Saut du Doubs
Origin of the name Saut du Doubs
Name origin: the site bears the name of the river, the Doubs, and the word « saut » (leap), which here means the waterfall; the name « Le Saut du Doubs » already appears on an engraving published around 1818. The sources consulted give no etymology for the river's name.
Founding of Saut du Doubs
The Saut du Doubs is a natural site, without inhabitants, on the border between France (Villers-le-Lac) and Switzerland. On the Swiss side it belonged to the municipality of Les Brenets, merged into the municipality of Le Locle on 1 January 2021. About 12'000 years ago a landslide brought down both sides of the valley; the debris formed a natural dam that held back the Doubs and created a lake, of which the Lac des Brenets (Lac de Chaillexon on the French side) is the remnant. The 27-metre waterfall formed when the lake water flowed around this dam. The dam is not watertight: part of the water seeps through the limestone blocks.
History of Saut du Doubs
About 12'000 years ago. A landslide blocks the Doubs valley; it forms an ancient lake, of which the Lac des Brenets is the remnant, and the Saut du Doubs waterfall.
1524. Start of the boundary marking between Neuchâtel and Franche-Comté on the Doubs; until 1824 the border switches from one bank to the other.
around 1818. An engraving by Franz Hegi after J. Moritz, « Le Saut du Doubs », appears in the Helvetischer Almanach.
1824. The French-Swiss border is fixed in the middle of the Doubs.
1912. First protection of the site (to be cross-checked).
1974. The Doubs valley, with the Saut-du-Doubs waterfall and its canyons, is declared a nature reserve.
2001. Second protection of the site, over 438 hectares, and sealing work on the natural dam to limit the lake's water losses during droughts (to be cross-checked).
2018. Autumn drought: the Lac des Brenets loses more than 14 metres of depth and nearly dries up (to be cross-checked).
2021. On 1 January Les Brenets merges with Le Locle: the site is now part of the municipality of Le Locle.
2022. New drought: navigation on the lake is halted on 15 July (to be cross-checked).
Historic sites in Saut du Doubs
The waterfall. 27-metre waterfall at 730 m altitude, at the eastern end of the Lac des Brenets. Viewpoints allow it to be seen from both banks, linked by a footbridge over the Doubs.
The Lac des Brenets and the boats. The boats of the Navigation sur le lac des Brenets take tourists to the Saut-du-Doubs; boats also leave from Villers-le-Lac, on the French side.
The Doubs gorges. Below the waterfall the Doubs forms the border between France and Switzerland as far as Clairbief; the valley, with its canyons, is now devoted to tourism, fishing and canoeing.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Doubs (rivière) »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Locle, Le »
- Bibliothèque nationale suisse (HelveticArchives), « Le Saut du Doubs », gravure de Franz Hegi d'après J. Moritz, vers 1818
- Daniel Droz, « Page d'histoire : Les Brenets »
- Wikipédia, « Saut du Doubs » (à recouper)
- Wikipédia, « Lac des Brenets » (à recouper)
Other villages near Saut du Doubs
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