History of the villages of the Singine district (Fribourg)
The 25 documented localities of the Singine district, in the canton of Fribourg. Each page covers the origin of the name, the main stages of its history and its remains, with sources.
Towns and villages 22
Alterswil
In 1386 Bernese troops burned Alterswil. A century later, on 30 March 1486, the chapter of St Vincent in Bern sold its rights over the village to Fribourg.
FRBösingen
In Bösingen, St James's church stands on the site of a Roman villa, where an early medieval cemetery preceded churches probably founded before the year 1000.
FRBrünisried
Brünisried only got its own church in 1919. Dedicated to Saint Philomena and rebuilt in 1971, it still belongs to the parish of Rechthalten.
FRDüdingen
The oldest known dwelling site in the canton of Fribourg is in Düdingen, on a rock shelter at the Schiffenengraben half drowned in 1964 by Lake Schiffenen.
FRFlamatt
In 1340 Bern and Fribourg made peace at Sensebrücke, the Sense crossing near Flamatt. The village is now the only one in the Sense district with a Protestant majority.
FRGiffers
In 1630 Giffers left the bilingual parish of Marly, mainly for reasons of language, and formed its own parish with Neuhaus, St. Silvester and Tentlingen.
FRHeitenried
In the old church of Saint Michael at Heitenried, the graves after 1626 are almost all those of newborns and very young children, which suggests a «sanctuaire à répit».
FRNeuhaus
Neuhaus had 28 inhabitants in 1811 and still 28 in 1970, the year of the decree that joined it to Plasselb. In between, the village had been attached to Giffers from 1850 to 1895.
FROberschrot
On 31 May 1906 a spark from the chimney of the bakery in the hamlet of Ried, in Oberschrot, set a shingle roof alight. The wind carried the fire to Plaffeien, which burned down entirely.
FRPlaffeien
On 31 May 1906 a fire destroyed thirty-six houses and the church of Plaffeien in two hours. The new church, begun in 1908, held its first services in December 1909.
FRPlasselb
At the end of winter 1994 an old landslide on the Schweinsberg started moving again. It swept away the holiday village of Falli Hölli and some thirty buildings.
FRRechthalten
In 1228 Rechthalten already appears as an independent parish in the cartulary of Conon d'Estavayer, the oldest list of parishes in the diocese of Lausanne.
FRSchmitten
A district seat from 1798 to 1803, Schmitten nonetheless remained a hamlet of Düdingen until 1922, after two failed attempts at separation in 1831 and 1853.
FRSchwarzsee
Formed by landslides around 5000-4000 BC at the foot of the Kaiseregg, the Schwarzsee (Lac Noir) got its first bathhouse in 1784, thanks to sulphur springs.
FRSt. Antoni
Before 1447 not a single house stood in what is now the centre of St. Antoni. The village grew around a 15th-century chapel of St Anthony and took its name in the mid-16th century.
FRSt. Silvester
In 1148 Rudolf of Neuchâtel gave the territory of St. Silvester to Hauterive Abbey. The statue of Saint Silvester in the church dates from the second half of the 14th century.
FRSt. Ursen
In 1906 more than 150 early medieval graves were uncovered near St. Ursen. The chapel of Saint Ursus gave its name to the hamlet, which was first called Remiswil.
FRTafers
On the St James chapel in Tafers, the painter Jakob Stoll told in 1769 the legend of the hanged pilgrim kept alive by St James, and of the roast chickens that fly away.
FRTentlingen
In 1888 the bell of Saint Nicholas chapel, demolished eight years earlier, was traded for a red French grenadier's uniform, later worn by the church warden keeping order in Giffers.
FRUeberstorf
The castle that Dietrich von Englisberg had built at Ueberstorf in 1505, in Renaissance style, is the oldest surviving castle in the canton.
FRWünnewil-Flamatt
Until the late 1970s, the territory of Wünnewil-Flamatt was cut in two by that of Bösingen. The silver bar in its coat of arms, created in 1930, still recalls this division.
FRZumholz
In 1339, during the Laupen War, Zumholz bought its neutrality from the lords Rudolf and Johann von Weissenburg to escape plundering.
Sites 3
Lac de Schiffenen
In 1963 the Schiffenen dam flooded the Sarine valley north of Fribourg. Beneath the water lie the Bad Bonn baths and half of a rock shelter, the oldest known dwelling site in the canton.
FR · SiteRuine d'Obermontenach
On the Chutz, an 886 m hill above the hamlet of Obermonten, a signal tower was used to call out the troops. Its wall remains are still visible, a quarter of an hour's walk from the chapel of 1670.
FR · SiteRuine de Maggenberg
On a spur above the Sense, Ober-Maggenberg castle, built towards the end of the 13th century by the knights of Maggenberg, was partly destroyed in 1386. Its keep was bought in 1928 for 100 francs.