Fribourg
Origin of the name Fribourg
The name appears in 1162 as « Friborc », then « Fribor », « Friborch », « Friburch » and « Friburg ». It means « free town ».[1]
Founding of Fribourg
Berthold IV of Zähringen founded Fribourg in 1157 on the Bourg plateau, above a bend of the Sarine, which has cut a winding canyon into the molasse. A year earlier the duke had lost the rectorate of Burgundy, and the new town was an attempt to strengthen ducal power between the Aare and the Sarine. The site is easy to fortify and well placed for communications, near a ford on the Auge used since the Mesolithic. No trace of settlement older than 1157 has been found within the medieval town. The Bourg was divided into building plots on an orthogonal plan. The charter of franchises (Handfeste), granted by the founder and known in its 1249 version, is the basis of the town's political organisation. The Auge, Neuveville and Planches quarters then grew up along the river, given over to trades that used a lot of water, above all tanning and cloth-making. The town formed alliances with Avenches in 1239, with Bern in 1243 and with Murten in 1245.[1]
History of Fribourg
Mesolithic. A ford on the Auge is already in use. The Bern Bridge will later replace it.[1]
1157. Berthold IV of Zähringen founds the town on the Bourg plateau.[1]
1182. The church of St Nicholas, founded by the Zähringen, is consecrated.[1]
1218. The Zähringen die out. Fribourg passes by inheritance to the Kyburg, the period of the triangular squares of the Auge, the Planche supérieure and the Court-Chemin.[1]
1249. Date of the known version of the Handfeste, the town's charter of franchises.[1]
1256. Jakob von Riggisberg founds the Franciscan friary.[1]
1277. The Habsburgs buy the town.[1]
1283. Work begins on the present church of St Nicholas, completed in 1490.[1][2]
1435. Fribourg's clothmakers produce 14'000 pieces of cloth.[1]
1452. Fribourg passes to Savoy.[1]
1478. After the Burgundian Wars, Fribourg becomes an imperial city.[1]
1481. The town joins the Confederation.[1]
1582. Under the direction of Peter Canisius, the Jesuits open the Collège Saint-Michel.[1]
1613. The Bishop of Lausanne settles in Fribourg.[1]
1798. On 2 March the Town and Republic of Fribourg capitulates to the French troops.[1]
1803. The municipality and the canton separate for good.[1]
1834. The Grand Pont suspension bridge opens.[1]
1862. The station on the Lausanne-Bern line comes into service.[1]
1889. Fribourg becomes the seat of a Catholic university.[1]
1924. St Nicholas becomes a cathedral. The Zähringen Bridge replaces the Grand Pont, dismantled the same year.[1]
Population of Fribourg
Sources and references: [1][4]
| late 13th century | 2'000 to 3'000 |
| around 1450 | 6'000 approximately |
| 1798 | 5'117 |
| 1811 | 6'200 |
| 1850 | 9'065 |
| 1900 | 15'794 |
| 1950 | 29'005 |
| 1970 | 39'695 |
| 1990 | 36'355 |
| 2000 | 35'547 |
| 2025 | 39'599 |
Historic sites in Fribourg
St Nicholas Cathedral. Gothic basilica with a porch tower, built between 1283 and 1490, collegiate church in 1512 and cathedral in 1924. The tower is 74 m high and is climbed by 365 steps. The main portal bears a relief of the Last Judgement. Jozef Mehoffer made the stained glass windows between 1896 and 1936, Alfred Manessier added more in the 1970s, and the organ is the work of Aloys Mooser (1824-1834).[1][2]
Town hall. Built in the early 16th century on the site of the Zähringen castle.[1]
Fortifications. Fourteen towers and a large 15th-century bastion, the Belluard, survive from the town walls.[1]
Houses and fountains. About two hundred Gothic façades survive, mainly in the Auge and the Neuveville. From 1550 the wooden fountains gave way to octagonal basins adorned with Renaissance statues.[1]
Religious houses. The Franciscan friary (1256), the Augustinian friary in the Auge (mid-13th century) and the abbey of La Maigrauge, mentioned in 1255 and joined to the Cistercians in 1262. The Capuchins arrived in 1608, the Ursulines in 1634.[1]
Bridges. The Bern Bridge, a covered wooden bridge, crosses the Sarine in the Auge. Then come the Pérolles Bridge (1922), the Zähringen Bridge (1924), the Grandfey Viaduct (1927) and the new Gottéron Bridge (1960).[1]
Neuveville-Saint-Pierre funicular. Opened in 1899, it links the lower town with the plateau.[1]
Remains in Fribourg
Roman Pérolles. Foundations of Roman buildings and early medieval graves were uncovered on the Pérolles plateau in 1861 and 1902.[1]
Zähringen castle. The founders' castle has disappeared. The town hall has stood on its site since the early 16th century.[1]
Grand Pont and Gottéron suspension bridge. The Grand Pont suspension bridge, opened in 1834, was dismantled in 1924. The Gottéron suspension bridge of 1840 was replaced by a new bridge in 1960.[1]
Western gates. The western gates and some stretches of wall were pulled down between the 1830s and the 1850s.[1]
Tramway. From 1897 to 1965 a 6 km tram network served the town.[1]
Legends of Fribourg
The runner of Murten. Legend has it that a messenger sent from Murten to announce the victory over Charles the Bold ran 17 km and died of exhaustion in front of the town hall. A linden branch is said to have been planted in his memory. The weakened tree was knocked down by a lorry in 1985. A shoot grows on the town hall square, and a sculpture by Emile Angéloz and Bruno Baeriswyl (1989), made from the props and supports of the old tree, depicts the runner.[3]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Fribourg (commune) » (François Guex, Hermann Schöpfer, Alain-Jacques Czouz-Tornare, version du 04.02.2010)
- Fribourg Région, « Cathédrale St-Nicolas Fribourg »
- Fribourg Région, « Le Coureur de Morat »
- 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
- Abbaye de la Maigrauge
- Bourguillon
- Couvent de Montorge
- Pont de Zaehringen et viaducs
- Quartier de l'Auge
- Quartier de la Neuveville
- Quartier du Bourg
Other villages near Fribourg
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