Le Locle

Sister cities

• Sidmouth
• Gérardmer

History

Le Locle is first mentioned in 1332 as dou Locle. Le Locle was home to a number of famous watchmakers and inventors, including Abraham-Louis Perrelet, Jacques-Frédéric Houriet, Frédéric-Louis Favre-Bulle and David-Henri Grandjean. Watch manufacturers such as Tissot, Zenith, Ulysse Nardin, Universal Genève, and Doxa all trace their roots to Le Locle. In the 19th century the town was known for its pocket and marine chronometers. The watchmaking industry transformed Le Locle into an industrial city. Initially all the work was done by hand in small shops, but by the last quarter of the 19th century the first factories were built. The introduction of mechanized production, pushed the industry from completed watches toward machine tools and watch components. During the two World Wars, some plants, such as Zenith, later Dixi, specialized in the production of weapons. Watchmaking also required a number of associated artists and inventors. The bookseller and publisher Samuel Girardet (1730–1807) started decorating clock cases and eventually founded a dynasty of artists and engravers. The Huguenin became famous for their work painting clock housings and medals. Opening in 1856, the chocolate and confectionery factory Klaus operated until 1992. As in most watchmaking cities in the Jura, the political and social life in Le Locle was heavily influenced by the ideas of radicalism, socialism and later anarchism. Professor James Guillaume proposed the creation of a section of the Workers International in 1866. German-speaking socialist organizations including the Grütliverein and the Arbeiterverein testify that by the end of the 19th century, many workers from the German-speaking Switzerland worked in Le Locle. The Socialists organized themselves into a political party in 1897 and…

Geography

Le Locle is located on the Swiss side of the cluse (gorge) Col des Roches, which forms the border between France and Switzerland. Le Locle has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey), of . Of this area, or 53.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 29.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 15.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.2% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 26.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops and 33.8% is pastures and 19.6% is used for alpine pastures.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  4,053
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  3,252
• Small Heath

  Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,855
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,745
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,538
• Yellow-legged hornet

  Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 · Insecta
  2,503
• Common Toad

  Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Amphibia
  2,223
• Yellow-winged Darter

  Sympetrum flaveolum (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  1,942

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France
• M 3.1 — 2018-05-04
  2 km W of Schliengen, Germany
• M 4.1 — 2017-07-01
  7 km E of Châtel-Saint-Denis, Switzerland