Dutch glory and the shipping route between the Rhine and the Rhone

18 January 2022

Élie Gouret (1586-1656) was a Huguenot who lived in the Dutch Republic, also known as the Republic of the Seven United Provinces.

In 1636, he submitted a project to the government (Der Grosse Rat) of the canton Bern to connect the Rhine, the River Aare, Lake Biel, and Lake Neuchâtel to Lake Geneva. He wanted to achieve his goal by connecting Yverdon with Morges (in the canton of Vaud), thus linking the Rhine with the Rhone.

He also wanted to make the Rhone navigable between Geneva and Lyon by digging a side channel to the Mediterranean Sea. In this way, he intended to connect the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Republic, especially cities in the province of Holland, was interested in this project. These ships could avoid the dangerous sea route (storms, pirates, and hostile countries).

Moreover, the Rhine flows through friendly (i.e. Protestant) regions of German principalities and Swiss areas (the cantons of Bern (including Vaud) and Basel, the sovereign city of Geneva and the (French, but Protestant) principality of Neuchâtel). The Rhone Valley and the south of France were predominantly protestant before the Edict of Nantes was lifted in 1685.

The budget of the Société du Canal comprised 19% Dutch, 10% French, 16% Geneva, and 55% Bernese capital. On 10 February 1637, the Bern government authorised the construction and exploitation of the Entreroches Canal (le canal d’Entreroches).

Dutch engineers developed the project. The work began in 1638, and two years later, on 12 April 1640, the first part, between Yverdon and Orny (canton Vaud), was completed.

The second part, from Orny to Eclépens, was completed in 1648, and Cossonay was reached in 1656. There remained 12.5 km to Morges, but this part of the canal was never completed, and transport to Lake Geneva was carried out by road.

The 25 km unfinished canal, running from Yverdon to Cossonay, was successfully operated for almost 190 years. Dutch-designed ships were manufactured in Thun (canton of Bern) and Yverdon. Horses pulled them.

Thousands of ships carrying tons of freight moved through the canal until 1829. The canal had a positive impact on Switzerland’s economic development and trade with the Netherlands.

The canal’s exploitation stopped in 1829, and since then, large parts have dried up. However, the track can still be followed between Orny and Éclepens, and stones and foundations of locks mark the canal’s route.

(Source: documentary: Pierre-André Vuitel, La fabuleuse avonture du canal d’Entreroches, 2014; Lexicon Historique de la Suisse, Le Canal d’Entreroches (hls-dhs-dss.ch).