Le Russey

Le Russey is a commune in the French department Doubs in the Franche -Comté. It is the capital of the canton in the Arrondissement Le Russey Pontarlier.

Geography

Le Russey is at 881 m, approximately halfway between Morteau and Maîche and about 10 km northwest of the town of La Chaux -de-Fonds (air line). The village is located in the Jura, in the midst of the broad plateaux of Maîche, at the eastern foot of the ridge of Le Mémont.

The area of ​​24.17 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the French Jura. The central part of the area is occupied by the weakly in relief plateau Maîche, which is on average 880 m. It is mainly composed of meadow and pasture land, but also shows some of larger forest areas, particularly the Grand Bois in the East, which also houses a bog is. The plateau has no above-ground rivers, because the rainwater seeps into the karst underground. To the west, the municipality's area extends to the ridge of Le Mémont on which with 1040 m the highest peak of Le Russey is achieved. In the southeast the plateau is bounded by the 100 m high, broad ridge of the Grand Mont. This ridge forms in geological- tectonic respects an anticlinal folds of the Jura and is oriented southwest-northeast direction according to the strike of the mountains in this region.

At Le Russey addition to the actual site also includes several hamlets and numerous individual farms, including:

• Les Allemands ( 915 m) on the plateau at the southern foot of the altitude of Le Mémont
• Les butiques ( 875 m) on the Plateau on the southwestern outskirts
• Les Rondeys ( 879 m) on the Plateau on the southwestern outskirts
• Les Fournots du Haut (900 m) on a hill northeast of the village
• Les Guillaumots ( 881 m) on the plateau at the southern edge
• Les Fuottes ( 890 m) on the plateau
• Les Jean- Chevaux (954 ) south to an elevated position of the plateau
• Les Grands Guillaumot ( 992 m) on the ridge of the Grand Mont
• Les Faivre ( 935 m) on the northern slope of the ridge of the Grand Mont

Neighboring communities of Le Russey are Bonnétage the north and east, Grand'Combe -des- Bois and Le Barboux in the south and Narbief, Le Bizot, Le and Le Mémont Luhier in the West.

History

In the Middle Ages Le Russey belonged to the rule Réaumont, which was under the suzerainty of the Lords of Montfaucon, from the 15th century to that of the Counts of Montbéliard. Together with the Franche -Comté reached the village with the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678 to France. In the second half of the 19th century and during the 20th century, the watch industry gained an important significance for the economic life in Le Russey.

By January 1, 2009 there was a change in the membership of the district municipality. So far, belonging to the district Montbeliard, all municipalities in the canton came to the district Pontarlier.

Attractions

The church of Le Russey is originally from the 16th century; the ship, however, was extensively rebuilt in the 19th century. In the 19th century, the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall ) was built. Various farmhouses dating from the 17th to the 19th century in the characteristic style of the Franche -Comté are obtained.

Population

With 2222 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Le Russey is one of the smaller communities of the department of Doubs. Once the population has consistently had in the first half of the 20th century in the area of ​​1200-1370 people, a continuous population growth was recorded since the early 1950s.

Economy and infrastructure

Le Russey now takes its place as a true retail center for the surrounding area. The watch industry, although no longer has the same meaning as in the first half of the 20th century, but there are still several companies in this industry as well as the décolletage. Other important industries are the micro- mechanics and woodworking. There are also numerous shops of retail and a supermarket. Thanks to the great community area to agriculture ( livestock and dairy farming, farming ) and forestry still play a certain role. Le Russey is the site of two Collèges. In June, the Enzian festival is carried out in each case.

The village has good transport links. It lies on the main road D437 which leads from Montbéliard to Morteau. Further road links exist with Charquemont, Grand'Combe -des- Bois, Le Bizot and Le Mémont. The operation of the narrow- gauge railway from Morteau after Maîche (1905 open ) with a railway station in Le Russey was discontinued in 1952.