[edit]
Château-d'Œx is first mentioned in 1115 as Oit, Oyz, Oix and Oyez.
Prehistoric settlements[edit]
During the late Paleolithic and Mesolithic (9500 BC to at least 6000 BC) caves around Château-d'Œx served as a seasonal settlement. Bronze Age knives indicate that there was a settlement during that era as well. Many of the local names (combe = valley, joeur = forest, man = rock) and the local dialect are the only traces of a Celtic settlement in the area. The lack of iron ore and the sparseness of the soil probably prevented the romanization of lowland valleys. During the Gallo-Roman era, the region may have been only sparsely populated. By the 10th century, the Alamannic settlements had only reached Le Vanel but then spread even higher and reached the pastures in L'Étivaz in the southern part of the municipality. The valley was known as the high Gau or Ogo. The name may have come from the word for Ox or be a form of Äesch, (or ash).
Medieval history[edit]
In the 10th century, the Count of Gruyere conquered La Tine and the Creux de l'Enfer. Subsequently, it was merged with Rossinière to form a district. The church of St. Donat was consecrated and first mentioned in 1175. The village church was under the authority of the Cluniac Priory of Rougemont, which was founded in 1080.
At the beginning of the 14th century, the castle at La Motte was rebuilt for the Counts of Gruyere. Another stronghold probably stood on the rocky spur which was known as Château Cottier. After clearing the woods, the region was intensively farmed and produced barley, hay, hemp and cheese. In 1388 the villagers threw off the obligation to serve the nobility. Then, in 1403, against the wishes of the Count of Gruyères, the villagers joined a limited alliance with Bern.
Growth during the Early Modern era[edit]
Old church in Château-d'Œx
In 1555 Bern received the upper part of the county of Gruyere including Château-d'Œx. It became part of the German-speaking bailiwick of Saanen. The rights and freedoms of the villagers were now based on Bernese law and not on the Land Law of Moudon. However, the village church was still part of the parish under the collegiate church of Lausanne. Following the Protestant Reformation in 1555, the parish also included Etivaz until 1713.
Under Bernese rule, the economy experienced a strong upswing. The common land was divided and sold before the end of the 16th century. The alpine pastures were leased to private cheesemakers, who there produced Gruyère cheese. In the 18th century, the inhabitants of the municipality went over the Col de Jaman to sell the cheese, from the approximately 2,000 cows, at the market in Vevey. From there, it went to Marseille where it was exported to Asia and America.
End of the Ancien Régime and Modern Château-d'Œx[edit]
House in the historic center of Château-d'Œx
In 1798, Château-d'Œx came to the newly formed Canton of Léman. In 1800, a fire destroyed the wooden houses on the central hill. The houses had been built in this style and on the hill to avoid property taxes. Thanks to the efforts of the Dean Philippe-Sirice Bridel enough money was raised to rebuild the houses in stone. The municipality hired masons from Savoy, carpenters from Simmental and plasterers from the lower Gruyere lands lower uplands. In 1803, the Canton of Léman was dissolved with the Act of Mediation and the municipality became part of the new canton of Vaud.
In 1849, the Institute Henchoz opened as a preparatory gymnasium, which replaced the older Latin school. The primary school received a new building in 1907. Starting in 1847 a parish of the Free Church of the Canton of Vaud was established with two priests. The Catholic parish was established in 1896 and the Anglican church parish was created in 1899. Other religious communities, such as the Plymouth Brethren, established churches in the valley.
In the 19th century, the municipality suffered several outbreaks of livestock diseases. To protect the dairy industry, non-local herds were forbidden from passing through the municipality. Cheese was no longer allowed to be carried across the mountains but was now transported on local draft horses. Due to customs taxes with the neighbouring Canton of Fribourg, cheese was carried on a route over the Col de Chaude to Villeneuve (VD) and from there to the shores of Lake Geneva, without crossing the Fribourg border. The abolition of the inter-canton customs and taxes in 1848 led to the demolition of the Fribourg customs station on the main road that had linked Château-d'Œx with the grain and livestock markets. Changes in markets and improvements in animal husbandry led to more Simmental cattle being raised for meat rather than cheese production. The construction of the road over the Col des Mosses (1865–71) and the construction of a new road to Bulle (1895) eased transportation.
Balloon above the streets of Château-d'Œx
The hospital, which had replaced the old hospital in 1926, was remodelled in 1979 into a nursing home and district hospital. At the same time, solar heating was added to the building. The municipal administration building was built in 1912, and renovated in 1958. The Musée du Vieux Pays-d'Enhaut was built in 1922.
A power plant was operated in La Chaudanne from 1894 until about 1901. The opening of the Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line in 1904 made Château-d'Œx an attractive summer resort. It was particularly appreciated by English tourists. Between 1916 and 1918 it also housed English internees during the war. Half a dozen grand hotels with tennis courts sprang up in the municipality. A tennis club was founded in 1894 and the area has hosted the lawn tennis Swiss International Championships.
Other infrastructure included the suspension bridge at Turrian (1883), a swimming pool and a campsite (1932), a cable car (1945) and the Pont du Berceau (1945). The agricultural sector has remained important, with the emphasis again shifting to cheese. In the 20th century, winter tourism became an important additional source of income. Hot air balloons and river rafting became common in the summer, while local crafts, sawmills and gravel mining are the main branches of the industrial sector. Since 1945, the area around Pierreuse has been a protected heritage site.
World War I internment[edit]
During World War I Switzerland accepted 68,000 sick or injured prisoners of war from both sides of the conflict. These prisoners required medical care that they could not receive in internment camps due to a demand for doctors at the front to care for their own nation's injured. Following an agreement between the belligerent nations and with support from the Red Cross the internees were transferred to neutral Switzerland. The first trainload of injured soldiers arrived to cheering crowds at Château-d'Œx on 30 May 1916. The British ambassador to Switzerland, Sir Evelyn Grant Duff, met the first train and recorded in his diary that evening:
It is difficult to write calmly about it for the simple reason that I have never before in my life seen such a welcome accorded to anyone, although for 28 years I have been present at every kind of function in half the capitals of Europe. At Lausanne some 10,000 people, at 5am, were present at the station.
Our men were simply astounded. Many of them were crying like children, a few fainted from emotion. As one private said to me: "God bless you, sir, it's like dropping right into 'eaven from 'ell."— Sir Evelyn Grant Duff,
Château-d'Œx was the first community chosen to host the injured prisoners because its letter offering to help was the first one received by the Swiss government. Over the following two years many resort communities, devastated as tourism vanished during the war, experienced growth as internees were housed in empty resorts and as their loved ones visited.
Escher[edit]
In 1935, the Dutch painter M.C. Escher and his wife Jutta decided to leave Italy, where they had lived for many years after their nine-year-old son was forced to join the Fascist Balilla Youth Movement. They found refuge in Switzerland and lived for two years in Château-d'Œx.
Bank for International Settlements[edit]
In the second half of May 1940, the Bank for International Settlements relocated to Château-d'Œx from Basel, out of fear of an imminent German invasion of Switzerland. BIS President Thomas H. McKittrick and economic adviser Per Jacobsson moved into the nearby château of Rougemont, while the rest of the staff found accommodation in the village. The BIS moved back to Basel in October 1940.
