Le Brassus

Canton of Vaud · District: Jura-Nord vaudois · About 1'400 to 1'700 inhabitants depending on the period (last documented specific figure: 1'403 in 1982; since then, statistics are no longer published separately from those of the commune of Le Chenit)

Part of the municipality of Le Chenit

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Le Brassus

The origin of the name Le Brassus is not established with certainty. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland mentions an early attestation from 790, in the form 'Bracciolus', but the source itself marks this mention with a question mark: it is therefore a single, uncertain source, still to be cross-checked. A more reliable attestation exists for 1570, in the form 'Brasseu'. The village is crossed by a stream called the Ruisseau du Brassus, a tributary of the Orbe, but no certain etymological link between the name of the village and that of the stream is confirmed by the sources consulted. No definitive linguistic explanation of the name can therefore be put forward here without invention.

Founding of Le Brassus

Le Brassus was never founded as an independent locality by an identifiable person or authority: it developed gradually as one of the localities within the territory of the commune of Le Chenit (itself separated from the commune of Le Lieu in 1646, under Bernese rule). From the 15th century the area was used as summer pasture. Permanent settlement increased from the middle of the 16th century, linked to Bern's authorisation of metalworking installations on the Ruisseau du Brassus (an ironworks from 1555, then a blast furnace from 1567). Only in 1908 did Le Brassus obtain its own administrative status, that of a 'commune fraction' within Le Chenit, with its own council and local tax authority, while always remaining legally part of the commune of Le Chenit (never a fully independent commune). The development of the village owes much to industrial growth: first iron metallurgy, driven by Genevan and later local families, then, from the 18th century, a shift towards the cutting of fine stones and watchmaking, carried by local families of craftsmen who founded the watch manufactures still active today.

History of Le Brassus

790. Possible early mention of the place in the form 'Bracciolus', but this attestation is itself flagged as uncertain by the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (single source, to be cross-checked).

15th century. The area of the future Le Brassus serves as summer pasture, within the larger territory that would become the commune of Le Chenit.

1555. Bern authorises the installation of an ironworks at Le Brassus, marking the beginning of metalworking on the site.

1567. Construction of a blast furnace at Le Brassus, which would remain in operation until 1743.

1570. Written attestation of the place name in the form 'Brasseu'.

1576-1684. The Le Brassus metalworking complex is controlled by the Varro family of Geneva, before passing to the Jaquet family.

1646. The commune of Le Chenit, whose territory includes Le Brassus, separates from the commune of Le Lieu.

1769. Construction of the carriage road over the Col du Marchairuz, whose northern starting point is Le Brassus.

Late 18th century. The refining forge closes; the local economy gradually turns towards the cutting of fine stones and watchmaking.

1835-1837. Construction of the Protestant temple of Le Brassus; the village obtains its own parish services, whereas the inhabitants previously had to go to Le Sentier, about 5 km away.

1875. Founding of the Audemars Piguet watch manufacture in Le Brassus, today the oldest Swiss watch manufacture still in the hands of its founding families.

1890. Skiing is introduced in the Le Brassus area.

1899. Le Brassus is connected to the Swiss railway network by the private line from Le Pont to Le Brassus.

1908. Le Brassus is officially recognised as a fraction of the commune of Le Chenit (23 November), after Le Sentier (1900) and L'Orient (1904), with its own council and a local tax authority.

1910. Construction of the Catholic church of Saints-Pierre-et-Paul in Le Brassus.

1923-1924. Construction of a ski jump, which would later host international Nordic events.

1955. Restoration of the temple of Le Brassus, with a change in the building's orientation.

1964. Le Brassus hosts the second European Orienteering Championships.

1974. Inauguration of a flag specific to the fraction of Le Brassus.

2020. Opening of the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus, a spiral-shaped building devoted to the history of the manufacture and of local watchmaking.

2024. On 22 September the people of Le Chenit (including Le Brassus) approve a merger with L'Abbaye and Le Lieu to form, from 1 January 2027, the new commune of La Vallée de Joux.

Population of Le Brassus

1'263

1836

1'606

1900

1'671

1951

1'403

1982

Historic sites in Le Brassus

Protestant temple of Le Brassus. Built between 1835 and 1837 to give the village its own parish services, whereas the faithful previously had to go to Le Sentier. Restored in 1955, when its orientation was changed. Its bell tower houses four bells, two of which date from the original construction (1836).

Catholic church of Saints-Pierre-et-Paul. Built in 1910, it reflects the population growth and religious diversification of the village linked to its industrial and watchmaking boom.

Audemars Piguet manufacture and Musée Atelier. Founded in 1875 in Le Brassus, Audemars Piguet is the oldest Swiss watch manufacture to have remained under the continuous control of its founding families. Its museum, opened in 2020 in a spiral-shaped building, traces the history of the manufacture and of local fine watchmaking.

Le Jardin du Temps. Free-access educational park in the village centre, funded by the Fondation Audemars Piguet, offering a trail through 350 million years of the geological and botanical history of the Vallée de Joux, ending with the cast of a mammoth found a few kilometres from the site.

Le Brassus station. Terminus of the Vallée de Joux railway line; the Le Pont-Le Brassus section, opened in 1899, ended the village's isolation and supported the growth of its watchmaking industry.

Sundial on the Rue de la Gare. Sundial at number 7 Rue de la Gare, which notably shows the equation of time, echoing the village's watchmaking vocation.

Start of the Col du Marchairuz road. Le Brassus is the northern starting point of the carriage road over the Col du Marchairuz, built in 1769 and historically one of the main routes linking the Vallée de Joux with La Côte in Vaud.

Remains in Le Brassus

Site of the former Le Brassus metalworking complex. From the 16th to the 18th century the village housed an industrial complex made up of an ironworks (from 1555), a blast furnace (1567-1743) and later a refining forge, operated successively by the Genevan Varro family and then by the Jaquet family. The exact location and current state of the physical remains of this complex are not precisely documented in the sources consulted; this information is still to be cross-checked and clarified locally.

Sources

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