Murten

This article describes the municipality and the place in Switzerland. For the passenger ship named after this, see Murten (ship) .

Murten Morat
State :	Switzerland
Canton :	Freiburg (FR)
District :	lake
BFS no. :	2275
Postal code :	1793 Jeuss 1794 Salvenach 1795 Courlevon 3215 Büchslen 3215 Lurtigen 3280 Altavilla 3280 Burg 3280 Murten
UN / LOCODE :	CH MTN
Coordinates :	575 501  /  197491 coordinates: 46 ° 55 '41 "  N , 7 ° 7' 1"  O ; CH1903:  five hundred and seventy-five thousand five hundred and one  /  197491
Height :	453  m above sea level M.
Height range :	429–629 m above sea level M.
Area :	24.70  km²
Residents:	8279 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	Error in expression: unrecognized punctuation mark "'" inh. Per km²
Mayor :	Christian Brechbühl ( FDP )
Website:	www.murten-morat.ch
Old town of Murten
Location of the municipality

Murten ( French Morat; in the Swiss German local dialect [ mʊːrtə, moːrtə ]; Franco-Provençal Mora ^{? / I} ) is a political municipality and capital of the lake district (French District du Lac ) in the Swiss canton of Friborg . The formerly independent communities Altavilla (incorporated in 1991), Burg (1975), Büchslen (2013), Courlevon , Jeuss , Lurtigen and Salvenach (all 2016) also belong to Murten .

Murten is the regional cultural and economic center of the northern part of the canton. The medieval Zähringer town with a ring wall from the 13th to 17th centuries and a historic old town of national importance is located on Lake Murten, named after it, and was the scene of the battle of Murten .

geography

Murten is 453  m above sea level. M. , 14 km north of the canton capital Friborg (beeline). The city extends on a 20 m high hill on the south- eastern bank of the Murtensee , east of the mouth of the brook coming from Münchenwiler, in the northern Freiburg Central Plateau .

The area of ​​the 12.0 km² large municipal area includes a section on the south bank of the Murtensee (around 1.8 km lakeshore length) and the adjacent Molasse heights . The communal soil extends from the lakeshore over a flat edge of the bank and the Murten hill into the basin south of it and through which the Dorfbach von Münchenwiler flows. This is followed in the south by the molasse heights formed by the Ice Age Rhone glacier with various drumlins , including the heights of Bois Domingue ( 526  m above sea level ) and Aderahubel ( 516  m above sea level ).

In the southwest, the municipal area extends over the areas of Merlachfeld and Fin de Mossard to the La Bourille forest , with the Meyriez municipal ban being completely enclosed on the land side. To the east the area extends to the high plateau of Burg, into which the Burggrabenbach has cut a deep erosion valley , into the Birchenwald ( 560  m above sea level ) and into the extensive forests east of Altavilla, namely Trimbley (up to 560  m above sea level). M. ), Bloster ( 576  m above sea level ) and Murtenwald (at 582  m above sea level, the highest point in Murten).

A narrow, on average around 500 m wide, but almost 4 km long exclave of Murten is located in the agriculturally intensively used plain of the Grosse Moos . It extends from the Hanenmatt near Müntschemier southwards over the Great Canal and the Biberenkanal to the Erlihof near Galmiz. In 1997, 19% of the municipal area was accounted for by settlements, 27% for forests and woodlands and 54% for agriculture.

The municipality of Murten includes the villages of Burg ( 518  m above sea level ) and Altavilla ( 537  m above sea level ) on the high plateau, the hamlet of Prehl ( 465  m above sea level ) southeast of the city, Löwenberg ( 451  m above sea level). M. ) at the north foot of the Aderahubels and Erli ( 461  m above sea level ) slightly elevated on the southern edge of the Grosse Moos , some new residential quarters separated from the city as well as numerous individual courtyards. Neighboring communities of Murten are Greng , Meyriez , Courgevaux , Galmiz , Muntelier , Ried bei Kerzers , Gempenach , Ulmiz , Gurmels , Cressier , Courtepin and Mont-Vully , the state forest Galm in the canton of Friborg and Münchenwiler and Müntschemier in the canton of Bern .

population

Residents

Population development
year	Residents
1900	2645
1910	2418
1930	2570
1950	3106
1960	3610
1970	4512
1980	4657
1990	4718
2000	5578
2016	8114

With 8,279 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018), Murten is one of the larger municipalities in the canton of Friborg. Its population was 2645 in 1900. It then decreased temporarily and has since increased continuously. The greatest growth rates were recorded from 1950 to 1970 and after the development of new residential zones in the 1990s. The settlement area of ​​Murten has now grown seamlessly together with that of its neighboring communities Meyriez and Muntelier. A small part of the Murtner industrial park belongs to the municipality of Courgevaux.

languages

83% of the residents are German-speaking, 15% French-speaking and 0.5% Italian-speaking (as of January 2016). The official language in Murten is German, and municipal regulations are published in this language alone. Due to the location on the language border, however, a certain degree of bilingualism is maintained, so the municipality runs a French-speaking school in addition to the German-speaking school. Since 2013, when the SBB introduced the station name “Murten / Morat”, bilingualism has also been communicated externally.

In the 15th century, French was the main language spoken in the city. Not least in connection with the Reformation, however, the German prevailed more and more and gained the upper hand by the end of the 17th century at the latest. In the Reformed Murten, unlike in the Catholic Sense district , Berndeutsch and not Friborg Senslerdeutsch is spoken.

economy

Agriculture, industrial sector and service sector

Port and old town of Murten

Murten has always been an agrarian town. The agricultural products of the fertile surrounding area were processed here and put on the market. Fishing in Lake Murten also played an important role. Since the city came to be off the main traffic arteries in the second half of the 19th century, industrialization was slow to take hold . A watch factory was an important employer at the time. The real economic upswing did not begin until after the Second World War .

Today Murten offers around 3400 jobs. With 3% of the gainfully employed who are still employed in the primary sector, agriculture only has a marginal position in the employment structure of the population. Around 36% of the workforce is employed in the industrial sector, while the service sector accounts for 61% of the workforce (as of 2001).

On the fertile soils in the vicinity of Murten and in the Grosse Moos, mainly arable and vegetable growing is practiced. Dairy farming and fruit growing are also important.

The industrial and commercial areas of Murten are located near the train station and along the bypass road. Important companies are active in the areas of industrial electronics (such as Saia-Burgess ), the production of glass ceramics and cookers, and in the food industry. There are also numerous other small and medium-sized companies in the construction and transport industry, information technology, precision mechanics and the textile industry.

In the tertiary sector, administration, banking and insurance, education and, above all, the tourism and gastronomy industries combine to create numerous jobs. However, the district hospital is located in the neighboring municipality of Meyriez.

Especially since the Second World War, new residential areas have developed south of the old town. Today you can find preferred residential areas near the lake shore as well as in panoramic locations on the relatively gently sloping slopes south and east of the city.

Culture and sport

Murten offers various options for both culture and sports enthusiasts. The city library, the toy library, an open-air theater and the organization of various concerts, including the Murten Classics (summer festival of the city of Murten), are worth mentioning. The Murtner Carnival, which takes place at the beginning of March, is also of supraregional importance. Football and tennis courts, a tennis and squash hall and an indoor swimming pool are also available. Every year on June 22nd, the Murten Solemnity takes place, a parade with music groups through Murten's old town. The youth festival commemorates the battle of Murten in 1476.

The Murtenlauf has taken place on the first Sunday in October since 1933 . This is one of the most famous and traditional fun runs in Switzerland, each with thousands of participants. The 17-kilometer route from Murten to Freiburg is also run to commemorate the Battle of Murten.

tourism

Monolith in Lake Murten (Expo 02)

Murten is an important tourist center in the three lakes region. Tourist attractions are the well-preserved old town with its circular walls and towers, the city's historical museum (housed outside the city in an old mill) and the lakeside facilities.

The city experienced an important boom in tourism in 2002 as the location of one of the five Arteplages of the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02 . The Murten art epidemic was titled Moment and Eternity . The exhibitions were spread over a large part of the historic old town. The landmark of Murten was the walkable monolith , a rusty steel cube with an edge length of 34 m built according to plans by architect Jean Nouvel in Lake Murten around 200 m in front of the harbor, in which, among other things, a panorama of the Battle of Murten could be seen. In the meantime, the construction has been dismantled. However, the «Expo-Gesellschaft» of the city of Murten had to pay compensation because concrete foundations could not be completely removed from the lake. As early as 1964, Murten was once an exhibition venue for the Expo.

traffic

The community has good transport links. It is located on main road 1 from Bern via Payerne to Lausanne . The old town and Meyriez are relieved of transit traffic by a local bypass. In December 1997 the section of the A1 autobahn between Löwenberg and Greng was opened with the 2.2 km long Les Vignes tunnel and an approximately 1 km long opencast tunnel. Before that, the A1 ended at Löwenberg for around 15 years coming from Bern.

The connection to the Swiss railway network took place on June 12, 1876 with the commissioning of the route from Murten to Lyss . A little later, on August 25, 1876, the line from Murten via Payerne to Palézieux-Gare was inaugurated. The routes from Murten to Freiburg (opened on August 23, 1898) and from Murten to Ins (opened on May 1, 1903) were added later. The PostBus-operated line from Murten to Gurmels - Düdingen takes care of the fine distribution in public transport ; there are also three bus routes operated by Transports publics fribourgeois to Gümmenen, Courtepin and Gempenach.

Furthermore, Murten is connected to the other Seeanstösser communities via the shipping network on Lake Murten and also to Neuchâtel and Biel via the Broye Canal .

politics

12

3

4th

16

15th

12 3 4th 16 15th 

A total of 50 seats

• SP : 12
• glp : 3
• CVP / EVP : 4
• FDP : 16
• SVP : 15

legislative branch

The legislative authority is the general council (conseil général) elected every five years by the voters of the municipality of Murten . The fifty MPs are elected on a proportional basis, with the incorporated municipalities forming their own constituencies in 2016. Forty MPs come from Murten, three each from Jeuss and Salvenach , and two each from Courlevon and Lurtigen . The tasks of the General Council include budget and invoice approval, the establishment of municipal regulations and control of the executive. The graphic on the right shows the composition of the General Council after the elections on November 8, 2015.

executive

The executing authority is the municipal council (conseil communal) . It consists of seven members and is elected by the people using proportional representation. The term of office is five years. The municipal council is responsible for the enforcement of the resolutions of the general council, for the implementation of federal and cantonal legislation as well as for the representation and management of the municipality. City administrator is Christian Brechbühl (FDP, as of 2016)

history

Early period, place name

Subsequent excavations in a burial mound from the earlier Iron Age near Murten revealed one, possibly even further, subsequent burials on the edge of the hill. One of the grave goods found in grave 2 was an iron fibula of the Marzabotto type on the upper body of the buried person, a bronze fibula on the shoulder, a hollow bronze ring on the arm and an adjacent bronze torque with buffer ends. These objects are typical of the early La Tène period . In grave 4 an iron, a bronze and an knuckle ring were found, also from this period. This points to subsequent burials from the Latène period in a burial mound from the Hallstatt period, as was often the case in this transition period from the older Iron Age.

The Siege of Murten during the Burgundian Wars, Lucerne Chronicle of Diebold Schilling .

The first documentary mention of the place took place after controversial dating in the year 515 (or 1017; copy at the end of the 12th century) as the Muratum court , which is given to the Saint-Maurice monastery in a deed of donation . The interpretation of the place name is uncertain. A derivation of the Celtic mori (o) dūnum, which would be composed of mori "lake" and dūnum "fortress", fails for reasons of sound. On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that the Latin mūrum «wall» or the suffix extended * mūráttu « little wall» be used.

Early middle ages

When Murten was first mentioned, it belonged to the (first) Kingdom of Burgundy , which arose on the ruins of the Roman Empire after the Great Migration. The Franconian Merovingians had been the Burgundian kings since 534, and the Carolingians since 752. Tradition has it that the palace was founded in 814 and Ludwig the Pious .

In 888 the second kingdom of Burgundy was established, the center of which was again St. Maurice. Murten was a fortified place in this kingdom, which was conquered by Emperor Konrad II around 1033 and 1034 and practically razed to the ground. In the following years Murten sank into insignificance for more than 100 years.

High and late Middle Ages

In 1127 the dukes of Zähringen held the rights in the former Kingdom of Burgundy. Under Berchtold IV von Zähringen , the city of Murten was re-established with the typical Zähringian rectangle as the ground plan between 1157 and 1177. The city experienced an economic boom and became free of the empire in 1218 after the dynasty of the dukes of Zähringen had died out. But they eked an insecure existence in the border area between the possessions of the Savoy and the Kyburger respectively. Habsburgs . The city received its curtain wall from 1238.

After the turmoil and storms of the thirteenth century, Murten had definitely found a firm foothold in Savoy. Nonetheless, it had made connections on other sides as well. The first alliance that Murten entered into with a friendly city dates from June 24, 1245 and was concluded with the city of Freiburg i. Uechtland. In this union it is written literally that the citizens of Freiburg and Murten promise each other mutual help in all emergencies and the promotion of peace in the common area with an oath. Literally it is written down: So that someone does not have doubts about it in the course of time, we have given the current privilege of our mutual friendship between Freiburg and Murten, in a joint federal letter, with the seal of the city of Freiburg.

In 1255 Murten came under the protection of Savoy at the time of Peter II of Savoy, in which it remained with a few exceptions until 1475. Murten itself later became the center of a rule that included the area south and east of the Murten lake.

1318 Murten joined the five cities federation. On September 25, 1318, the five cities in Gümmenen, then in Freiburg, met and made a covenant: «In the name of God, Amen. We, the mayors, councilors and citizens of the cities of Freiburg, Bern, Solothurn, Murten and Biel announce to everyone now and later [...] that we have made a new federation (novam conspirationem) . "

The houses, which were largely made of wood at that time, were badly damaged by a conflagration in 1416, while the fortifications remained almost intact. Murten was able to maintain a certain autonomy despite the Savoy suzerainty, also because it had been in an alliance with the neighboring imperial city of Bern since 1351 . Since 1353 was Murten about his association with Bern as facing site of the Confederation .

Burgundy Wars

The Burgundian Wars between the Confederation and Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy ushered in a new chapter in the city's history . At that time Murten was under Jacob of Savoy , Count of Romont and Grand Marshal of Burgundy. When the hostilities between Freiburg, Bern and Burgundy opened, the two cities also moved against Savoy, an ally of Burgundy. Count Jacob of Savoy and also Count of Romont in Romont (Remund) visited Murten in 1475 and inspected the walls, towers and fortifications. He ordered everything to be repaired, partially renewed and fitted with guns. Because the rapprochement between Freiburg and the Confederates worried the Savoy, they wanted to strengthen Murten all the more. So Murten had no choice but to make the required improvements despite the enormous costs. The city of Freiburg sent its bricklayers to Murten and paid them themselves so that the work could go ahead quickly and the costs would not crush Murten.

On October 14 of the same year, at the urging of the Bernese, Freiburg agreed to move with them to Murten. The next day the two were in front of Murten. Bern demanded from Murten to surrender voluntarily and become a Berner, but the Murten people were anything but happy about this demand from an ally. Bern promises them that if they surrendered voluntarily, they would not be “scheduled”; Otherwise, “sy darumb suffer that you don't feel bad about lib and good”. On the promise of the Freiburgers that Murten would be allowed to remain independent if it surrendered to the two cities of Bern and Freiburg, it surrendered voluntarily and swore "to both Stetten's hands and no one is served, neither in love nor in Guot. Bern and Freiburg agreed, with Murten's consent, that a crew of Freiburgers would be stationed under the command of Wilhelm Perrotet. On All Saints' Day in 1475, Murten received the promised freedom of freedom from both cities.

After Charles the Bold was defeated in the Battle of Grandson , he besieged Murten on June 9, 1476, which was defended by Adrian I von Bubenberg and Wilhelm d'Affry . On June 22nd, 1476 there was the battle of Murten , in which the Confederates and their allies inflicted a serious defeat on Charles the Bold and his troops.

Under common rule by Bern and Friborg

In the peace of Freiburg i. Ü. In 1476 Savoy ceded the city and rule of Murten to the Swiss Confederation. In 1484 the other federal towns renounced their shares in the rule over Murten in exchange for monetary compensation at the expense of Bern and Friborg, which they administered as common rule from now until the end of the Old Confederation in 1798 . Both estates alternately provided the governor, who resided in Murten Castle, for five years. The common rule of Murten comprised the northernmost part of today's canton of Friborg with the centers of Murten, Kerzers and Vully. The southern border ran on a line from Courgevaux via Salvenach to Ulmiz; these villages still belonged to the common rule as did the exclave of Wallenbuch .

In 1528 the Council of Bern decided to carry out the Reformation in the entire sphere of influence of Bern and enforced it in the common rule of Murten. This procedure in turn led to disputes with the Catholic Freiburg, which demanded a survey of the population in order to solve the problem. Bern had to respond to this request, but delayed the immediate vote in Murten and appointed the French reformer Guillaume Farel as reform preacher. In the vote that took place in 1530, the supporters of the Reformation obtained a small majority. Finally, Bern took over the function of church and school affairs, while Freiburg was responsible for military affairs. Bern thus gained more influence on bourgeois life in peaceful times, which gradually led to the penetration of the German language in the then predominantly French-speaking town.

The towns of Muntelier and Meyriez, located at the gates of Murten, received municipal rights in 1533 and 1536, respectively. However, only just one area was eliminated as far as the houses of the village could reach, which is why both communities now have only a very small community ban. After the collapse of the ancien régime at the time of the Helvetic Republic (1798), the Bernese garrison left Murten to the invading French.

Since 1800

With the act of mediation in 1803, the city was definitely assigned to the canton of Friborg. Murten was determined by Freiburg to be the capital of the newly formed Murten district. This was dissolved in 1848 with the new cantonal constitution and merged with a number of communities from the former German district of Freiburg in the newly created lake district, whose main town continued to be the city of Murten. The 19th century was marked by an ever-breaking contrast between the Reformed population of town and district, which was liberal to radical, and the conservative- Catholic majority in the canton of Friborg.

Aerial photo from 300 m by Walter Mittelholzer  (1919)

On June 29, 1866, the circus elephant of the Bell & Myers traveling circus broke out and killed its keeper. After a chase, the animal was placed in an alley and shot with a cannon.

Two minor changes to the area took place at the end of the 20th century, when the previously independent castle was incorporated into Murten on January 1, 1975 and the Altavilla community on January 1, 1991 . In the 10s of the new century there were two further changes: On January 1, 2013 Büchslen merged with the city of Murten and on January 1, 2016 Courlevon , Jeuss , Lurtigen and Salvenach joined the municipality of Murten.

Attractions

See also : List of cultural assets in Murten

Hauptgasse and Berntor

Roofs of the historic old town

The curtain wall with battlement

Murten has a picturesque medieval old town with a townscape of national importance. It has retained the typical rectangular shape of the Zähringer towns and covers an area of ​​around 300 m × 200 m. The historic town is divided into three longitudinal axes and a cross street. The main street in particular is characterized by the characteristic arcades . Most of the structures in the houses in the old town date from the Baroque period of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Murten wall is one of the best preserved fortifications in Switzerland. It was created in 1238 and later expanded, raised and reinforced in several stages. A comprehensive restoration was carried out in the 20th century. The former trenches were filled in during the 16th century. The almost completely preserved curtain wall with an average height of 8.5 m has a battlement from the 15th century, which can be walked on long stretches in the southern section, as well as twelve towers of various shapes and sizes. The city had two main entrances, of which the Berner Tor (received its current form in 1778) has been preserved in the northeast.

On the south-western edge of the old town, the castle rises on a ledge, which was built on an irregular pentagonal ground plan from the middle of the 13th century under Peter II of Savoy. The oldest preserved part is the massive, square keep from the time it was built. The outer walls of the castle are integrated into the city fortifications and reinforced by semicircular towers. The residential buildings were rebuilt several times, especially during the transformation of the castle into the bailiwick's seat in the period from 1476 to 1540 and at the end of the 18th century, so that today different styles from late Gothic to late Renaissance to Baroque are combined. Today the castle houses the prefecture. Below the castle is the old town mill from 1578, which houses the historical museum.

The original parish church of Murten was located a bit to the north-east of the old town and when Muntelier was separated it came to be in its municipality. The church was demolished in 1762. Since the middle of the 18th century, the German Reformed Church has fulfilled the function of the parish church for the majority of the German population. It is located on the eastern corner of the old town and was first mentioned in 1399 as the Sainte-Marie Chapel. Parts of the choir still date from this time, while the remaining parts were created during renovations and new buildings in later years. The choir tower was integrated into the curtain wall in 1683; the nave was given its current shape in the period from 1710 to 1713. Inside, the richly carved pulpit from 1484 and the choir stalls from 1494–98 as well as vault paintings from 1682 to 1685 can be admired. Next to the church is the German Reformed parsonage in the Bernese style from the 18th century, in which Jeremias Gotthelf was born.

The original Sainte-Catherine chapel, which was built from 1478 to 1480 on the north corner of the old town, serves as the Reformed French church . The ship dates from the 18th century. Next to it is the French rectory built in 1732.

The town hall was built in 1474 through the renovation and expansion of two former private houses. Further modifications followed later in several stages. The arcades facing the lake date from 1589, the main facade from 1832. In the old town there are numerous town and patrician houses from the 16th to 18th centuries. Worth mentioning are today's Hotel Murtenhof, whose late Gothic structure dates back to 1476, the so-called Grosshaus built around 1740 for the Schmid family, the most important city palace in Murten, and the Haus zum Rübenloch from the 16th century, also with a late Gothic facade and a Bern roof by 1672.

There are various Gothic craftsmen's houses in the Ryf district near the lake shore below the old town. Also outside the surrounding walls are the Catholic Church of Saint Mauritius, which was built in the neo-Gothic style in 1885-87 , and the Haldenhof manor house built for the Chaillet family from 1740. The Löwenberg Castle near the hamlet of the same name to the northeast of the city essentially dates from the time of 1666 to 1700.

Traditions

Murtner solitude

Start in front of the Berntor primary school

The Murtner Solennität, a youth and school festival, commemorates the Murtenschlacht of 1476 every year on June 22nd or the day before, if June 22nd falls on a Sunday. During the day, 22 gunshots are awarded on the «Kanonemätteli» the important times - the first one to watch the day at 5 a.m. Official celebration, brass music concert, parade of pupils and cadets to the sound of drummers and brass players, speeches, crossbow competitions, national anthems, dance and various performances are on the current program of this holiday, on which many emigrated Murtner return to their old home. In the morning parade through the Stedtli, white-clad or uniformed pupils (primary and high school) as well as the municipal and cantonal authorities take part. In the evening, the population likes to meet in the «Soli-Pintli» in the school playground to toast each other or to satisfy their hunger.

Election drums

On voting Sundays, after the opening of the polling station, a group of tambourines - the number of which can range from two to eight - marches through the old town of Murten and goes to the voting station in the old school building in front of the city to remind the population of the pending civic duty. For this voting and election appearance, the group meets at the "Rübenloch" house and drums from there to the polling station in the school building. In view of the overwhelming proportion of voting by post today, voting drums are primarily symbolic.

The tradition can be traced back to the beginnings of the drum club, but only through occasional mentions in the minutes or, from 1934, in the (partly incomplete) cash books, from which it emerges that the city at that time paid a total of 10 francs to the club for the election drums paid. In the 1936 annual report, the election drums are described in somewhat more detail as an exception: «[…] On December 3, the Staats- u. Grand council elections took place, where we let the sound ring through the town at 11 a.m. and 1 a.m. and then ended at 4 a.m. in the Ringmauer inn with a glass of wine and a sausage. "

Historic Murder shooting

To commemorate the Battle of Murten, the historic Murten shooting has been held since 1930 on June 22nd (if this falls on a Sunday) or on the Sunday following June 22nd. The event takes place on the "Bodemünzi" (Bois-Domingue), a hill near Murten, where in June 1476 the camp of the Burgundian Duke Charles the Bold and the center of his siege disposition was located. The participating groups, each consisting of ten riflemen, meet in the morning at the school building in front of the Berntor and march as a procession, led by the town music, through the decorated town and to Bodemünzi 1.5 km away, from whose crest a line of fire to the south , is laid out on the soil of the municipality of Münchenwiler.

After a church service and a speech by a guest of honor - the head of the Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport has not infrequently accepted the invitation to the event since the turn of the millennium - the shooting begins, which lasts around two hours. Before that, however, there will be instructions from the rifleman and the weapons will be checked. Ordonance weapons are used to shoot at a distance of around 180 to 200 m.

Mardi Gras

The carnival in the old town of Murten has been held in its current form without interruption since 1950. The shape has remained the same in its corner points since then, but there have always been selective adjustments.

The carnival lasts for three days and nights, between Saturday afternoon and the night from Monday to Tuesday. The time of Shrovetide is not tied to the date of Easter, but is set to a calendar time, for a long time the first weekend in March. Accordingly, Murtner Carnival is sometimes quite close to the other Carnival events in the canton and in other regions - when Easter is late - but it can also be postponed by several weeks. In Murten one does not speak of the "Fasnacht", the word is written according to tradition with a t in the middle: Carnival.

The focal point of the Carnival is the parade, always on Sunday afternoons, during which the participating carnival groups with their motif floats and the invited Guggenmusiken move along a set route through the alleys of the old town lined with visitors. There are limits to the occasion due to the narrow alleys, as the construction of cars and operations for the chosen subject can take up a lot of space with the big cliques. Regarding the number of spectators, the alleys and arbours offer space for a maximum of about 12,000 onlookers (a number that has been reached again and again in favorable weather conditions). Other fixed points of the Carnival are the children's parade on Saturday afternoon, the proclamation of the Carnival on Saturday evening and the burning of the "Füdli citizens" on Monday evening.

Personalities

• Abraham Delosea (1619–1690), Protestant clergyman and local researcher
• Mathäus Funk (1697–1783), Ebenist
• Georg Joachim Zollikofer (1730–1788), active as pastor in Murten (1754)
• Johannes Aberli (1774–1851), medalist, stone and die cutter
• Jeremias Gotthelf (1797–1854), pastor and writer
• Alexander Schweizer (1808–1888), Reformed theologian
• Eduard Huber (1818–1893), doctor and politician
• Friedrich Salvisberg (1820–1903), Cantonal Master Builder of Bern
• Fernand Petitpierre (1879–1972), educator and author
• Rudolf Scheurer (born November 3, 1879 in Murten; † November 7, 1949 in Locarno ), landscape watercolorist, draftsman
• Paul Otto Roth (1901–1985), sculptor
• Teddy Stauffer (1909–1991), band leader and " Swing King"
• Véronique Müller (* 1948), songwriter

literature

• Denis Ramseyer, Hermann Schöpfer: Murten (municipality). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Ernst Flückiger: Murten , Swiss Home Books No. 9, Paul Haupt, Bern
• Oswald, Franz et al .: Helvéti-Cité: The "Netzstadt Drei-Seen-Land" project. Case study on the urban design of the territory , Zurich 2004 (urban planning, joint project of the cities of Biel, Murten, Neuchâtel and Yverdon-les-Bains to follow up on Expo.02)
• Collection of Swiss Legal Sources, IX. Department: The legal sources of the canton of Friborg, first part: city rights, 1st row: Landstädte, Volume 1: The city rights of Murten by Friedrich Emil Welti, Aarau 1925 online

Web links

Commons : Murten  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Murten in the Topographia Helvetiae, Rhaetiae et Valesiae (Matthäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

• Official website of the city of Murten
• Aerial views of the city
• The panorama of the battle of Murten
• Website of the Murten Museum
• Burgenwelt: Murten city fortifications
• Castle world: Murten Castle

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Permanent and non-permanent resident population by year, canton, district, municipality, population type and gender (permanent resident population). In: bfs. admin.ch . Federal Statistical Office (FSO), August 31, 2019, accessed on December 22, 2019 . 
2. ^ Christoph Schläppi: Löwenberg. (= Swiss Art Guide, No. 880, Series 88). Edited by the Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 2010.
3. ^ Official website of the municipality, accessed October 1, 2017
4. ↑ Hanni Schwab, Hermann Schöpfer, Hugo Schneider, Yvonne Lehnherr: Historical Museum in the old town mill Murten. (Swiss Art Guide, No. 274). Ed. Society for Swiss Art History GSK. Bern 1979, ISBN 978-3-85782-274-2 .
5. ↑ Allocation of seats. (PDF) City of Murten, November 8, 2015, accessed on April 9, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Results. (PDF) City of Murten, November 8, 2015, accessed on April 9, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Results. (PDF) City of Murten, November 8, 2015, accessed on April 9, 2016 . 
8. ↑ Results. (PDF) City of Murten, November 8, 2015, accessed on April 9, 2016 . 
9. ↑ Results. (PDF) City of Murten, November 8, 2015, accessed on April 9, 2016 . 
10. ↑ Etelka Müller: When the majority is absolute. Freiburger Nachrichten, November 10, 2015, accessed on December 14, 2019 . 
11. ^ Susanne Sievers , Otto Helmut Urban , Peter C. Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A-K, L-Z . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-7001-6765-5 , p. 1335.
12. ↑ Lexicon of Swiss municipality names . Edited by the Center de Dialectologie at the University of Neuchâtel under the direction of Andres Kristol, Frauenfeld / Lausanne 2005, p. 633 f.
13. ^ Ernst Theodor Gaupp : German city rights in the Middle Ages, with legal historical explanations . Second volume, Breslau 1852, pp. 142-168, online.
14. ↑ Murtenschlacht - Gottlieb Friederich Ochsenbein
15. ↑ Murtner Solennität
16. ↑ choice drums Murten
17. ↑ Historical Murder shooting
18. ↑ http://www.fr.ch/tradifri/de/pub/gesellschaftliche_praktiken/fastnacht_murten.htm
19. ↑ Rudolf Scheurer. In: Sikart