Murten

The historic city of Murten, seen from the lake with the same name.

Coat of arms

Murten (French: Morat) is a city in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is a historic city on the south side of Lake Morat. The name of the city first appears in 515 as Muratum. The name is probably related to Celtic Moridunum. This is made from Mori (lake), and dunum (castle, fortification). The city used to be part of the duchy of Burgundy. It got city rights in 1337.

Today, about 6,000 people live there. Almost all of the old parts of the city still exist. In 2000, about 77% of the people spoke German, 13% spoke French, and about 2% spoke Italian. About 19% of the people living there are foreigners.

History

On 1 January 1975 the former municipality of Burg bei Murten merged into the municipality of Murten. It was created on 1 January 1991 by the former municipality of Altavilla and on 1 January 2013 by the former municipality of Büchslen. On 1 January 2016 the former municipalities of Courlevon, Jeuss, Lurtigen and Salvenach merged into Murten. On 1 January 2022, the former municipalities of Clavaleyres (Canton of Bern), Galmiz and Gempenach merged to form the municipality of Murten.

Images

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  Main city square

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  The ramparts

Murten Media

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  Berntor/Porte de Berne in Morat

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  The battle of Murten, part of a woodcut from the cronicle of Stumpf 1548

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  Aerial photograph from 300 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1919)

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  Murten: Schiffländte

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  View across Murten/Morat haven toward the old city on a hill above the lake

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  Monolith in Lake Morat for the Expo.02

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  French speaking Reformed church in Morat

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  Farmhouse, Cantonal Highway, Erli 2, Murten

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  Stadtmauer in Murten

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  View over the compact old city

Other websites

• Official website (in German, English, and French)
• The panorama of the battle of Morat
• Photo Gallery from Morat