Le Locle
Origin of the name Le Locle
The place is first mentioned in 1332 in the form « dou Locle » (« of the Locle »). The origin and meaning of the name are not established (to be cross-checked).
Founding of Le Locle
Le Locle grew out of the medieval settlement of the high Jura valleys. In 1360 Jean II d'Aarberg, lord of Valangin, received Le Locle as a fief; in 1372 a charter of liberties was granted to the settlers clearing the area. These settlers, called "habergeants", took up land that they brought into cultivation in return for dues to the lord of Valangin; in 1502, 37 people from Le Locle were admitted as burghers of Valangin. A chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene is attested from 1351. As the first organised community in the Neuchâtel mountains, Le Locle has kept the nickname "Mother commune". The locality therefore has no single founder: it is the product of land clearance encouraged by the lords of Valangin, and later of the rise of watchmaking from the late 17th century. Seat of the district of Le Locle from 1848 to 2017, the municipality has also included the locality of Les Brenets since 2021.
History of Le Locle
6000-5000 BC. Occupation of the Col-des-Roches rock shelter in the Late Mesolithic. Discovered in 1926 by a customs officer, the site yielded the first known pottery of the canton of Neuchâtel, many tools, a mammoth molar and bones of deer and wild boar. It is described as the first station of this period discovered in Switzerland (to be cross-checked).
1332. First known mention of the place, in the form "dou Locle".
1351. A chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene is attested.
1360. Jean II d'Aarberg, lord of Valangin, receives Le Locle as a fief.
1372. Charter of liberties granted to the settlers ("habergeants") clearing the area.
early 15th century. After the liberties are renewed, Le Locle becomes the seat of a mairie, a judicial and administrative district.
1454. Le Locle has 52 hearths (households).
1502. 37 people from Le Locle are admitted as burghers of Valangin.
1525. Inauguration of the bell tower of the Moutier temple, one of the oldest buildings in the Jura arc.
1536. The Reformation is introduced in Le Locle.
1652-1660. Millers obtain the right to use the Bied; Jonas Sandoz installs five water wheels in the Col-des-Roches cave for grinding, sawing and pressing oil: these are the underground mills.
1683. First great fire of Le Locle.
around 1700-1705. Daniel JeanRichard (around 1670-1741) settles in Le Locle and opens a watchmaking workshop, regarded as the starting point of the watch industry in the Neuchâtel mountains.
1750. The locality has 3'211 inhabitants and 77 watchmakers.
mid-18th century. Complete rebuilding of the temple.
1765. Second great fire.
1792. Under the influence of the French Revolution, many people from Le Locle swear an oath to the Constitution of 1792 at the Jacobin club of Morteau.
1793. Several hundred people leave for Besançon, attracted by the « fabrique nationale » of watchmaking created by the Convention.
1800. The number of watchmakers exceeds 800.
1831. Unsuccessful republican revolutionary attempt.
1833. Third great fire; the reconstruction that follows, in the second quarter of the 19th century, gives the town its regular layout adapted to watchmaking work.
1844. Consecration of a German-speaking temple (demolished in 1967).
1846. Founding of the Ulysse Nardin manufacture.
28 February 1848. The Swiss flag is raised in Le Locle: the Neuchâtel revolution starts from the town, where the republicans neutralise the Prussian authorities, before the Republic is proclaimed on 1 March.
1853. Founding of the Tissot manufacture.
1856. Brief royalist occupation during the failed counter-revolution.
1856-1861. Construction of the Quartier-Neuf, designed by the architect Hans Rychner. The Klaus chocolate and confectionery factory also opens in 1856; it closed in 1992.
1857. Opening of the first railway line, to La Chaux-de-Fonds.
1861. Inauguration of a Catholic chapel.
1865. Founding of the Zenith manufacture.
1866. James Guillaume founds a section of the International; a teacher training college opens the same year.
1868. Opening of a watchmaking school.
1884. Rail link to Besançon.
1890. Opening of the line to Les Brenets.
1898. The Col-des-Roches underground mills cease operating and are turned into a border slaughterhouse.
1900. The population reaches 12'559.
1901-1902. Creation of the Technicum.
1912. The Social Democratic party wins a majority, which it holds for a long time.
1913-1918. Construction of the town hall in the Heimatstil style.
1973-1987. Volunteers restore the Col-des-Roches underground mills, which reopen to the public in 1987.
June 2009. "La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning" is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
2021. Le Locle merges with the commune of Les Brenets.
Population of Le Locle
| 1454 | 52 hearths (households) |
| 1750 | 3'211 |
| 1850 | 8'514 |
| 1900 | 12'559 |
| 1950 | 11'979 |
| 2000 | 10'529 |
| 2010 | 10'049 |
| 2020 | 9'865 |
| 2025 | 10'905 (after the 2021 merger with Les Brenets) |
Historic sites in Le Locle
Watchmaking town planning (UNESCO World Heritage). Rebuilt after the fires of 1683, 1765 and above all 1833, the town was laid out in the 19th century in parallel streets mixing housing and workshops, to give watchmakers the light they needed for their work. Together with La Chaux-de-Fonds, it has been on the World Heritage List since June 2009.
Col-des-Roches underground mills. Installed between 1652 and 1660 in a cave where the Bied disappears underground, these mills driven by water wheels were used for grinding, sawing and pressing oil. Modernised in the 19th century, turned into a border slaughterhouse in 1898 and abandoned in 1966, they were restored by volunteers and reopened to the public in 1987.
Château des Monts and Watch Museum. 18th-century Louis XVI-style mansion housing the Le Locle Watch Museum, with its collections of clocks, watches and automata.
Moutier temple. Its bell tower, inaugurated in 1525, is one of the oldest buildings in the Jura arc; the church itself was completely rebuilt in the mid-18th century.
Town hall. Built from 1913 to 1918 in the Heimatstil style, it houses the "Temps et Urbanisme" space devoted to the town's watchmaking urban planning.
Watch manufactures. Several renowned houses were born in Le Locle, including Ulysse Nardin (1846), Tissot (1853) and Zenith (1865).
Remains in Le Locle
Col-des-Roches prehistoric site. Late Mesolithic rock shelter (6000-5000 BC) discovered in 1926 by a customs officer. It yielded the first known pottery of the canton of Neuchâtel, many tools, a mammoth molar and bones of deer and wild boar. It is described as the first station of its period discovered in Switzerland (to be cross-checked).
Moutier bell tower (1525). The oldest surviving building in the locality, it recalls Le Locle before the Reformation and before the great fires.
Legends of Le Locle
Daniel JeanRichard and the horse dealer's watch. According to a traditional story, around 1690 an English horse dealer called "Peter" stopped at the JeanRichard home with a broken watch. Young Daniel, despite his father's scepticism, is said to have repaired it and so discovered his vocation as a watchmaker. Watchmaking historians explicitly describe this scene as a legend: Daniel's father was probably a farmer rather than a blacksmith, and the young man had probably already served a goldsmith's apprenticeship. The historical fact remains: Daniel JeanRichard, who settled in Le Locle in the early 18th century, is regarded as the pioneer of watchmaking in the Neuchâtel mountains.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Locle, Le »
- Wikipédia FR, « Le Locle »
- Ville du Locle, « Unesco »
- UNESCO, « La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, urbanisme horloger »
- Moulins souterrains du Col-des-Roches, « Histoire »
- Journal suisse de l'horlogerie (archives), « Daniel JeanRichard »
- Watch-Wiki, « Le Locle »
- Portail statistique du canton de Neuchâtel, « La population en 2025 »
- État de Neuchâtel, arrêté du 4 février 2026 homologuant le recensement cantonal de la population au 31 décembre 2025
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near Le Locle
Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.
Suggest a change