Delémont

Delémont (; ; , ) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura. The city has approximately 12,000 inhabitants .

History

thumb|left|Porte au Loup

thumb|left|Porte de Porrentruy

thumb|left|Aerial view by [[Walter Mittelholzer (1919)]]

The area of the municipality was already settled in the middle Bronze Age. Fifteen urn burials have been discovered in the municipality. There were late Bronze Age settlements south and west of the modern city. Several Iron Age buildings have been discovered south of town. There is also evidence of a Roman settlement, including a Gallo-Roman mausoleum and a small cache of coins. One or possibly several villas in the area may indicate the existence of a vicus near the town.

The first historic mention of the name dates from 736 to 37 as Delemonte. In 1131, the first mention of the German name Telsperg was recorded.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 9.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.2%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.2% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, 40.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 17.8% is used for growing crops and 12.2% is pastures and 6.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a Crosier Argent over Coupeaux of Six of the same.

Demographics

thumb|Street in the old city of Delémont

Delémont has a population () of . , 23.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 1.7%. Migration accounted for 0.5%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.4%.

Most of the population () speaks French (9,574 or 84.3%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (449 or 4.0%) and German is the third (350 or 3.1%). There are 5 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality, 3,673 or about 32.4% were born in Delémont and lived there in 2000. There were 2,823 or 24.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,703 or 15.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,720 or 24.0% were born outside of Switzerland.

, there were 5,039 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.6 new units per 1000 residents.

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{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"

! colspan="12" | Historic Population Data

Economy

thumb|A [[Wenger Swiss Army knife. The Wenger Swiss army knives are now integrated into Victorinox as the Delémont collection.]]

By 1770, the city had already begun to develop as a strong trading and manufacturing center. Only about 25% of the population was still engaged in agriculture. In the 19th century, industrialization began, led by steel mills, watchmaking, and machine, cigar, and cement manufacturing.

Perhaps the most well known firm based here is Wenger. Their factory does not have a show room.

Today, Delémont is the economic and governmental hub of the canton, as well as the neighboring Jura region of the Canton of Bern. In addition to its traditional manufacturing core, it has developed much employment in the service sector. Although, it is plagued by a large unemployment rate, forcing its inhabitants to seek for jobs in the larger neighboring cities such as Basel or Biel.

, Delémont had an unemployment rate of 7.4%. , there were 50 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 19 businesses involved in this sector. 3,094 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 133 businesses in this sector. 6,946 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 715 businesses in this sector.

, there were 6,137 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,711 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 3.6 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 7.6% of the workforce coming into Delémont are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.1% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 13.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 55.3% used a private car.

Delémont has good road connections to the surrounding cities. It lies on the main road between Basel and Bienne, as well as La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1998, the first stretch of motorway in the canton of Jura (the A 16) was opened between Delémont and Porrentruy.

The first stretch of rail line reached Delémont from Basel in 1875. The continuation to Moutier was completed in 1876. All trains from Basel to Bienne must reverse in Delémont.

During World War II, the railway station was accidentally bombed on 8 September 1944 by the Allies, injuring a number of railway employees.

A well-developed bus system serves the surrounding countryside.

The nearest airport is EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg, located north east of Delémont. However, Zurich Airport is also at a reasonable distance, located east of the city.

Heritage sites of national significance

The Vorbourg Chapel, the Prince-Bishops' Castle, St-Marcel's Church, the Museum jurassien d’art et d’histoire and the Tour Rouge, the historic turntable for locomotives and the railway roundhouse are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire old town of Delémont is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

<gallery>

File:Chapelle Du Vorbourg.JPG|Vorbourg Chapel

File:Château de Delémont (5).jpg|Prince-Bishops' Castle

File:Delémont Eglise Saint-Marcel.jpg|St-Marcel Church

File:Delémont Porte de Porrentruy.jpg|Museum jurassien d’art et d’histoire et Tour Rouge

File:Rotonde pour locomotives 2.JPG|Turntable for locomotives, railway roundhouse

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Tourism

The medieval city center still has its original outline. Two of the city gates date from the 18th century: the Porte au Loup (1775) and the Porte de Porrentruy (1756–59). There are also still parts of the city wall, with the Tour des Archives, which was originally built in the 13th century. The city squares are marked by monumental fountains dating from the 16th century, in Renaissance style.

The Catholic church of Saint-Marcel was built from 1762 to 1767 with a mixture of architectural styles from the baroque to the classical. Other important buildings from the time of the Bishops of Basel are the Hôtel de Ville (built from 1742 to 1745), the Châtellenie (now used as the Cantonal Parliament, remodeled in 1717), and the Episcopal Palace (1716–21). The late gothic chapel of Saint-Michel dates from the 17th century.

The synagogue of Delémont is in the western part of the city. The Castle of Domont, built in 1560, is now a restaurant. There are also ruins of an early medieval castle, the Vorbourg, on the west side of the Birs. Next to them stands a chapel, dedicated in 1049 and repeatedly renovated. The main altar with the Madonna dates from the 16th century.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Delémont is twinned with:

• Belfort, France
• La Trinidad, Nicaragua

Culture

Delémont was awarded the Wakker Prize for preservation of its architectural heritage in 2006.

Education

thumb|Primary school in Delémont

In Delémont about 3,706 or (32.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 1,308 or (11.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 1,308 who completed tertiary schooling, 54.1% were Swiss men, 28.3% were Swiss women, 10.2% were non-Swiss men and 7.5% were non-Swiss women.

During the 2009–10 school year, there were a total of 1,471 students attending 78 classes in Delémont. There were 13 kindergarten classes with a total of 236 students in the municipality. The municipality had 35 primary classes and 690 students. During the same year, there were 30 lower secondary classes with a total of 545 students.

, there were 631 students in Delémont who came from another municipality, while 277 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Sport

The football club SR Delémont play in the Swiss Challenge League.

Notable people

140px|thumb|Alfred Comte, 1914

140px|thumb|Dominique Baettig, 2008

• Eugène Daumas (1803 in Delémont – 1871), a French general and writer
• Alfred Comte (1895 in Delémont – 1965), Swiss aviation pioneer
• Job (born 1927 in Delémont), aka André Jobin, a Swiss francophone comics creator.
• Heidi Baader-Nobs (born 1940 in Delémont), a Swiss composer
• Gérard Daucourt (born 1941 in Delémont), Catholic Bishop of Nanterre 2002-2013
• Pierre Margot (born 1950 in Delémont), a Swiss forensic scientist, invented a forensic light source Polilight
• Dominique Baettig (born 1953 in Delémont), psychiatrist and politician
• Maurice Kottelat (born 1957 in Delémont), a Swiss ichthyologist specializing in Eurasian freshwater fish

; Sport

• Julien Vauclair (born 1979 in Delémont), a Swiss former professional ice hockey defenseman
• Marguerite Gobat (1870 –1937), Swiss editor, teacher and pacifist

References

Notes

External links

• Jura.ch