Assens
Origin of the name Assens
The exact origin of the name Assens is still debated and sources disagree on its oldest forms. The commune's official website suggests a Burgundian origin, the word "Assensa" possibly meaning "land given in cens" (an estate granted in return for a rent), with a first form "Astelegus" dated 1102 according to that source (another source gives 1002 for a very similar form, "Astlegus": this point is still to be cross-checked, as the exact date of the first attestation is not established with certainty). Better corroborated is the evolution of the name through the Middle Ages: "Ascens" (1228, the year in which the parish itself is documented), then "Astyens" (1238) and "Astiens" (1291), before settling as "Assens".
Founding of Assens
There is no known individual founder or attested founding charter for Assens: like most villages of the Vaud plateau, it formed gradually in the Early Middle Ages as a rural estate, probably in the Burgundian period, before becoming a parish and an organised village community. Human presence on the commune's territory is attested much earlier by archaeology: an Early Iron Age burial mound (around 600-450 BC) shows protohistoric occupation of the site, although no direct continuity with the founding of the medieval village can be established. The village itself appears in written sources together with its parish, mentioned from 1228, then dependent on the abbey of Abondance. No single lord founded Assens: several local noble families shared rights over the territory in the Middle Ages.
History of Assens
around 600-450 BC. Protohistoric occupation attested by a burial mound (Early Iron Age) in the Bois des Allemands, east of the village; two successive burials are documented there.
1228. First attested mention of the village, in the form "Ascens"; the parish of Assens, dependent on the abbey of Abondance, is also documented at this date.
1238-1291. The name evolves in medieval documents: "Astyens" (1238), then "Astiens" (1291), before settling in the form "Assens".
1453-1454. The choir of the church of Saint-Germain is rebuilt and extended.
1476-1798. Assens belongs to the common bailiwick of Orbe-Échallens, jointly administered by Fribourg and Bern.
1585. After a Reformation that was hard to establish locally, the first Protestant minister is appointed in Assens; the church becomes shared (mixed), used by both Catholics and Protestants.
1619. The village community refuses to choose a single confession and keeps a mixed religious arrangement, with a council historically made up of six Catholic and six Protestant members.
around 1650-1654 (to be cross-checked, another source suggests the end of the 17th century). Creation of the church's Baroque altarpiece, attributed to the Reyff workshop in Fribourg, decorated with gilding and bas-reliefs of the Annunciation.
1696. Installation of the wrought-iron screen separating the choir from the nave in the church of Saint-Germain, a date inscribed on its lock.
1698-1717. New windows are opened in the nave of the church to improve its lighting.
1717. Construction of a new porch tower, replacing the old bell tower, which is demolished.
1744. The roofs of the choir and nave of the church are aligned.
1769. Construction of a barrel-vaulted side sacristy.
1798. The bailiwick of Orbe-Échallens is abolished with the Vaud Revolution and the end of the Ancien Régime; the census of the time counts 276 inhabitants in Assens.
1842-1845. Construction of a new Catholic church of Saint-Germain, in Neoclassical style, by the Vaud architect Henri Perregaux; on its completion in 1845, the old shared church becomes exclusively Reformed (Calvinist), ending two and a half centuries of confessional sharing.
1874. Opening of Assens station on the Lausanne-Échallens-Bercher (LEB) railway line.
1901. The burial mound is officially excavated on 23 July by Albert Naef, the Vaud cantonal archaeologist; an engraved stone commemorates the excavation.
1930s. Construction of a bypass road around the village.
1930 (to be cross-checked, single source). Adoption of the commune's coat of arms, combining two crosses (symbol of the historic mixed religious arrangement) and a sheaf of wheat (symbol of farming).
2002. Assens is twinned with the French commune of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.
2008. Restoration of the burial mound and installation of an information panel on the site.
1 January 2009. Assens merges with the neighbouring commune of Malapalud.
1 July 2021. The commune of Assens (already enlarged with Malapalud since 2009) merges with Bioley-Orjulaz, a merger ratified by the Vaud Council of State after approval by voters on 24 November 2019; the new commune takes the name Assens, with the village of Assens as its main town.
Population of Assens
| 1798 | 276 |
| 1850 | 356 |
| 1900 | 401 |
| 1970 | 335 |
| 2000 | 770 |
| 2020 | 1'140 |
Historic sites in Assens
Shared church of Saint-Germain, Assens. Built on a promontory from the late 12th or early 13th century, in a style evolving from Romanesque to Gothic, and altered several times (choir rebuilt in 1453-1454, porch tower of 1717). It retains 15th-century Gothic frescoes, a Baroque altarpiece from the Reyff workshop in Fribourg and a wrought-iron screen of 1696 separating the choir from the nave. A rare feature in Switzerland: it has two separate pulpits, because from 1585 to 1845 it served Catholic and Protestant worship at the same time (a "shared" church). Since 1845 only Reformed (Calvinist) worship has been held there. Listed as a cultural property of regional importance.
Catholic church of Saint-Germain (1845). Built between 1842 and 1845 by the Vaud architect Henri Perregaux in a sober Neoclassical style, it was erected to house Catholic worship after the end of the shared arrangement in the old church. It was one of the few Catholic churches in the canton of Vaud allowed, at that time, to have a bell tower.
Assens station (Lausanne-Échallens-Bercher line). Opened in 1874, Assens station on the LEB line transformed the village, ending its isolation and starting, in the 20th century, its transition from a farming village to a residential locality near Lausanne.
Bois des Allemands. Woodland east of the village containing the Celtic burial mound (see remains); a walking area giving access to the prepared archaeological site and its information panel.
Remains in Assens
Assens burial mound. Located in the Bois des Allemands, about 1 km east of the village, this 19-metre-diameter burial mound holds the grave of a high-ranking woman, cremated and accompanied by ornaments, dated to the Early Iron Age (around 600 BC); a second, later burial (around 450 BC) has also been identified. Known since the 19th century, the site has been protected as a historic monument since 1901, the year it was excavated on 23 July under the direction of cantonal archaeologist Albert Naef (an engraved stone commemorates the excavation). Restored in 2008 with an information panel, it is still visible today as an earthen mound and is a cultural property of regional importance.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, article "Assens"
- Wikipédia FR, "Assens (Vaud)"
- Wikipédia FR, "Tumulus d'Assens"
- Wikipédia FR, "Église paritaire Saint-Germain d'Assens"
- Wikipédia FR, "Henri Perregaux"
- Commune d'Assens, page "Historique"
- Le Courrier, "L'église d'Assens et son retable baroque, une rareté dans notre canton !"
- Église catholique dans le canton de Vaud, paroisse d'Assens
- État de Vaud, décision du Conseil d'État sur la fusion d'Assens et de Bioley-Orjulaz
- Archeoplus, fiche du tumulus celtique d'Assens (VD)
Localities of the municipality with a page
Other villages near Assens
Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.
Suggest a change