Boncourt, Switzerland

Boncourt

Boncourt is a municipality in the district of Porrentruy in the canton of Jura in Switzerland. The former German name Bubendorf is no longer used today.

Geography

Boncourt lies on 373 m above sea level. Level, 10 km north- northwest of the district municipal seat Pruntrut (air line). The village extends into the Talniederung the Allaine (German Hall ) in the extreme north of the Ajoie ( German Elsgau ) on the border with France. The old village center is located west of the Allaine, while newer residential areas along the main road emerged.

The area of ​​9.0 km ² large municipality territory, which includes the central part of the 500 m wide flat valley of the Allaine that is sunk into the corrugated board Jura countryside of northern Ajoie. In the East the municipal area extends over Mont Renaud (506 m above sea level. M. ), in the south of the wooded heights of Le Le RecET and New Bois, the 548 m above sea level. M. is the highest point of the municipality. In 1997, of the municipality is 12% to settlements, 41 % of forest and shrubs, 46 % to agriculture and about 1% was unproductive land.

At Boncourt include several individual farms. The only Swiss neighboring municipality of Boncourt is Basse- Allaine, France borders the place to Villars- le-Grand, Saint- Dizier- l'Évêque, Lebetain, Delle, Florimont and Courcelles.

Population

With 1274 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) Boncourt one of the larger municipalities in the canton of Jura. Of the 96.6 % inhabitants are French-speaking, German-speaking 2.1 % and 0.4 % Italian-speaking (as of 2000). The population of Boncourt rose to 1970 continuously. Since then, a declining trend was observed in total.

Economy

Around the middle of the 19th century Boncourt has changed from an agricultural to an industrial village. The first major factory was the tobacco factory founded in 1814 by Martin Burrus that greatly influenced the development of the village. Today in this cigarette factory around 600 workers are employed. After the sale of the factory to BAT Charles Burrus founded the Fondation Guilé, a foundation which promotes corporate responsibility. More jobs are in the cross-border trade and in metal.

Traffic

Boncourt traffic is moderately well developed. The border crossing Boncourt - Delle is the most important of the Canton of Jura on the border with France. It lies on the main road 6 from Porrentruy to Belfort with a branch in Delle Montbéliard (German Mömpelgard ). As part of the construction of the motorway A16, a new border crossing was built west of the village, which connects the cities of Belfort and Delémont continuously on a crossing-free street. On September 23, 1872, the railway Porrentruy - dent was opened with a station in Boncourt by the PD. Since December 10, 2006 after a run elfeinhalbjährigen interruption again trains between Boncourt and Delle. It is planned to restart the route Delle - Belfort to ensure a connection to the under construction high-speed line LGV Rhin -Rhône.

History

For the first time Boncourt is mentioned in 1140 as Bononis Curia. The name probably derives from the Germanic personal name Boso or Bobo. The area was already inhabited in Roman times, but because archaeologists discovered on the hill southwest of the village of Châtillon remains of a Roman settlement.

Boncourt told the eventful history of the Ajoie who came to the Prince-Bishopric of Basel in 1271. It was under the 16th and 18th century the Meier office Bure. Between 1793 and 1815 Boncourt belonged to France and was initially part of the département du Mont- Terrible, associated from 1800 with the Department of Haut -Rhin. By the decision of the Congress of Vienna, the place came in 1815 to the canton of Bern and on 1 January 1979 at the newly founded Canton Jura.

Attractions

A tower on the ledge to the left of the Allaine is the only remnant of the castle Milandre, which was built in the 13th century by the Counts of Montbéliard and destroyed in 1674 in the wake of the occupation of the Franche -Comté by the French troops of Marshal de Turenne. The Church of Boncourt, Saint- Pierre -et -Paul, was built in 1920-21, new, with the Gothic choir and front tower from the old building have been preserved. For major interior produced in the baroque style altar of 1725-30, a major work of Breton brothers heard. In the old center left the Allaine are some typical old half-timbered houses of the 18th and 19th centuries to see. From 1909 comes the built in eclectic style Villa Burrus.

Worth seeing is the stalactite cave of Grotte de Milandre south of the village.

Gallery

The Donjon de Milandre

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