Everything about Morteau totally explained
|région=
Franche-Comté
|département=
Doubs
|arrondissement=Pontarlier
|canton=
Morteau chief town)
|insee=25411
|cp=25500
|maire=Annie Genevard
|mandat=2001-2008
|intercomm=
CdC du Val de Morteau|alt moy=800 m
|alt mini=750 m
|alt maxi=1,114 m
|hectares=1,411
|km²=14.11
|sans=6,375
|date-sans=1999
|dens=451
|date-dens=1999}}
Morteau is a
French commune, situated in the
département of
Doubs and the
Franche-Comté région.
Geography
This little city is situated in a widening of the
Doubs river valley.
The proximity of
Switzerland (10 km from
Neuchâtel) gives jobs to transborder workers, as well as providing a clientele for the businesses of the Morteau valley.
History
The Roman expansion (200 BCE, 100 CE) began the decline of the
Celts. At the
Battle of Alesia, at the side of
Arvernes, there were an equal number of
Mandubiens, the people of Doubs. They were the best riders of
Vercingetorix.
Early Middle Ages
At the end of the
Roman Empire, the
Alamanni invaded the region, followed by the
Burgundians.
The region was influenced by the
Normans, the
Hungarian descendants of the
Huns, the
Sarrasins. These
Arabs stopped by
Charles Martel in
732, had followed the valley of the river
Saône. Locally, their name was given to the tiny village of Sarrazins above Montlebon.
Middle Ages
In
1105 the name of Morteau appeared for the first time officially. The name of
Franche-Comté, however, didn't appear until
1366.
A half dozen Benedictine monks of the Cluny order arrived at this time to clear the mountains. They stayed with a resident of the Mondey area and quickly hired workers. They brought in whole families into five districts, each now cities in their own right: Morteau,
Villers-le-Lac,
Montlebon and
Grand'Combe-Châteleu.
Morteau had a feudal castle built on the eastern side of Mondey, it overlooked the ancient celtic road which linked Besancon to Switzerland. The plague killed two thirds of the valley's inhabitants in 1349. The population was rebuilt by immigrants from the canton of
Fribourg and the
Aoste valley.
Fires
Over eight centuries, seventeen major fires occurred in Morteau, the worst in
1639,
1683,
1702,
1849 and
1865.
Economy
For many centuries, livestock have formed a mainstay of the economy. It is impossible to give a precise origin to the well known montbéliarde breed since all of the livestock in central Europe have similar characteristics and transborder exchanges were always common. One can see white cattle with red stops in certain provinces of the Czeche and Slovak republics similar to those from Franche-Comté. The traditional smoked sausages,
Morteau Sausage for example, as well as the drinks (syrups and lemonades
Rième
) and candies (chocolates and caramels
Klaus) have made the city renoun.
Watchmaking was for many years the principal industry of the region. In
1680, a young smith from Sagne repaired an imported English watch and decided to copy it.
Demographics
As of the
census of 1999, the population was .
The estimate for 2004 was .
Areas and monuments
- Morteau has two very nice chateaus: the Château Pertusier and the current city hall.
- The Château Pertusier was built in 1576 by the Cuche family. During the Swedish attack in 1639, the tower at the top of the winding staircase caught fire and the western side was shot at. One can still see the bullet scars of the biscayens Swedes. The Bole family was then the owner. During the French Revolution, a lawyer from Besançon, Jean-Charles Pertusier bought the building, which had become national property, for a sum of 900 987 pounds. The house and its grounds were bought by the commune in 1935. This building is now one of the few examples of Renaissance Architecture in the Haut-Doubs.
- The city hall was built in 1590 by the Fauche family. Occupied by the officers of Saxe-Weimar, it didn't suffer during the war and passed into the hands of the Benedictines, then into those of the Roussel brothers. The commune of Morteau acquired the property in 1793. It now holds some of the municipal offices as well as the famous Black Book, kept safe in the mayor's office. In 1454, a city notary wrote in this book the records of the entire priory. It contains 54 charters from 1188 to 1514, letters of charter, sentences, arrests and conventions. Brought to Switzerland during the Swedish invasion, it was recovered intact after the war.
Notable
The train station in the city is the site of various scenes from the film Monsieur Batignole starring Gérard Jugnot and Damien Jouillerot (who is from the region) ;
It is the site of several scenes from the film L'Adversaire with Daniel Auteuil ;
Laurence Semonin known as " Madeleine Proust" is from Arces, a hamlet of Morteau.
The mathematician Jean-Claude Bouquet (1819-1885) was from Morteau.
Sister Cities
Vöhrenbach, GermanyFurther Information
Get more info on 'Morteau'.
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