Düdingen
Origin of the name Düdingen
Düdingen appears in 1180 (or 1182) in the Romance form « Doens », in a Latin charter of Hauterive abbey in which an Albertus de Doens is a witness. The charter belongs to the Liber donationum kept in the State Archives of Fribourg. The German form « Tiudingen » is recorded in 1258, « Dyung » in 1414. The French name is Guin. The meaning of the name is not established.[1][2]
Founding of Düdingen
The largest municipality of the Sense district, north of Fribourg, Düdingen also includes the hamlets of Mariahilf, Schiffenen, Bonn, St. Wolfgang, Ottisberg, Garmiswil, Jetschwil, Heitiwil and Galmis. Alemannic settlers arrived in the 7th and 8th centuries. In the 12th century the lords of Düdingen, vassals of the counts of Thierstein, held the right of patronage over the church of Saints Peter and Paul, and the parish is recorded in 1228. Divided into four quarters (Schrote), it also took in Schmitten. Until the second half of the 19th century Düdingen remained rural and turned towards Fribourg. Manor houses and many chapels were built in the hamlets.[1][2]
History of Düdingen
Early Iron Age. Three groups of burial mounds are raised at Birchflur, in the Chiemiwald and in Klempa forest.[1]
7th-8th century. Alemannic settlers move into the area.[1]
12th century. The lords of Düdingen, vassals of the Thierstein, hold the patronage of the church.[1]
1228. The parish is first recorded.[1]
1442. The territory passes to Fribourg and joins the Auge banner of the Old Territories.[1]
1476. The men of Düdingen are said to have fought at the battle of Murten under a banner with ox horns.[2]
1492. The patronage of the parish church passes to the town church of Fribourg, then in 1513 to the chapter of St Nicholas. In the same year 1492 a chapel is consecrated at St. Wolfgang.[1][4]
1517-1521. Hans Vogt, Willy Wagner and Willy Jeckelmann have the present St Wolfgang's chapel built in place of the 1492 one.[4]
1609. A hermit is first recorded at Räsch.[5]
1641. The Marian chapel at Bad Bonn is built.[1]
1680-1708. The hermit Johann Dupré and his helper Johann Liecht carve out the rooms of the Magdalena hermitage. The rock chapel is consecrated to St Mary Magdalene on 8 July 1691.[5]
1798. The French invasion opens a new era. A music society is founded the same year.[2]
1831. The political municipality is finally formed and gradually takes over tasks from the parish. That year, and again in 1853, the government's attempts to make Schmitten a municipality fail because of opposition in Düdingen.[2]
1834-1837. The present Neoclassical parish church is built.[1]
1856-1862. The Bern-Fribourg railway boosts the economy. A district grows up around the station, and the village centre shifts from the church to the station.[1][2]
1871. The condensed milk factory is built.[2]
1922. A decree of the Grand Council separates Schmitten from Düdingen.[1][2]
1964. The filling of Lake Schiffenen drowns the Bad Bonn chapel and half of the rock shelter at the Schiffenengraben.[1]
1973. The motorway is built. The A12, completed in the area in the 1980s, runs without a break from Bern to Vevey.[1][2]
Population of Düdingen
Sources and references: [1][6]
| 1850 | 2'692 |
| 1900 | 3'453 |
| 1920 | 4'160 |
| 1930 | 3'259 |
| 1950 | 4'033 |
| 2000 | 6'712 |
| 2025 | 9'333 |
Historic sites in Düdingen
Church of Saints Peter and Paul. Neoclassical parish church built in 1834-1837. It houses the Reyff altar from the former Bad Bonn chapel. Cultural property of regional importance.[1][3]
St Wolfgang's chapel. Late Gothic pilgrimage chapel built in 1517-1521, with a narrower five-sided choir. It keeps a coffered ceiling with coats of arms from the 1560s, wall paintings of 1561 and 1568 and a rare cycle of 33 scenes from the life of St Wolfgang of Regensburg dated 1647. The nave windows are by Raymond Meuwly (1953), and the two bells of 1665 and 1666 were cast by Hans Wilhelm Klely. Cultural property of national importance.[3][4]
Magdalena hermitage. Cut into the rock face at Räsch above Lake Schiffenen, the hermitage has several rooms over 120 m. Visitors walk on petrified sand dunes left by a sea about 20 million years ago. It belongs to the Catholic parish of Düdingen. Cultural property of national importance.[1][3][5]
Mariahilf chapel. Pilgrimage chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, cultural property of national importance. Other hamlet chapels, such as St Jost at Bruch, St Catherine at Bundtels, St Lawrence at Schiffenen and St Wendelin at Ottisberg, are of regional importance.[3]
Country houses and farmhouses. The de Boccard country house at Jetschwil, the von Montenach house at Balliswil and the farmhouse of the brothers Hans, Jakob and Benz Jungo at Galmis are cultural properties of national importance.[3]
Grandfey viaduct. The viaduct, shared by Düdingen with Granges-Paccot, is cultural property of national importance.[3]
Düdingen moors. The municipality's moors are listed in the federal inventories of fens and raised bogs.[1]
Podium. Theatre and concert hall opened in 1999.[1]
Remains in Düdingen
Schiffenengraben rock shelter. This rocky overhang, which once stood high above the Saane, is regarded as the oldest known dwelling site in the canton. Flint arrowheads, blades and flakes and Neolithic potsherds were found there, then in 1984 and 1989 a hearth and a workshop where axes of green rock and flint were cut. The Neolithic hilltop site is cultural property of national importance. Mesolithic microliths (8200-5500 BC) have also been picked up on the surface in the municipality.[1][3]
Birchflur burial mounds. Two Early Iron Age mounds, first explored in 1852 and dug again in 1969 and 2001. They yielded a sheet-bronze bowl, brooches including one with a gilded « drum », lignite bracelets, an iron neck ring and armlet decorated with gold, and parts of a wagon.[1]
Chiemiwald and Klempa mounds. In the Chiemiwald one of the two mounds, already damaged by looters, was opened in 1970. It held pottery, a Hallstatt iron sword and cremated remains. In Klempa forest four graves were plundered at an unknown date.[1]
Celtic grave at Balliswil. Found in 1933 when the Fribourg-Bern railway was doubled, it contained a blue glass bracelet typical of the La Tène period.[1]
Bad Bonn chapel. Marian chapel of 1641, drowned in 1964 by Lake Schiffenen.[1]
Legends of Düdingen
The apparitions of St Wolfgang. St Wolfgang's chapel is said to have been founded by Hans Vogt, Willy Wagner and Willy Jeckelmann at the spot where St Wolfgang had appeared three times.[4]
The ox and the shrine. In the 14th century, during the wars between Fribourg and Bern, the Bernese invaded the Sense country. The people of Düdingen tied the reliquary shrine between the horns of an ox and drove the animal away. The shrine was later found unharmed in a meadow near the village, and a large church was built there. One of the horns is said to have been turned into a musical instrument, now lost. A large old black horn kept in the parish archives may be the horn of the legend.[2]
Queen Bertha and the church. In the 10th century Queen Bertha of Burgundy was travelling from Payerne in an ox cart. One ox collapsed below St. Wolfgang, a second at the Sagerain, and the animal died on the climb beyond the Düdingerbach. Bertha had a church built on that spot. In another version the queen, out hunting, struck a wild bull three times with her spear, the last blow killing it, and the church was built there. The three spears are said to explain the three roses in the municipal arms.[2]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Düdingen » (Denis Ramseyer et Olivier Aebischer, version du 13.03.2008)
- Commune de Düdingen, « Wappen und Geschichte »
- Office fédéral de la protection de la population, « Révision Inventaire PBC 2021 : liste cantonale, canton de FR » (état au 1.1.2026)
- Inventaire suisse des biens culturels d'importance nationale (PBC), fiche KGS 02022, « Wallfahrtskapelle St. Wolfgang », d'après le Guide artistique de la Suisse (SHAS)
- Paroisse catholique de Düdingen, « Magdalena-Einsiedelei » (dépliant, 2019)
- Service de la statistique du canton de Fribourg (SStat), « Population des communes, de 1900 à 2025 » (T01-02-03), population résidante permanente au 31.12.2025
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near Düdingen
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