Meyriez

Merlach is the common German name of Murten, a political community in the lake district (French: District du Lac ) ( Freiburg Patois Meri / i? ) Of the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland.

Geography

Merlach is located on 435 m above sea level. M., 1 km southwest of the district town of Murten (air line). The village is located on the southern shore of Lake Murten and at the edge of the adjacent Molassehöhen, in the northern Fribourg plateau.

With an area of 0.33 km ² Merlach is the smallest municipality in the canton of Fribourg. It includes a section on the southern shore of Lake Murten ( 1 km lake shore line). The communal land extends southward from the lake on a flat riparian strips down to the adjoining terrace area. At the edge of Merlachfeldes is 451 m above sea level. M. reached the highest point of Merlach. From the municipality surface 1997 82 % came from settlements, 6% of the forest and shrubs, 6% to agriculture and about 6% was unproductive land.

The only neighboring community is Murten, which completely encloses the onshore territory of Merlach on the east, south and west sides.

Population

With 597 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) Merlach one of the smaller municipalities in the canton of Fribourg. The population of Merlach amounted in 1900 to 244 inhabitants. During the 20th century the population was subjected to several variations. A first population thrust occurred during the 1950s of 259 inhabitants ( 1950) to 332 persons ( 1960). After that, the population increased to 1980 again slightly. Rapid population growth has been recorded since 1990 (359 inhabitants). Today, the region is largely built over. The settlement area of Merlach is so seamlessly conjoined with that of Murten.

Languages

The village is considered due to the historical background today as officially still French-speaking community and is guided in the registers as Murten. But now it has a predominantly German -speaking population and is thus referred to in common parlance as Merlach. Of the residents, 81.2 % are in German, 13.5% French-speaking and 1.5 % speak Italian ( as of 2000).

Economy

Merlach was until the mid-20th century, a predominantly coined by farming village. Today, agriculture, fruit growing only a marginal position in the occupational structure of the population. More jobs are available in the local small businesses and especially in the service sector. The most important employer is stationed in Merlach Hospital of the Lake District. In recent decades, the village has developed thanks to its attractive location into a residential community. Most workers are therefore commuters who work mainly in Murten, partially also in the region of Freiburg.

Traffic

The community is conveniently comparatively quite well developed. It lies on the old main road from Bern via Murten to Payerne, but is relieved by the local bypass of Murten from transit traffic. The nearest links to the A1 motorway was opened in 1997 ( Bern -Lausanne ) is located approximately 4 km from the town center. Since 25 August 1876, the municipality of the railway line from Murten is traversed to Payerne. The Murten train station is just outside the municipal boundary, at a distance of 500 m from Merlach. For the dispersion in public transport the bus Transports Publics Fribourgeois that runs on the route from Murten via Merlach hospital after Gümmenen provides.

History

The territory of Merlach was settled very early. The oldest evidence of human presence found the lakefront remains of the lake dwellings from the Bronze Age are. In addition, individual traces of the Roman road are obtained, which led Aventicum ( Avenches ) to Petinesca.

The first written mention of the village was carried out in 1055 under the name Meriei. Later, the names Merrie ( 1228 ), Merye ( 1239 ) and the German name Merlach published ( 1551 ). The place name is probably derived from the Gallo-Roman personal name Mellius.

Since the Middle Ages Merlach was under the rule of Murten. 1475 reached the village as part of the bailiwick of Murten under the joint administration of the estates of Bern and Fribourg. In 1536 Merlach received from Murten municipal law. However, only one area was excreted, which extended as far as the houses of the village, which is why today Murten has a very small municipality. After the collapse of the ancien régime (1798 ) Merlach came to the Canton of Fribourg. During the Helvetic Republic and the subsequent time it belonged to the district of Murten, before it was incorporated in 1848 with the new cantonal constitution in the lake district.

Attractions

The Romanesque parish church, one -nave building with polygonal, goes back in essence to the 11th and 12th centuries. To 1529, the church was enlarged; the main door dates from 1670th The parsonage was built in 1552 and remodeled in 1700. Also notable is the country seat Chatoney 18th century with an English landscape park.

In 1822 an obelisk was erected in memory of the Battle of Murten. He stands on the site of a former battle chapel, which was destroyed in 1798 during the French invasion.