neuchâtel to La Chaux-de-Fonds, on which the trains have to turn around at Chambrélien station, has been in continuous operation. It serves the municipalities of Montmollin , Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane and Les Hauts-Geneveys, before also crossing under the Vue des Alpes with a tunnel. From 1874 to 1895 there was also a direct connection from this line through the valley of Les Convers near Renan to the railway line in the valley of St-Imier .
From 1903 to 1948, Les Hauts-Geneveys was the starting point for the Les Hauts-Geneveys – Villiers tram , which also linked the towns of Fontainemelon , Cernier , Chézard-Saint-Martin , Dombresson and Villiers to the public transport network. It was replaced by the Val de Ruz trolleybus , which in turn was replaced by buses in 1984. These are still responsible for the fine distribution in public transport to this day. Today's transport company is transN .
history
A Bronze Age settlement near Fontaines and a tumulus from the Iron Age near Coffrane are considered to be the earliest evidence of the presence of people in the Val de Ruz . During Roman times , a traffic route from the Val de Travers led via Montmollin and La Jonchère to Villiers and on to the Vallon de Saint-Imier . It is not clear whether the old traffic route from Neuchâtel via Fenin to Villiers was also laid out in Roman times. In any case, there were various settlements in the Val de Ruz at that time. An important coin treasure was found near Dombresson in 1824; the coins were minted between the 2nd century BC and 55 AD.
The existence of the parish Saint-Martin ès épines (now Chézard-Saint-Martin ), which belonged to the Bevaix priory, is documented for the first time in 998 . The valley was probably not fully developed until the 12th century, when the lords of Valangin founded their castle on a hill at the upper entrance to the Gorges de Seyon and systematically cleared the valley basin. So numerous settlers came to the Val de Ruz. During the first conquest of the land, villages emerged mainly in the middle of the basin (Coffrane, Boudevilliers, Fontaines, Engollon, Savagnier). Further colonists came to the Val de Ruz in the 13th and 14th centuries. They founded new settlements on the northwestern edge of the basin, namely Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys, Fontainemelon and Cernier.
The Val de Ruz is first mentioned in the 13th century under the name Vaul de Ruil . Later the names Vallem Rodolii and Vallis Rodulfi (1317) and Vaux de Roul (1512) appeared. The German name Rudolfsthal has also come down to us from 1386 .
Since the beginning of the 13th century, the entire Val de Ruz belonged to the territory of the Valangin domain. However, disputes soon arose between the Lords of Valangin and the Count of Neuchâtel. The former wanted to maintain their independence from Neuchâtel and therefore placed themselves under the care of the Bishop of Basel. In the Battle of Coffrane , Rudolf von Neuchâtel won a victory against Valangin in 1296. Because the Bishop of Basel then tried to take control of Valangin, Rudolf von Neuchâtel also destroyed the town of La Bonneville .
In the period that followed, the Val de Ruz was partly under the sovereignty of the Counts of Neuchâtel, partly under that of the Counts of Montbéliard , until it finally came to Neuchâtel in 1592. In 1536 the inhabitants of the Val de Ruz joined the Reformation . In the further course the Val de Ruz shared the fortunes of the sovereign territory and, from 1815, the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel .
At the beginning of the 19th century there was rapid industrialization , especially in the villages on the northwestern edge of the Val de Ruz. The watchmaking industry, furniture manufacturing and the textile industry achieved great importance in the economic structure of the valley.
Attractions
The sights of the Val de Ruz include:
- Castle (with museum) and the town of Valangin
- old village churches in Valangin, Fenin, Engollon, Fontaines, Savagnier and Dombresson
- Moulin de Bayerel (mill) on Seyon
- the natural landscape of the Jura heights that surround the valley basin
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 3 ' N , 6 ° 55' E ; CH1903: 560360 / 211160