History of the Canton of Friborg
The history of the canton of Friborg is largely shaped by the eponymous city of Friborg in Üechtland and the situation of the canton on the border between the French and German-speaking areas. Today's canton of Friborg emerged from the city of Friborg, which was founded by the Zähringers , and their territory that they acquired until 1798. The early history of Freiburg was shaped by the competitive situation with the city of Bern and the situation of Freiburg on the border between the areas of influence of the Habsburgs and Savoy . Since achieving the status of an imperial city in 1478, Freiburg has formed a city-state, which since joining the Confederation in 1481 had increased autonomy as a "place" and after 1648 could be considered an independent city-republic. Since the Reformation , Freiburg has been a stronghold of Catholicism in western Switzerland, which otherwise almost completely converted to the Reformation. The actual canton of Friborg, which has existed within today's borders since 1803, was founded during the time of the Helvetic Republic .
Prehistory and early history
The Pré de Riva is a reconstructed pile dwellings in Gletterens near Vallon , south of Lake Neuchâtel . On the northern side, only about 26 kilometers away, in the canton of Neuchâtel (at the level of the A5 tunnel), there is another archaeological park Laténium in Hauterive , east of Neuchâtel (Neuchâtel), which has replaced the "Musée cantonal d'archéologie" and finds from the Latène period.
City foundation
Like the other areas of western Switzerland, that of the current canton of Friborg also belonged successively to the Roman (since 58 BC), Burgundian (450 to 532), Franconian (532 to 888), New Burgundian (888 to 1032) and finally to the Holy Roman Rich . In 1157, Duke Berchtold IV of Zähringen , Rector of Burgundy, laid the ground for the city of Freiburg in Üechtland in the Üechtland (Land Ogo) on the Saane on the German-Romance language border , to which he acquired the rights of Berchtold III. founded Freiburg im Breisgau and granted a three-hour ban in the area, the "old landscape".
First bloom
The city flourished quickly; but since it was not, like the sister city of Bern , on imperial but on Zähringian allodial ground, it fell to the Counts of Kyburg as an inheritance after the Zähringer family died out (1218) . The two cities were linked by an eternal alliance as early as 1243; However, when Freiburg was bought by Rudolf von Habsburg in 1277 , they became estranged. Freiburg repeatedly allied itself with the Burgundian nobility against Bern and was defeated by the latter in the Battle of Dornbühl in 1298 and in the Battle of Laupen in 1339 . The bond between the city, which was surrounded by Bernese and Savoyard territories , and Austria was noticeably loosened , and after it was surrendered to the attacks of Bern and Savoy during the old Zurich War (1448), it surrendered to the Dukes of Savoy in 1452.
Burgundy Wars and Counter Reformation
As an ally of Bern, Freiburg took part in the Burgundian Wars and in 1477 shook off the Savoyard rule, whereupon it was accepted into the Confederation on December 22, 1481 . Eternal peace between Francis I of France and the Confederates was concluded in Freiburg in 1516 . The Reformation it appeared hostile, however, what it did not stop in 1536 in alliance with Bern parts of Vaud to tear at each other. In 1555, when the count went bankrupt, it gained most of the county of Gruyères . In addition, it was owned jointly with Bern by the Lords Schwarzenburg , Murten , Orbe , Grandson and Echallens .
As a result of the Reformation of Vaud, the Bishop of Lausanne took his seat in Friborg. In 1580 the Jesuits found acceptance in the city, which through Petrus Canisius became a center of the European Counter-Reformation . Freiburg also took part in the Borromean and Spanish alliances (1586–87).
Patriciate
The earliest of all Swiss cities, a closed patriciate formed in Friborg . In the 16th century the councils wrested the right to vote from the municipality, in 1627 the hundred families owned by the offices and council offices had themselves entered in a book and declared themselves "eligible for regiment". Although many of them died out, the number of "secret" families ( bourgeois secrets ), as the Freiburg patricians called themselves, was declared closed forever in 1684. The "secret chamber", a kind of state inquisition, consisting of the four Venners and 24 Heimlichers, which supplemented itself, the council of sixty and that of the two hundred, gained absolute power. The Freiburg aristocracy had all the hardships and weaknesses of those of Bern without their size. A struggle by the peasants under Major Pierre-Nicolas Chenaux (1740–1781), embittered by the suppression of their old freedoms, alienation of communal property and the abolition of public holidays, was suppressed in May 1781 with the help of Bernese troops, and a peaceful demonstration of citizenship in favor of legal equality in July 1782 punished with the banishment of their authors.
Territorial development
The formation of the territory of the city of Freiburg began in the 14th century under Habsburg rule, when it was possible to acquire Laubegg, Mannenberg, Nidau , Büren and Inselgau as well as rights in the Simmental in the Seeland . In the wake of the Habsburg wars against the Confederation, however, these acquisitions were lost to Bern in the Peace of Zurich on April 1, 1389. A second, more successful phase of territorial policy began in the 15th century. In 1423 Friborg and Bern of Savoy acquired the dominion of Grasburg and in 1442 from the Counts of Thierstein areas in the so-called "Old Landscape". After emancipation from the rule of the Habsburgs, Freiburg took part in the Burgundian Wars on the side of Bern and was able to acquire Illens and the rule of Arconciel and Éverdes in 1475 . Murten , Grandson , Orbe and Echallens became common lords with Bern. In 1478 Savoy sold the dominion of Montagny (Montenach) and released Freiburg from its sphere of influence, so that the city had been considered imperial since 1478 and was able to join the Confederation in 1481. Further acquisitions were made in the following decades: the Pont 1483 rule, parts of the Estavayer rule 1488, Jaun 1502/04, 1520 Font on Lake Neuchâtel and 1526 Corserey . Together with Bern, Friborg went to the war against Savoy in 1536 against Vaud and was able to conquer Estavayer , Romont , Vuissens , Surpierre , Châtel-St-Denis and Rue from Savoy and Albeuve, Bulle and La Roche from the Duchy of Lausanne. The last significant expansion of the area until 1798 resulted from the collapse of the county of Gruyères . First the Count of Gruyères sold the dominion of Corbières with Vuippens and Vuadens in 1543 and in 1555 the northern part of the actual county of Gruyères fell to Freiburg after the bankruptcy of the last count. Repeated attempts to divide the common dominions between Bern and Freiburg failed until 1798 because of Bern's resistance.
During the time of the Helvetic Republic, the former common lordship of Murten and the former Bernese bailiwicks of Avenches and Payerne became the canton of Friborg. In 1803, however, the two cities came to the canton of Vaud at their own request, so that the western border of Friborg has remained inconsistent to this day and is characterized by numerous exclaves.
Revolutions
When the French invaded Switzerland in 1798, Freiburg surrendered without resistance, without being able to save its armories and state coffers from looting. The mediation act of 1803 made it one of the six directorate cantons and gave it a representative, democratic constitution. After the allies had moved in, however, in January 1814 the Grand Council, consisting of a majority of patricians, restored the old aristocracy with the modification that the Grand Council should include 108 patricians as well as 36 representatives of the non-patrician citizenship and the countryside.
Initially, however, the new government showed itself inclined to spiritual progress and supported the Franciscan Father Jean Baptiste Girard, known as Père Grégoire , in his efforts to improve the canton's education system. In 1818 alone, the Great Council called the Jesuits with 62 votes against 49, who in 1823 enforced the closure of the Girard schools and made Freiburg a metropolis of ultramontanism by founding a large college, which at the time had 700 pupils from all over Europe .
Liberalism and the Sonderbund
In 1830 the Protestant Murten demanded a revision of the constitution, and intimidated by the threat of a popular demonstration, the patriciate consented to the appointment of a constitutional council, the work of which established a representation based on general equality of rights and which came into force on January 24, 1831 without a referendum has been. The movement gave a moderate-liberal party the upper hand. The expulsion of the bishop from the constitutional council, in which he was elected, the expulsion of a Jesuit for inflammatory speeches, the establishment of a central secondary school beyond the control of the episcopal, etc. a. embittered the "Jesuit Party" (the Catholic Conservatives) to the utmost, and they proved their power in the new elections of 1836, which gave them the upper hand in the Grand Council, whereupon the government was appointed in their spirit in 1837.
Friborg now joined the other ultramontane cantons very closely; In 1845 the higher educational institutions were handed over to the Jesuits, and on June 9, 1846, after heated negotiations, which first made the existence of the Sonderbund publicly known in Switzerland , the Grand Council decided to join it. An uprising in the liberal districts of Murten, Estavayer and Bulle was suppressed by force of arms on January 6, 1847, after which many of the most respected men were imprisoned or driven to flee.
The isolated Freiburg was first attacked by Guillaume-Henri Dufour in the Sonderbund War and surrendered after a short battle on November 14th. After the entry of the federal troops, a meeting in the theater set up a provisional (radical) government, which expelled the Jesuits, confiscated their goods and was confirmed by the new Grand Council, appointed in a liberal spirit under the impression of the war. In order to cover the costs of the war , he abolished the monasteries , charged the originators of the Sonderbund with a non-interest-bearing forced loan of 1,600,000 Swiss francs, and without a referendum put a new constitution into force, which introduced direct elections, abolished every census, and education made it a matter for the state, declared primary school attendance compulsory and free of charge, the immunities of the clergy and (as the first cantonal government in Switzerland) abolished the death penalty .
Coup attempts
By establishing a long term of office for the Grand Council and the government, the Liberals hoped to be able to establish the free-thinking situation in the long run, but in vain. When the government proposed a reorganization of the diocese at a conference of the cantons belonging to the diocese of Lausanne , which would have made the bishop dependent on the governments, the ultramontanes raised an uprising on October 24, 1848, whereupon troops from Bern and Vaud occupied the canton and the people disarmed, but Bishop Etienne Marilley (1804–1879) was arrested, removed from the diocesan estates (Friborg, Geneva, Bern, Neuchâtel, Vaud) and brought to France as an exile.
In the meantime, the Grand Council founded an insane asylum , an old people's home , a rescue facility , a workhouse and a cantonal hospital from the confiscated assets of the monasteries . After a second and third "putsch" (October 4, 1850 and March 21, 1851) had failed and the Federal Assembly had also rejected the requests of the ultramontanes to restore people's rights, a fourth uprising took place on April 22, 1853. Under the leadership of Colonel Perrier, the rebels occupied the cantonal school, the highest point in the city, but were defeated by the vigilante after a bloody fight. The leaders were sentenced to five to 30 years in exile.
Ultramontanism
The ultramontanes were happier in the elections. As early as 1854 they included the entire representation of the canton in the Swiss National Council, and in 1855 railroad interests prompted the Liberals to shake hands with the election of two leaders to the State Council. In 1856 Bishop Marilley was allowed to return, at least with strict limits on episcopal power. Immediately afterwards, the Ultramontanes won a complete victory in the renewal of the Grand Council, and a new constitution approved by the people on May 24 took into account the wishes of the Roman Catholic Church .
All liberals were removed from the government; Perrier and the other exiles were allowed to return, the decree on the abolition of the monasteries was withdrawn, and youth education was once again placed in the hands of the clergy. From 1857 onwards, Freiburg offered the sight of a reactionary movement in all areas. In 1868 the death penalty was reintroduced. The canton rejected the federal revisions of 1872 and 1874 with a large majority, as well as, with a few exceptions, the federal laws that were then voted on. As a result of the unconditional clerical party rule, the Protestant district of Murten demanded at the Federal Assembly in 1870 the separation of Friborg and the connection to Bern, but was rejected (see Kulturkampf in Switzerland ).
The emergence of the Freiburg workers' movement
The canton of Friborg was industrialized very late. In 1860 there was still no industry worth mentioning except for straw weaving; it was mostly run by families as homework in winter. It was not until 1870 that industries began to relocate. As a result, the first beginnings of a labor movement developed. In 1873 a Société ouvrière des Arts et Métiers was founded; it was affiliated with the Swiss Workers' Union, which brought together the sections of the 1st International in German-speaking Switzerland . The exponent of the Société ouvrière was Joseph Meckler , who was to play an important role in the Freiburg left for three decades. The Société ouvrière des Arts et Métiers implemented important projects to improve the lot of the workforce with the establishment of an aid and savings bank and a consumer cooperative in the period of its existence until 1985. In 1875, an actual section of the 1st International was constituted in Freiburg, which, however, immediately joined the libertarian Jura Federation . While the workers' organizations were initially viewed by the liberals, especially during election times, as their natural allies in the culture war against the ultramontanes, increasing class struggles from 1890 onwards led to a gradual emancipation of the Freiburg working class from the tutelage of the liberals. A decisive conflict between workers' organizations and the liberals arose above all in the question of the creation of an accident insurance, which was fought by the liberals. With the establishment of the Social Democratic Party in 1905, the workforce finally became an independent political force in the canton.
1874 until today
The University of Friborg (Switzerland) was founded in 1889 and offered Swiss Catholics a spiritual home.
1881 to 1921 is considered to be the time of the "Christian Republic" in the canton of Freiburg. In contrast to all other Swiss cantons, Friborg remained a purely representative democracy without people's rights . These were only gradually introduced between 1917 and 1921. Likewise the proportional representation , although in this point there was no great difference to the other parts of the country. In 1934 , the conservative parliamentary majority passed a law to establish corporations , which, however, was brought before the federal court by the liberal and social-democratic opposition , which rejected the law as a violation of the federal constitution. In the referendum at that time, the canton also accepted the front-line initiative with a few others .
In 1924 the Friborg Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas was elevated to the status of a cathedral , and the diocese of the Bishop of Lausanne, who had resided in Friborg since 1613, was renamed the Diocese of Lausanne-Geneva-Friborg .
Efforts began in 1945 in the canton of Friborg to reduce the canton's economic deficit compared to the national average.
literature
- Friborg - Freiburg, 1157–1481: à l'occasion du huitième centenaire de la fondation de Friborg. Edited by Société d'Histoire and history researcher association. Friborg: Fragnière, 1957. [Bilingual]
- [Ruffieux, Roland]: History of the Canton of Friborg. Freiburg: Commission for the publication of the history of the canton of Freiburg, 1981
- Bertschy, Anton; Charrière, Michel: Friborg: a canton and its history: a contribution by the canton of Friborg to the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. Friborg: State Council of the Canton of Friborg, 1991
- Dubas, Jean; Feldmann, Hans-Uli: The first map of the canton of Friborg by Wilhelm Techtermann, 1578. In: Cartographica Helvetica Heft 10 (1994) pp. 33–41 full text
History association
The German Historical Research Association of the Canton of Friborg researches the canton's history.
Web links
- Denis Ramseyer, Pierre-Alain Vauthey, François Guex, Kathrin Utz Tremp , Georges Andrey, Jean-Pierre Dorand: Freiburg (Canton). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ^ Article "Freiburg" in: Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz, Vol. 3, Neuchâtel 1926, pp. 254–264.
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