Le Pont
Origin of the name Le Pont
The village owes its name to the bridge over the canal of the Goille, which links the Lac de Joux to Lac Brenet. The area was first called «Pra German» or «Champ du Port» and depended on the abbey of the Lac de Joux; the locality was then called «Petites Charbonnières», later «Vers le Pont» and finally «Le Pont». The construction date of the first bridge differs between sources: according to one it already existed before 1536, according to the other it was built in the first half of the 17th century by the municipalities of Le Lieu and Le Chenit (to be cross-checked). The inhabitants are called the «Poutounets».
Founding of Le Pont
Le Pont arose from agricultural settlement starting out from Les Charbonnières. The Rochat family, who came from France, arrived in L'Abbaye in 1480; two families settled in Les Charbonnières in 1489. In 1524 the abbot of the Lac de Joux granted their descendants land at Pra German, or Champ du Port, the future territory of Le Pont. A first house is built there before 1549, and the hamlet has eight buildings in 1600. For about 350 years the locality lived from farming and livestock, in the form of a street village whose buildings lined only one side of the road. From the second half of the 19th century, tourism, ice harvesting on Lac Brenet and the arrival of the railway transformed the village.
History of Le Pont
1480. Arrival of the Rochat family, who came from France, in L'Abbaye.
1489. Two Rochat families settle in Les Charbonnières.
1524. The abbot of the Lac de Joux grants their descendants land at Pra German (Champ du Port), the future territory of Le Pont.
before 1549. Construction of a first house in Le Pont.
1600. The hamlet has eight buildings.
around 1710-1712. Emergence of the municipal fractions of L'Abbaye, including that of Le Pont (to be cross-checked).
1814. The village land register is drawn up.
1877-1879. Edgar Rochat obtains in 1877 the concession to harvest ice from Lac Brenet; in 1879 the Société des glacières du Pont is founded and builds large warehouses on the lakeshore.
30 October 1886. Opening of the Le Pont-Vallorbe railway line, built from 1884; ice transport accounts for nearly half of its traffic.
1889. Founding of a navigation company and entry into service of the steamboat «Caprice» on the Lac de Joux.
19 August 1899. Opening of the Le Pont-Le Brassus line.
1899-1900. Construction of the Protestant church of Le Pont by the architect Francis Isoz; bells and clock arrive in 1900.
1900-1901. Construction of the Grand Hôtel du Lac de Joux.
1912-1914. Construction of the manoir de Haute-Roche (villa Bunau-Varilla) in Hennebique-system reinforced concrete for Maurice Bunau-Varilla, owner of the Paris newspaper Le Matin.
1927. Fire at the ice works.
1942. End of natural ice harvesting on Lac Brenet, after more than 60 years of activity.
1945. The manoir de Haute-Roche is confiscated after the French authorities arrest Guy Bunau-Varilla, the owner's son, whose newspaper had taken a pro-Hitler line.
1959. Construction of a Catholic chapel in Le Pont.
1960-1961. Complete restoration of the Protestant church.
Population of Le Pont
| 1600 | 8 buildings |
Historic sites in Le Pont
The Goille bridge. Bridge over the canal of the Goille linking the Lac de Joux to Lac Brenet, which gave the village its name.
Protestant church of Le Pont. Building by the architect Francis Isoz, erected in 1899 and fitted with bells and a clock in 1900; it replaces an old chapel whose 1733 bell was reinstalled during the 1960-1961 restoration.
Manoir de Haute-Roche (villa Bunau-Varilla). Residence built in 1912-1914 in Hennebique-system reinforced concrete for Maurice Bunau-Varilla; a cultural property of national importance, successively a leisure centre, a holiday camp and housing for asylum seekers, under restoration since its purchase in 2024.
Grand Hôtel du Lac de Joux. Hotel built in 1900-1901 following the arrival of the railway, a witness to the tourist boom of Le Pont in the Belle Époque.
The village. Le Pont is listed in the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance (ISOS).
Remains in Le Pont
Memory of the ice industry. From 1879 to 1942 the natural ice of Lac Brenet was cut in January and February, stored in large warehouses (about 14'000 m³, 5'000 tonnes of ice) and then shipped to breweries and restaurants in Paris, Lyon, Dijon and the south of France. The activity employed more than 130 people at the height of the season; it ended with the war and competition from refrigeration. An educational trail around Lac Brenet recalls this history.
Sources
- Promenade Belle Epoque (Le Pont), panneau 11 « Le village du Pont »
- Promenade Belle Epoque (Le Pont), panneau 1b « Trains et bateaux »
- Promenade Belle Epoque (Le Pont), panneau 9 « Église »
- Village du Pont, site officiel
- Archives culturelles de la Vallée de Joux, « Le Pont, un hameau pas comme les autres »
- La Région, « Quand la glace du lac Brenet s'exportait jusqu'à Paris »
- The Swiss Spectator, « The Forgotten Ice Industry of Le Pont »
- La Région, « Le Manoir livre ses secrets »
- Commune de L'Abbaye, « Présentation »
- Archives culturelles de la Vallée de Joux, « Bref historique des fractions de commune de la Vallée »
- Wikipedia (anglais), « L'Abbaye »
- Wikipedia (anglais), « Le Pont railway station »
- Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »
Other villages near Le Pont
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