Fribourg

“ The banners of Hapsburg and Savoy were united in the determined onslaught upon the powerful city, and a large force from Fribourg, eager to aid in bringing her rival low, swelled the forces of the nobles in a glittering army of three thousand knights, who with their attendant vassals gayly and confidently practised feats of arms before the little fortified city of Laupen while awaiting the arrival of the Bernois. ”

“ Notwithstanding the peril in which his refusal placed him; notwithstanding that an army of seven thousand Savoyards assembled at the gates of an unfortified town, and the inhabitants of Fribourg had sent deputies to declare that the Bernese and the whole of the Swiss confederation pressed them to break through their just concluded treaty, Berthelier, without a chance of flight or a hope of resistance, rejected the duke’s offers with disdain; communicated his own courage to the assembled council, and the alliance of Fribourg was confirmed, in the midst of menace and danger. ”

“ Charles the Third adopted another course: the bishop was prince of Geneva, and had rights the Fribourg citizens would not contest. He levied an army in Faucigny, and entered the town the 20th of August. Once more the friends of Berthelier implored him to fly: “No,” he answered, “our voices are not loud enough to reach Fribourg; they will hear and they will act when the blood of a victim calls upon them.” Far from concealing himself, he every day went to walk in a garden near the entrance of the town. ”

“ The canton is on the linguistic frontier in Switzerland, the line of division running nearly due north and south through it, and even right through its capital. In 1900 there were 78,353 French-speaking inhabitants, and 38,738 German-speaking, the latter being found chiefly in the north-western (Morat region) and north-eastern (Singine valley) portions, as well as in the upper valley of the Jogne or Jaun in the south-east. Besides the capital, Fribourg (q.v.) , the only towns of any importance are Bulle (3330 inhabitants) , Châtel St Denis (2509 inhabitants) , Morat (q.v.) ”

“ Berthelier, one of the Genevese council, had obtained letters of “bourgeoisie” at Fribourg, as a safeguard from the duke’s tyranny, and found them useful when, in 1517, having become involved in a private quarrel between André Malvenda and a judge named by the duke and bishop, others implicated like himself were punished by a light fine only, while he was attacked with a rancour which obliged him first to conceal himself, and then to escape to 277 Fribourg. The citizens of Fribourg made an appeal in his favour, insisting on his being tried by his proper judges, the syndics of Geneva ”

“ The houses which line the streets, narrow and ill-paved, are curious and of great age, as are the quaint fountains; at the summit of whose gilt and painted columns figure grotesque saints and Virgins. After various windings we reached this hotel, the Zahringerhof, which should be chosen for its situation and view, as it is close to the bridge and built on the very edge of the chasm.
20th August. Stayed at Fribourg, a cold day broken by hail-storms, and passed it in walking over the town and along the narrow valley of the 24 Gotteron. ”

“ We rode to the Faucon, which has, I believe deservedly, the reputation of being one of the best inns in Switzerland; but we had left Fribourg late, and lingered on the way, and consequently found it full. The Couronne was a bad substitute; the house is three hundred years old, and has objections attendant on its worm-eaten wood and dirty old age, which I advise you to avoid; the more so as its master is the first Swiss I have seen who unites incivility with high charges. We paid the strangers’ homage to the citizen bears, who are comfortably lodged without the Aarberg gate. ”

“ Soon the confidence he inspired began to show itself. The city of Bâle, long undecided, sent him excellent artillery. Neuchâtel and Appenzell alone continued to take no part in the war. The promptitude with which the army got under arms, well ordered, well clothed, and well equipped, astonished foreigners. The redivision of troops was necessitated by the situation. The country occupied by the Sonderbund formed three distinct masses—Fribourg, the original cantons, and Valais. Dufour proposed to attack them separately, and to begin with Fribourg. ”

“ The canton is of very irregular shape, as it owes its artificial existence solely to historical causes. It includes practically the whole northern shore of the Lake of Geneva, while it stretches from the “Alpes Vaudoises” and Bex, on the S.E., to the Jura and the French frontier, on the N.W. A long narrow tongue extending past Payerne (Peterlingen) to the Lake of Neuchâtel is just disconnected with the Avenches region that forms an “enclave” in the canton of Fribourg, while in the canton of Vaud, Fribourg holds the two “enclaves” of Vuissens and Surpierre. ”

“ In the spring, the quiet river becomes at times a destructive torrent, uprooting tree and dwelling. About Fribourg cretinism exists, and among the elder peasantry the goitre is common—we saw in the glen one poor idiot, who howled and gibbered as we went by. ”

“ For a few leagues, the country, though not mountainous, is undulating, and richly cultivated. At Fribourg the two suspension bridges are the things to see, and the great organ the thing to hear, which being done, one may pass on to Berne, the capital of Switzerland, a compact and prosperous town of some 35,000 inhabitants. The environs are very beautiful, comprising several parks and long avenues of trees. ”

“ It wanted rest, men, and money, and he settled it in good quarters, raised recruits, and pledged his own credit for the necessary sums. The effects of his exertions were soon seen. He arrived in Alsace, December, 1643, and in the following May was at the head of 10,000 men, well armed and equipped, with whom he felt strong enough to attack the Imperial army, and raise the siege of Fribourg. ”

“ With this was also incorporated an earlier school of science, in which De Saussure and De Candolle had once been teachers. Fribourg. Fribourg, founded in 1889 as university of the canton so named, began with only two faculties—those of law and philosophy, to which one of theology was added in the following year. A certain spirit of innovation characterized most of the Swiss universities at this time, especially in connexion with female education. ”

“ It forms an administrative district of the canton of Fribourg, its population in 1900 being 23,111, mainly French-speaking and Romanists. From Montbovon (11 m. by rail from Bulle) there are mountain railways leading S.W. past Les Avants to Montreux (14 m.) , and E. up the Sarine valley past Château d’Oex to Saanen or Gessenay (14 m.) , and by a tunnel below a low pass to the Simme valley and Spiez on the Lake of Thun. The modern capital of the district is the small town of Bulle [Ger. Boll] , with a 13th-century castle and in 1900 3330 inhabitants, French-speaking and Romanists. ”

“ In the 16th century the original democratic government gradually gave place to the oligarchy of the patrician families. Though this government caused much discontent it continued till it was overthrown on the French occupation of 1798.
From 1803 (Act of Mediation) to 1814, Fribourg was one of the six cantons of the Swiss Confederation. But, on the fall of the new régime, in 1814, the old patrician rule was partly restored, as 108 of the 144 seats in the cantonal legislature were assigned to members of the patrician families. ”

“ For some reasons, however, it would appear probable that Heuterus is mis [Pg 404] taken, and that the dispute related to the affairs of the county of Vaudemont only.
Page 36. line 7. Count de Fribourg.] The county of Freyburg became united with that of Neufchàtel by the marriage of Egon XIV, count of Furstenburg and Freyburg, with Verena heiress of Neufchàtel. Their grandson John count of Freyburg, &c. married a daughter of the prince of Orange, but died 1458 without issue. ”

“ We halt in quiet villages, snug and neat even in their poverty; or wend our way, in the midst of sunshine, through endless vistas of fruit-laden woods, the public road being one rich orchard of red-dotted cherry-trees: purchasable for a mere fraction, but not to be feloniously abstracted. Through Altenburg, Zwickau, Oederon, and Chemnitz; up steep hill paths, and by the side of unpronounceable villages, until, on the morning of the fourth day, we straggle into Freiberg.
Freiberg is the walled capital of the Saxon ore mountains, the Erzgebirge; the centre of the Saxon mining administration. ”

“ Friburg Cathedral is most beautiful; they say Strasburg is finer—nous verrons. From F. our route lay through a very steep mountainous country, and through the Black Forest, that haunt of banditti in former times, and the scene of so many tales and romances. It is sublime in its dark-browed beauty still, and a fine moon added to the solemn calm of the scene. But the Alps! long before we saw the Forest the snow mountains were in sight—and also long before we were in Switzerland, Swiss cottages, Swiss chalets, and Swiss costumes, met our eyes at every turn. ”

“ Friburg, like every Swiss city, has its organ and legend. The organ is one of the finest of Europe, and is played every afternoon and evening, provided the admissions amount to twenty francs. If there is not the vast amount of four dollars in the house the curtain does not go up, or rather, there is no performance. However, there are generally enough tourists present to justify the performance, and the listener is well rewarded for the expenditure of time. ”

“ When the German ocean rolled in over the land, engulfing considerably more than a thousand Frisian villages, it separated kindred peoples, creating not only a geographical but a political chasm between them. West Friesland became absorbed in Holland, but East Friesland continued its career as a confederation of independently governed maritime provinces, until Saxony, hard pressed for funds, sold its sovereignty to the house of Austria for a paltry 350,000 crowns. ”

“ In the rest of Germany, freedom had taken refuge in the southern and northern frontiers, on the coasts of the North Sea and among the Alps. East Friesland, the marsh lands on the coasts of the Weser and the Elbe up to Ditmarschen,--those almost unconquerable settlements of sturdy peasant communities,--have remained free from the most ancient times. In the south, the Tyrol and the neighbouring Alps, at least the greatest portion of them, were occupied by free country-people; in Upper Austria also the free peasantry were numerous ”

“ We were at Freiburg in the lower edge of the Black Forest some time during the afternoon, one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen, one of the richest in color scheme. Large towns are not likely to be picturesque, but Freiburg, in spite of its general freshness, has a look of solid antiquity—an antiquity that has not been allowed to go to seed. Many of the houses, including the cathedral, are built of a rich red stone, and some of them have outer decorations, and nearly all of them have beautiful flowers in the windows and along the balconies. ”

“ Need enough of a Belleisle: what a business we have made of it, since Friedrich trod on the serpent's tail for us! Nothing but our own Freyburg to show for ourselves; elsewhere, mere down-rush of everything whitherward it liked;—and King Friedrich got into such a humor! Friedrich must be put in tune again; something real and good to be agreed on at Berlin: let that be the last thing, crown of the whole. The first thing is, look into Bavaria a little; and how the Kaiser, poor gentleman, in want of all requisites but good-will, can be put into something of fighting posture. ”

“ The color of the cottages and farm-houses harmonizes or contrasts beautifully with the landscape. Roofs of brown weather-beaten thatch or of dull red tiles, in the midst of embowering trees and shrubbery, formed for us pictures of beauty long to be remembered. Frienwalde, to the northeast, has mineral springs in the most attractive part of Brandenburg, and is growing as a place of summer resort. The fine old monastery, and the ruined early Gothic abbey-church of Chorin on the Stettin Railway, the burial-place of the Margraves of Brandenburg, are interesting to all students of architecture. ”

“ Freiberg (29) , in the centre of the Saxon mining district, 20 m. SW. of Dresden; is an old town, which arose upon the discovery of its silver mines in 1163. It has a fine old cathedral, and a famous school of mines; and the manufactures comprise gold and silver work, wire, chemicals, etc.
Freiburg, 1, a Swiss canton (119) between Bern and Vaud, and having three esclaves in the latter; the population consists chiefly of French Catholics; is hilly; dairy-farming, watchmaking, and straw-plaiting are the chief industries. 2, Capital (12) of the canton, is situated on the Saane, 19 m. SW. of Bern ”

“ After traversing its whole length, just before plunging into the mountain-depths, the traveler rarely meets with a finer picture than that which, on looking back, he sees framed between the hills at the other end. Freiburg looks around the foot of one of the heights, with the spire of her cathedral peeping above the top, while the French Vosges grew dim in the far perspective. ”

“ Austria has fighting men in abundance, England behind it has guineas; Austria has got injuries, then successes:—there is in Austria withal a dumb pride, quite equal in pretensions to the vocal vanity of France, and far more stubborn of humor. The First Nation of the Universe, rashly hurling its fine-throated hunting-pack, or Army of the Oriflamme, into Austria,—see what a sort of badgers, and gloomily indignant bears, it has awakened there! Friedrich had to take arms again ”