La Cure is a village located some northwest of

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

, straddling the Franco-Swiss border. Administratively, the Swiss half of La Cure is part of the municipality of

Saint-Cergue Saint-Cergue is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Saint-Cergue is first mentioned in 1110 as ''ecclesiam Sancti Cyrici''. Geography Saint-Cergue has an area, , of . Of this area, or 27.6% ...

, while the French half is part of the municipality of

Les Rousses Les Rousses () is a commune in the Canton of Hauts de Bienne of Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, on the Swiss border. The Lac des Rousses is located northeast of the village of Les Rousses beside the r ...

. The international border bisects at least four buildings, notably the Hotel Arbez, in which the dining hall and other rooms are bisected by the border.

History

Until 1862, La Cure was entirely in France. France and Switzerland had previously disputed possession of the strategically important Vallée des Dappes, which was controlled by the latter until in 1862, the Swiss accepted an offer to exchange that territory for another piece just to the north and east; the new boundary was drawn directly through La Cure. According to the Treaty of Dappes, which formalized the swap, any buildings existing at the time that the new line was demarcated were not to be disturbed, even if the boundary bisected them. Today, the border passes through the Hotel Arbez (see below); in addition, it bisects at least two residences, and a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Railway

There is a Swiss Railways narrow gauge railway line, the Nyon–St-Cergue–Morez Railway, that runs from Nyon to La Cure.

Hotel Arbez

Taking advantage of the delay between negotiation of the treaty and its final ratification by the

Swiss Parliament The Federal Assembly (german: Bundesversammlung, french: Assemblée fédérale, it, Assemblea federale, rm, Assamblea federala), also known as the Swiss parliament (''Parlament'', ''Parlement'', ''Parlamento''), is Switzerland's federal leg ...

, a local businessman named Ponthus constructed a new structure in 1863 on the new borderline. Originally Ponthus operated a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

in the Swiss section of the building, with a bar in the French section, hoping to turn the cross-border business to his advantage. In 1921, Jules-Jean Arbez purchased the building, and turned it into a hotel. Plaque frontière - La Cure

Today, the Franco-Swiss border passes through the kitchen, dining room, hallway and several rooms of the hotel. In two rooms (including the

honeymoon suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was originally formed ...

) the beds themselves are bisected by the boundary, while in another, the bathroom is in France, while the rest of the room is in Switzerland. During the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, their troops were allowed to enter the French side of the hotel, but were strictly prohibited from crossing to the Swiss side. Since the stairway to the upper floor started in French territory but ended in Switzerland, the Germans were not permitted to access any of the upper rooms, which became a refuge for refugees and

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

members. The hotel was chosen in 1962 for negotiation of the

Évian Accords The Évian Accords were a set of peace treaties signed on 18 March 1962 in Évian-les-Bains, France, by France and the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic, the government-in-exile of FLN (), which sought Algeria's independence ...

between France and

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, which resulted in the independence of the latter.Hotel Arbez
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References

External links

Hotel Arbez
Website for the hotel; primarily in French, with limited English translation.

Offers several large photos of the village and its buildings (with lines showing the border's location), as well as maps of the area.

Offers photos of the interior and exterior of the Hotel Arbez, with lines showing the precise location of the border in each. {{authority control Villages in the canton of Vaud France–Switzerland border France–Switzerland border crossings Les Rousses Divided cities

History

Railway

Hotel Arbez

See also

References

External links