A justice building turned into a place of transmission.
The Maison de l'Absinthe occupies the building that once housed a police station, a post office and a courthouse. This past resonates strongly with the history of absinthe, since those who produced it clandestinely were tried here.
The idea of dedicating a building to absinthe took shape in 2004, when local authorities and tourism leaders in Val-de-Travers began looking for a way to reclaim a heritage that had long defined the identity of the region. Re-legalisation in Switzerland in 2005 turned that intention into an opportunity, and the launch of the Franco-Swiss Route de l'Absinthe in 2007 — connecting Noiraigue to Pontarlier and uniting nearly eighty partners — made plain what the region still lacked: a cultural anchor.
In 2010 the former District Court of Môtiers was made available by the municipality, and in 2012 the Foundation of the Maison de l'Absinthe was established to carry the project through. Inaugurated on 3 July 2014, the Maison is today an interpretation centre whose mission is to celebrate the terroir of Val-de-Travers and to reflect a culture recognised as Swiss intangible cultural heritage.
How the Maison came about →
