Grenchen

Grenchen is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, at the foot of the Jura Mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne and about 25 kilometres north of Bern. It is the capital of the Lebern District and the second largest city of its canton, well known for a watch industry that has existed here for more than 150 years; clock manufacture began in 1851. Local barons built a castle on the cliff around the year 1000, and the name is first documented in 1131 as Granechun. The municipal territory stretches from the hamlet of Staad on the Aare river at 430 metres up to the Oberer Grenchenberg at 1,348 metres. It covers 26.01 square kilometres and had 17,577 inhabitants in December 2020. Grenchen won the Wakker Prize for architectural heritage in 2008.