Rolle () is a municipality in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It was the seat of the district of Rolle until 2006, when it became part of the district of Nyon. It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) between Nyon and Lausanne. Rolle is approximately northeast of Geneva (Genève) in the La Côte wine-growing region, and has views of the high Alps.

Rolle is also the birthplace of Frédéric-César de la Harpe (1754–1838), who was the tutor of Alexander I of Russia and was largely responsible for the independence of the Canton of Vaud from the Bernese.

History

thumb|Aerial view (1964)

Rolle is first mentioned in 1294 as Rotuli.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 28.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 18.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.4% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 8.0%. Out of the forested land, 3.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 17.2% is used for growing crops and 3.3% is pastures, while 9.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.4% is in lakes and 0.4% is in rivers and streams.

The municipality is located on Lake Geneva on the Geneva-Lausanne highway.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Or and Vert.

Demographics

thumb|Main street through the old town of Rolle

thumb|Houses along Rolle's waterfront

Rolle has a population () of . , 41.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 36.9%. It has changed at a rate of 32.4% due to migration and at a rate of 4.3% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population () speaks French (3,130 or 73.9%) as their first language, with Portuguese being second most common (208 or 4.9%) and English being third (183 or 4.3%). There are 178 people who speak German, 162 people who speak Italian and 3 people who speak Romansh and 1 who speaks Greek Greek.

, there were 1,899 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,848 married individuals, 274 widows or widowers and 214 individuals who are divorced.

, there were 1,617 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household.

, a total of 1,554 apartments (76.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 426 apartments (21.1%) were seasonally occupied and 41 apartments (2.0%) were empty.

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bar:1803 from:start till:1323 text:"1,323"

bar:1850 from:start till:1398 text:"1,398"

bar:1860 from:start till:1591 text:"1,591"

bar:1870 from:start till:1662 text:"1,662"

bar:1880 from:start till:1664 text:"1,664"

bar:1888 from:start till:1831 text:"1,831"

bar:1900 from:start till:2025 text:"2,025"

bar:1910 from:start till:2126 text:"2,126"

bar:1920 from:start till:2079 text:"2,079"

bar:1930 from:start till:2195 text:"2,195"

bar:1941 from:start till:2342 text:"2,342"

bar:1950 from:start till:2677 text:"2,677"

bar:1960 from:start till:2942 text:"2,942"

bar:1970 from:start till:3658 text:"3,658"

bar:1980 from:start till:3409 text:"3,409"

bar:1990 from:start till:3646 text:"3,646"

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Heritage sites of national significance

Rolle Castle, the Library of the Community of Rolle and Île de la Harpe are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire old city of Rolle is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

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File:Rolle Schloss.jpg |Rolle Castle

File:Île de la Harpe.jpg | Ile de La Harpe

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Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 26.57% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (21.74%), the FDP (13.66%) and the Green Party (12.09%). In the federal election, a total of 982 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.2%.

Economy

Rolle has gained popularity as a company tax haven in Switzerland. Yahoo! moved its European headquarters from UK to Rolle in 2008 and Ineos moved its principal executive offices to Rolle from UK in 2010, for tax reasons. Cisco Systems also has a decent sized Research and Development site there.

, Rolle had an unemployment rate of 6.4%. , there were 45 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 388 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 46 businesses in this sector. 2,327 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 275 businesses in this sector.

, there were 1,314 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,187 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.1 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 6.1% of the workforce coming into Rolle are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.3% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 15.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 56.3% used a private car. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 1,249 children of which 563 children (45.1%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 334 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 262 students in those schools. There were also 22 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.

, there were 414 students in Rolle who came from another municipality, while 164 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Notable former residents of Rolle, and alumni of Le Rosey, include: Aga Khan IV, King Albert II of Belgium, King Baudouin I of Belgium, King Fuad II of Egypt, King Ntare V of Burundi, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavī, and Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Notable residents

140px|thumb|Flore Revalles, ca.1918

  • Henry Bouquet (1719–1765), a British Army officer in the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War
  • Jean Preudhomme (1732–1795), Swiss portrait artist.
  • Frédéric-César de La Harpe (1754–1838), a Swiss political leader and Vaudois patriot, helped create the Helvetic Republic
  • Amédée Emmanuel François Laharpe (1754–1796), fought in the armies of the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars
  • Ernest Biéler (1863–1948), a multi-talented Swiss painter, draughtsman and printmaker
  • Flore Revalles (1889–1966), singer, dancer and actress
  • Ernst Neufert (1900–1986), German architect, assistant of Walter Gropius, lived in Rolle
  • Jean-Luc Godard (1930–2022), French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic, office in Rolle.
  • Jean-Marie Straub (1933-2022), French filmmaker
  • Janine Massard (born 1939), a Swiss writer
  • Andrew Currie (born 1955), British billionaire businessman, lives in Rolle, director of Ineos
  • Anthony Favre (born 1984), a retired Swiss professional footballer

References

  • Rolle Office of Tourism
  • Information and views on the main street in Rolle