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Villages / Fribourg / Lac district / Murten

Murten

Town Canton of Fribourg · District: Lac · 9'525 inhabitants (31.12.2025)
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Murten

The place appears in 515 as « Muratum ». The German name is Murten, the French Morat, and Italian once used « Morato ». The meaning of « Muratum » has not been explained.[1]

Founding of Murten

Murten (Morat) stands on a plateau about 20 m above the south shore of Lake Murten, between the Broye valley and the Grosses Moos. The site lies on the cross-country route that has linked Geneva with Brugg and Windisch since Roman times, and on the land and water routes to Vaud and Yverdon. The town was founded in the 1170s or 1180s, by Duke Berthold IV of Zähringen or by Bishop Landri de Durnes, on a plan modelled on the Zähringen system. It is said to have served as a stronghold on the western border of the Zähringen lands. The municipality included Muntelier until 1533 and Meyriez until 1536. As capital of the Lake district, it absorbed Burg bei Murten, Altavilla, Büchslen, Courlevon, Jeuss, Lurtigen, Salvenach, Clavaleyres, Galmiz and Gempenach between 1975 and 2022.[1][4]

History of Murten

515. The estate of « Muratum » is recorded for the first time.[1][3]

1013-1032. King Rudolph III of Burgundy holds court at Murten in 1013. In 1032 Odo II of Blois occupies Murten and Neuchâtel. Emperor Conrad II retakes both places, and Murten is destroyed.[1]

1079. Emperor Henry IV gives Murten to the bishop of Lausanne.[1]

1170s or 1180s. The town is founded, under Duke Berthold IV of Zähringen or Bishop Landri de Durnes.[1]

1218. The Zähringen line dies out. Murten becomes a free imperial town under Emperor Frederick II.[3][4]

1238-1239. Murten is called a town in 1238, the year its ring wall is laid out. A hospital for the poor, with the chapel of St Catherine, is founded in 1239.[1]

1245. The town makes an alliance with Fribourg, and around the same date with Bern. The alliance with Bern is renewed in 1318 and 1335.[1]

1255-1310. Count Peter II of Savoy takes the town under his protection in 1255. Rudolf I of Habsburg later seizes it. Amadeus V of Savoy retakes it in 1291, then hands it back to Albert I of Habsburg. In 1310 Murten is pledged to Savoy for 4'000 silver marks.[1]

1377. Count Amadeus of Savoy grants Murten its town rights.[3]

1416. A fire destroys the town, whose houses are mostly of wood. It is rebuilt in stone.[1][3][4]

1475. On 14 October, in the middle of the Burgundian Wars, Bern and Fribourg occupy Murten.[1][3][4]

1476. The troops of Charles the Bold besiege the town, then the Confederates win the Battle of Murten on 22 June. The date is still celebrated with the Solennität, the youth festival. Until 1798 Murten and Lugnorre form a bailiwick held jointly by Bern and Fribourg. The avoyer, elected for five years, presides over the council, the court and the consistory.[1][3]

1530. Under Bernese pressure and after the sermons of Guillaume Farel, Murten adopts the Reformation.[1][4]

1798. Bern withdraws its garrison, and French troops invade the country on 3 March. Attached to the canton of Fribourg, the town loses its privileges over the countryside.[1][4]

1803. With the Act of Mediation, Napoleon assigns Murten permanently to Fribourg, against the will of its inhabitants.[3][4]

1835-1903. Steamboats link Murten with Neuchâtel from 1835. The Lausanne-Bern route chosen in 1856 leaves the town aside. The Palézieux-Murten-Lyss (1875-1876), Fribourg-Murten (1898) and Murten-Ins (1903) lines later serve it.[1]

1975-1991. Burg bei Murten joins the municipality in 1975, Altavilla in 1991 (or 1990).[1][2]

2002. The Löwenberg-Greng section of the A1 motorway opens shortly before Expo.02. Murten hosts one of its sites, dominated by Jean Nouvel's « monolith ».[1][4]

2013-2016. Büchslen joins the municipality on 1 January 2013, Courlevon, Jeuss, Lurtigen and Salvenach on 1 January 2016. The five municipalities had voted for the merger on 30 November 2014, Murten by 1'922 votes to 338.[1][5]

2022. On 1 January Galmiz, Gempenach and Clavaleyres, until then in the canton of Bern, join Murten. The Grand Council had approved the merger with Galmiz and Gempenach on 23 March 2021, unanimously with 93 votes cast.[1][6][7]

Population of Murten

Sources and references: [1][8]

Population of Murten
1428840 approx.
1558-1559790 approx.
1657750 approx.
18111'011
18502'137
19002'645
19503'106
19904'472
20005'578
20105'991
20168'075 (after the 2016 merger)
20229'299 (after the 2022 merger)
20259'525

Historic sites in Murten

Ring wall. Laid out in 1238, the walls survive almost in full. The Avenches and Ryf gates were pulled down shortly after 1798. The fortifications have been protected by the Confederation since 1912.[1]

Castle. Built by Peter II of Savoy, it keeps the appearance of the second half of the 13th century. The avoyer lived here. The castle houses the prefecture of the Lake district.[1][4]

German church. The chapel of Our Lady, recorded in 1381, received a new bell tower in 1681-1682 and a new nave in 1710. Services have been held here in German since 1762.[1]

French church. It is the former chapel of St Catherine of the hospital founded in 1239. Pulled down in 1475-1476, it was rebuilt inside the walls.[1]

Catholic church of St Maurice. Neo-Gothic church built in 1885 for the new Catholic parish.[1]

School building. Built from 1836 opposite the Bern gate by the architect Johann Jakob Weibel, it is the first public building in Switzerland in the round-arch style.[1]

Ryf mill and Historical Museum. The municipal mill in the Ryf, a craftsmen's quarter from the late 17th century, was restored in 1976-1978. It houses the Historical Museum.[1]

Löwenberg castle. The Swiss Federal Railways bought the castle and its park from the de Rougemont family in 1973 to set up a training centre.[1]

Remains in Murten

Lakeshore settlements. The Murten-Segelboothafen site is one of the 56 Swiss lakeshore settlements on the Unesco World Heritage list. The Pantschau site was discovered in 2009. Microlithic flints of the Mesolithic (8200-5500 BC) were found mainly at the Combette and at Ober Prehl.[1]

Löwenberg necropolis. The excavations carried out from 1976 to 1995 along the route of the A1 motorway covered Pré de la Blancherie, Löwenberg, Ober Prehl and Chantemerle. At Löwenberg the necropolis yielded graves from the Middle Bronze Age to La Tène, the richest from the early Iron Age. Burial mounds stand at Löwenberg and in the Murtenwald, and a late La Tène cremation grave was found at the Combette.[1]

Roman villa at the Combette. A large villa of the late 1st and early 2nd century AD stood at the Combette. A stretch of Roman road was recorded at Löwenberg.[1]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Morat (commune) » (Hermann Schöpfer, Denis Ramseyer, version du 12.02.2026)
  2. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Altavilla » (Hermann Schöpfer, version du 05.06.2001)
  3. Fribourg Région, « History of Murten »
  4. Commune de Murten, « Murten im Lauf der Geschichte »
  5. Conseil d'État du canton de Fribourg, message 2015-DIAF-22 accompagnant le projet de loi relative à la fusion des communes de Courlevon, Jeuss, Lurtigen, Morat et Salvenach (16.03.2015)
  6. Conseil d'État du canton de Fribourg, message 2020-DIAF-10 accompagnant le projet de décret relatif à la fusion des communes de Galmiz, Gempenach et Morat (02.02.2021)
  7. swissinfo.ch (ATS), « Feu vert à la fusion de Morat, Galmiz et Gempenach (FR) » (23.03.2021)
  8. 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 Murten

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