Unrest and Unrueh in Saint-Imier and Switzerland

10 December 2023

Switzerland is not known as a country of revolutionary change. Yet it is often at the forefront of scientific, industrial, democratic, ethical or social developments. One of these aspects was the foundation of the first democratic (for men only) Federation with three officially recognised languages in 1848.

In addition, the country served as a refuge for anarchists, revolutionaries, and political asylum seekers from all over Europe. French, Italian, Russian, Polish, German and Austrian exiles lived in all corners of the country.

Europe’s monarchs did not appreciate the Swiss concept of democracy (neither does the European Union). Following the French Revolution and subsequent wars, they sought no further experiments after 1815. The Holy Alliance was the guarantee. This alliance between Russia, Austria (Habsburg) and Prussia was concluded in Prussia on 26 September 1815.

St. Imier, building Longines in 1867. Collection: Musée Longines

Affiche Longines 1905. Collection: Musée Longines

St. Imier, Longines building today

Industrialisation created new social relations, including the rise of the working class and its movement, the emergence of the new bourgeoisie, the formation of the first political parties, and the development of anarchist and revolutionary movements.

One of the best-organised workers’ movements emerged in the watchmaking industry in the canton of Neuchâtel and today’s canton of Jura, until 1979, the canton of Bern. La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle set the tone in the canton of Neuchâtel. St Imier was an important watchmaking town in the canton of Bern.

Director Cyril Schäublin’s (*1984) film Unrueh presents a subdued and penetrating picture of the rapid changes in the organisation of capital, labour and technology in St. Imier and the rise of the anarchist movement through the eyes of a worker in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Her task was to set the central mechanism of a watch. This part was called ‘Unrueh’.

Anarchists and revolutionaries from all over Europe waited for their chance in Switzerland. Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) and Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni (1873-1910) are the most famous or notorious examples.

Geneva, along the shores of the lake

In St. Imier and the film Unrueh, the lesser-known Russian cartographer and anarchist Pyotr Kropotkin (1842-1921) is a main character. He was one of many anarchists and revolutionaries who used the social ‘Unruhe’ for political ends.