Aubonne

Town Canton of Vaud · District: Morges · Around 3,896 inhabitants (permanent resident population as of 31 December 2025), including 2,662 Swiss residents and 1,234 foreign residents.

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Legends Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Aubonne

The name Aubonne comes from the river of the same name, which flows through the locality before reaching Lake Geneva a few kilometres downstream. The river itself is mentioned as early as 1005 under the Latin form Albunna. For the locality itself, the sources differ on the date of the first written mention: the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland gives 1177, under the form Albona, as the first dated attestation, while a non-academic toponymy website mentions an occurrence as early as 1045, under the same form. In the absence of direct access to a reference work on Vaud toponymy that would settle the matter, both dates are reported here, giving priority to the 1177 date provided by the academic source. The spelling Aulbonne is then found from 1606 onward, before the current spelling stabilized. The most commonly advanced etymology links Aubonne to a very old hydronymic root, predating the Celtic languages or going back to Gaulish, formed from alba ('white') and a second element related to bona, which originally designated a foundation, a fortified place, or a watercourse: the overall meaning would be close to 'white river' or 'white, foaming spring'. This type of name is found in several watercourses of the region (the Albanne, the Arbonne, the Arbogne), which supports this reading. An alternative hypothesis, less well supported and found on only one site consulted, would derive the name from bona aula, 'rich palace' in Latin; this may be a folk etymology constructed after the fact rather than a serious linguistic explanation, and it is presented here with this caveat. The inhabitants of Aubonne are called Aubonnois and Aubonnoises. In Vaud patois, they also bear the nickname Revire-Trouye (French 'tourne-truie', 'sow-turner'), which has given rise to a traditional explanation reported by the municipality itself (see the Legends section).

Founding of Aubonne

Before a town organized itself around the castle, the main inhabited place in the region seems to have been Trévelin, today a mere hamlet south of the present-day town. A local lordly family, the lords of Aubonne, appears in the sources as early as the 11th century: a Geroldus filius Turumberti de Albona is mentioned there, although the precise link between this very first person cited and the lineage better known from the 12th century onward remains uncertain, for lack of a continuous genealogy. A tower already existed before 1197, the year in which it is referred to by the term turris; it controlled the river crossing on an ancient route, the so-called 'Route de l'Etraz', and would become the core of the present-day castle. Under Humbert I, lord of Aubonne active between roughly 1154 and 1177, the family distinguished itself through a long-lasting conflict with the bishop of Lausanne, triggered by Humbert's seizure of the neighbouring village of Saint-Livres. It was in this context of local lordship, between the 11th and 13th centuries, that the region's population is thought to have gradually gathered at the foot of the castle to seek protection there, a settlement pattern found in many medieval castle towns of the period. The first burgher of Aubonne is recorded in 1226. The foundational step for Aubonne's urban status remains the charter of liberties of 1234: three co-lord brothers, Guerric, Jacques II, and Pierre II (called Putoz), then set down in writing the reciprocal rights and duties of the lord and the inhabitants of the town, which was already surrounded by a wall at that date. Guerric gradually ceded his share of the lordship to Pierre II of Savoy between 1255 and 1261; the latter in turn passed it on to Humbert of Thoire-Villars. It was under this new authority that a 'new town' was built between 1319 and 1343 west of the original core, a sign of a locality then in full expansion: in the 15th century, Aubonne was considered the most important town on the north shore of Lake Geneva between Lausanne and Geneva, before losing this rank in the second half of the century.

History of Aubonne

11th century. Appearance in the sources of the first lords of Aubonne; a Geroldus filius Turumberti de Albona is mentioned, without it being possible to establish with certainty his link to the lineage better known thereafter.

1005. The Aubonne river is mentioned in writing for the first time, under the Latin form Albunna.

1177 (according to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland) or 1045 (according to another source). Earliest known written mention of the name of the locality itself, under the form Albona. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland places this first attestation in 1177; a non-academic toponymy website puts it as early as 1045. Both dates are reported here, as they could not be settled with a reference work on Vaud toponymy.

1154-1177. Humbert I, lord of Aubonne, seizes the neighbouring village of Saint-Livres, earning him the lasting hostility of the bishop of Lausanne.

before 1197. A tower, referred to by the term turris, controls the river crossing on the Etraz road; it will become the core of the present-day castle.

1226. First burgher of Aubonne mentioned in the texts.

1234. Charter of liberties granted by the three co-lord brothers Guerric, Jacques II, and Pierre II called Putoz, setting out the rights and duties of the town's inhabitants, already surrounded by a wall.

1255-1261. Guerric cedes his share of the lordship to Pierre II of Savoy, who then passes it on to Humbert of Thoire-Villars.

1306. A burgher church is mentioned in Aubonne.

1319-1343. Construction of a 'new town' west of the original core, under the authority of the Thoire-Villars.

1338. The church of Aubonne is placed under the patronage of Saint Stephen.

1393. The lordship, confiscated from the son of the last lord of Aubonne-Grandson, Othon, passes to the counts of Gruyère.

1417. Aubonne has around 200 hearths, more than Nyon, which then has only around 160, a sign of its regional importance in the late Middle Ages.

1476. Aubonne escapes the direct repercussions of the Burgundian Wars, protected by its alliances of the time.

1487. The town obtains the right to hold two annual three-day fairs, in addition to the weekly markets documented since the 13th century.

1536. Conquest of the Vaud region by Bern; the Protestant Reformation takes hold in the region.

1540-1553. Michel, the last count of Gruyère, ruined, gradually loses his lands, including the lordship of Aubonne.

1553-1556. The barony changes hands rapidly: bought by Nicolas de Meggen, it is resold as early as 1556 to Jean de Lettes, before passing through several more owners in the following decades.

1670. The French merchant and traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, only just ennobled, buys the barony and castle of Aubonne.

1674-1677. Reconstruction of the castle's interior façades by the architect Pierre Billon on behalf of Tavernier, with a portico of sixteen columns, followed by the reconstruction of the upper half of the main tower, topped with a so-called 'imperial' roof that remains today the castle's most recognizable silhouette.

1685. Henri Duquesne, son of an admiral of Louis XIV and himself a Protestant refugee from France, buys the castle and the barony.

1701. The authorities of Bern buy back Aubonne, which becomes the seat of a bailiwick until the end of the Ancien Régime.

1770-1780. Construction of the Aubonne grenette (grain hall), originally intended for grain storage, before housing a butcher's shop.

1798. The Vaud Revolution ends the Bernese regime; Aubonne joins the new State of Vaud, incorporated into the canton of Léman under the Helvetic Republic.

1801-1810. The grenette is converted into a covered market, on open arcades.

1803. The Act of Mediation turns Léman into the canton of Vaud, which joins the Swiss Confederation; Aubonne becomes the capital of the new district of Aubonne.

1802 or 1838. Construction of the present town hall, which replaces a 16th-century municipal building located between rue Tavernier and ruelle du Soleil-Levant. The sources contradict each other on the exact date, one of them even contradicting itself internally between its summary table and its text; the point remains to be settled.

1853. Founding, in the La Vaux valley, of the federal gunpowder factory, the only true 19th-century industrial establishment in Aubonne; its workshops are fed by an artificial canal diverted from the river.

1901. The castle of Aubonne is listed as a historic monument.

1964. Opening of the motorway built for the Swiss National Exhibition, with its bridge over the Aubonne; the industrial and residential development of the town accelerates in the following decade, notably with the establishment of a Velcro fastener factory.

1968. Founding of the National Arboretum of the Aubonne valley, on land spread across the municipalities of Aubonne, Montherod, Bière, and Saint-Livres.

1980-1988. The castle undergoes a complete renovation, completed in 1988 after eight years of work.

1995-1997. The federal gunpowder factory, attached for a time to the Swiss munitions company, is closed by the Confederation, then privatized and taken over by the canton of Vaud.

1 September 2006. Entry into force of the new Vaud law on territorial division, which schedules the abolition of the district of Aubonne.

1 January 2008. The district of Aubonne is abolished; its municipalities join the new district of Morges, with the exception of Longirod, Marchissy, and Saint-George, which join the district of Nyon. Aubonne thus loses, after a little more than two centuries, its status as a district capital. One source places this same dissolution in 2006 rather than 2008: this is likely a confusion between the date the law was adopted and that of its actual entry into force for the district map, but the point could not be settled with complete certainty.

2011. Merger with the former independent municipality of Pizy.

5 December 2017. Michael I, the last king of Romania, dies in Aubonne, where he resided.

25 November 2018. The inhabitants of Aubonne (84% yes) and Montherod (82% yes) accept by vote the principle of a merger of the two municipalities.

1 January 2021. Merger with the former independent municipality of Montherod. The enlarged municipality then significantly crosses the threshold of 3,700 inhabitants, an increase largely due to the addition of Montherod's territory and population rather than to demographic growth specific to Aubonne alone.

August-September 2024. Excavations carried out on avenue du Chêne uncover a burial dated by carbon-14 analysis to the early Middle Ages (770-900 AD), confirming the existence of a necropolis already noted by earlier discoveries dating back to 1830.

31 December 2025. The municipality of Aubonne has 3,896 inhabitants, including 2,662 Swiss residents and 1,234 foreign residents; it has been part of the district of Morges since 2008.

Population of Aubonne

1'101

1764

1'730

1850

1'736

1900

1'682

1950

2'570

2000

2'949

2010

3'232

2020

3'791

2022

3'840

2023

3'896

2025

Historic sites in Aubonne

Aubonne Castle. The castle overlooks the town from a tower attested as early as before 1197, transformed over the centuries into a citadel and then into a fortified castle as its successive owners (the lords of Aubonne, the House of Savoy, the lords of Grandson, the counts of Gruyère) gained in power. Its present appearance owes much to Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who bought it back in 1670: between 1674 and 1677, the architect Pierre Billon rebuilt the façades of the inner courtyard with a monumental portico of sixteen columns and redid the upper half of the main tower, crowned with a so-called 'imperial' bulb-shaped roof, which local tradition links to Tavernier's taste for the East, where he had travelled extensively. The square tower also bears a clock of a particular kind, with a single hand that goes around the dial in twelve hours. Bought back by Bern in 1701, the castle became the seat of a bailiff and then, from 1798, the property of the State of Vaud before passing to the municipality of Aubonne in 1835. Listed as a historic monument in 1901 and fully renovated between 1980 and 1988, it today houses a secondary school and several public halls.

Castle barbican. An advanced structure of the castle's defensive system, built in the 16th century to reinforce its main access; its arrow slits are still visible today, and the structure still serves as the entrance to the site.

Grenette and town hall. The grenette, built between 1770 and 1780 for grain storage, first served as a butcher's shop before being converted from 1801 into a covered market on open arcades, work that likely continued until around 1810. The town hall proper, adjacent to it, replaces an old 16th-century municipal building located between rue Tavernier and ruelle du Soleil-Levant; the sources disagree on its exact construction date, sometimes 1802, sometimes 1838. The ensemble is today recognized as a cultural property of national importance.

Saint-Etienne Church. A burgher church mentioned from 1306 onward, placed under the patronage of Saint Stephen since 1338. It preserves 14th-century frescoes and heraldic stained-glass windows, evidence of its age and its link to the local lordly families.

La Vaux Mill. A flour mill still in operation in the Aubonne valley, between Aubonne and Etoy, which continues an old milling tradition along the river: the valley's watercourses long powered several mills, including those that later fed the workshops of the federal gunpowder factory. The mill today processes exclusively Vaud wheat, under a regional traceability label.

Former federal gunpowder factory. Founded in 1853 in the La Vaux valley to replace a facility deemed too dangerous at Echandens, this black powder manufacturing plant arose from the centralization, by the still-young federal State, of the production and sale of gunpowder. Its workshops, spread over some 80,000 m² and fed by an artificial canal diverted from the Aubonne, have retained their original layout. Attached in 1995 to the Swiss munitions company, it was closed by the Confederation in 1996, then privatized and taken over by the canton of Vaud in 1997; it continues today to produce powder for antique firearms and civilian explosives. The whole is listed in the federal inventory of cultural properties of national importance.

Bougy-Saint-Martin Manor. Located within the municipality, in the village of Bougy-Saint-Martin (not to be confused with the neighbouring and distinct municipality of Bougy-Villars), this manor is mentioned as early as the beginning of the 18th century as the property of Estienne Fels. Bought back in 1756 by the banker Paul-Benjamin de Lessert, it was given in 1760 a 120-metre-long riding hall by the latter's son, a keen horseman. The current riding hall, reduced to 21 by 14.5 metres, and the stables able to house 14 horses, are, together with the manor, listed as cultural properties of national importance.

Maison d'Aspre. A historic 18th-century residence equipped with an orangery, listed as a cultural property of national importance. The sources consulted for this research unfortunately do not give further details on its own history (originating family, successive uses); this point would deserve further investigation.

National Arboretum of the Aubonne Valley. Founded in 1968, the arboretum covers around 130 hectares within an agricultural and forest site of around 200 hectares, straddling the municipalities of Aubonne, Montherod (now part of Aubonne), Bière, and Saint-Livres, at an altitude between 500 and 670 metres. It brings together nearly 4,500 trees and shrubs native to temperate zones around the world, complemented since 1975 by orchards of old Swiss fruit varieties and, since 1979, by a rose garden of some 200 wild species and varieties. A wood museum housed at the Plan farm displays part of its more than 6,000 collection pieces.

Remains in Aubonne

Early Medieval necropolis on avenue du Chêne. Construction work carried out on avenue du Chêne uncovered, in August and September 2024, an earthen grave containing the remains of an adult woman of mature age, as well as isolated fragments of human bone suggesting the presence of other graves nearby. Carbon-14 analysis dated these remains to the early Middle Ages, between 770 and 900 AD, confirming the existence, at this location below the present-day village, of a necropolis already noted by earlier discoveries dating back to 1830.

Older traces, to be confirmed. A summary source mentions, without much detail, older remains on the territory of the municipality: the oldest are said to date back to the Bronze Age, supplemented by Roman-era foundations (villas) and by early Medieval graves. Only this last point (the avenue du Chêne necropolis, see above) could be cross-checked with a precise and recent source for this research; mentions of Bronze Age and Roman-era remains remain to be verified directly with the cantonal archaeology department before being presented as established facts.

Legends of Aubonne

Revire-Trouye, the nickname of the Aubonnois. The inhabitants of Aubonne are nicknamed, in Vaud patois, the Revire-Trouye, in other words the 'sow-turners'. The municipality itself reports that this nickname would refer to an old story of a sow being punished by being turned on a kind of turnstile or pillory. No source consulted for this research made it possible to find the complete tale that would have given rise to this story (date, precise circumstances, protagonists): only the explanation of the nickname has come down to us, without the tale that would originally have justified it. It is therefore a very real and well-documented nickname, but a legend whose narrative detail remains, to this day, untraceable in the available sources.

Sources

Localities of the municipality with a page

Pizy

Other villages near Aubonne

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