La Chaux-de-Fonds, with its chessboard form townscape, almost unique in Switzerland, counts worldwide as the cradle of watchmaking and as Switzerland’s art nouveau stronghold. The Jura landscape extends an invitation to hikers and bikers and in winter to cross-country skiers.

La Chaux-de-Fonds is one of the most important centres of watchmaking in Switzerland – in fact in the world. The Musée International de l'Horlogerie (MIH) displays evidence of this tradition. Over 4000 items from sundials to atomic watches, including extremely valuable items, together with multimedia exhibition content, illustrate the history of chronometry in most impressive fashion. Timepieces are not only exhibited here but also expertly restored and preserved.

La Chaux-de-Fonds, at about 1000 metres above sea level, is Switzerland’s highest-altitude town and the birthplace of well-known personalities such as architect Le Corbusier, automobile pioneer Louis Chevrolet and author Blaise Cendrars. Medieval buildings are hard to find in La Chaux-de-Fonds: a devastating fire virtually destroyed the entire town in 1794. Charles-Henri Junod rebuilt La Chaux-de-Fonds in chessboard form along the lines of an American city.

Architect Charles Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, born here in 1887 and known under the name of Le Corbusier, left his native town a legacy of some of his early works including the Maison Blanche, which he built for his parents in 1912. The Ville Turque (1916/17), very futuristic at the time, is now a World Cultural Heritage and has been used as the PR centre for the Ebel watch manufacturers since 1987.

The town had already been marked by a particular style before Corbusier: La Chaux-de-Fonds has a surprising number of art nouveau buildings and elements. This direction in style - known in its local form as «Style Sapin» - was accompanied by the development of industrialization. Today, the town is looked upon as Switzerland’s stronghold of art nouveau.

The richly contrasting, intact Jura high-level landscape surrounding the Neuchâtel-Jura metropolis, Chaux-de-Fonds is synonymous with a wide ranging palette of cross-country skiing, hiking and mountain biking options. Access to the region is provided by the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ) and the Transports régionaux neuchâtelois (TRN), who operate the one-metre gauge stretch from La Chaux-de-Fonds into the Franches Montagnes to Tavannes and Glovelier as well as into the Vallée de La Sagne to Les Ponts-de-Martel.

Highlights

• La Chaux-de-Fonds townscape – after a devastating fire in 1794 the town was rebuilt in chessboard form following examples of American cities. Today, the town is looked upon as the art nouveau stronghold of Switzerland.
• Uhrenmuseum Musée International de l'Horlogerie (MIH) in La Chaux-de-Fonds - over 4000 exhibits illustrate the impressive history of chronometry.
• Le Corbusier – famous son of the town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Several early buildings of the prominent 20th century architect, whose ideas also caused controversy, stand here: «Maison Blanche» and «Villa Turque».
• One-metre gauge railway – two lines link the Canton Neuchâtel watch metropolis, La Chaux-de-Fonds with the Franches Montagnes and the Vallée de La Sagne.