Neuchâtel

The castle the town is named for was built by Rudolph III of Burgundy and finished in 1011, both the French and German names mean new castle. Originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy, the place was absorbed into the Holy Roman Empire in 1033, and the domain of the counts of Neuchâtel is first called a city in 1214. It was under Prussian control from 1707 until 1848, interrupted by the Napoleonic Wars, and became a republic and a Swiss canton in 1848. It is a centre of the Swiss watch industry and of micro-technology.