Saignelégier

History

Saignelégier is first mentioned in 1294 as Saignelegier. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Sankt Leodegar, however, that name is no longer used. During the Middle Ages the village of Saignelégier was part of the diocese of Basel. During the 15th century, Saignelégier began to grow into an important regional town. A chapel was built and a yearly market started in 1428. Around the same time, the pastor of Montfaucon, the head of the main parish of the Franches-Montagnes region, moved to Saignelégier. In 1629 it became an independent parish. In 1691, it became the seat of the Bishop's bailiff over the surrounding area. The bailiff's castle was built around the end of the 17th century. After the French invasion (1793–1813), Saignelégier was the capital of the canton in the Département of Mont-Terrible and then in the Département of Haut-Rhin. Following the collapse of Napoleonic France, in 1815 it became part of the Canton of Bern, where it remained until the founding of the Canton of Jura in 1978. With the advent of the watch industry in Switzerland in the 19th century and the opening of rail lines in 1892 to La Chaux-de-Fonds and Glovelier in 1904, a number of precision manufacturing firms settled in Saignelégier. By 2005, 35% of the population worked in manufacturing while 61% were in technology and services jobs. Almost two-thirds of the workers in town commute elsewhere for work.

Geography

Saignelégier has an area of . Of this area, or 42.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 50.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.4% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and or 1.0% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.2%. Out of the forested land, 46.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.9% is used for growing crops and 22.3% is pastures and 14.2% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.3% is in lakes and 0.3% is in rivers and streams.

Most-observed species

• Geoffroy's Bat

  Myotis emarginatus (E.Geoffroy, 1806) · Mammalia
  8,047
• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  5,320
• red fox

  Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,702
• Yellow-legged hornet

  Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 · Insecta
  2,588
• Small Heath

  Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,561
• European roe deer

  Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  2,341
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  2,274
• Small Skipper

  Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda, 1761) · Insecta
  1,664

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• 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