Fresens
Origin of the name Fresens
The village is mentioned in 1265 in the phrase « Hiremanz dit de Fressen », designating an inhabitant called « of Fressen »: the place therefore already existed. The forms « Fresain » in 1290 and « villa de Fressens » in 1340 follow (to be cross-checked). The name is said to be formed from a personal name of Burgundian or Gallo-Roman origin, Frigis, with the suffix -ens, very common in French-speaking Switzerland (to be cross-checked).
Founding of Fresens
No source mentions an act of foundation or a founder for Fresens, which grew up gradually. The area was inhabited from the Neolithic, as the Trou des Âmes dolmen shows. In Roman times the Vy d'Etra passed through it: a Roman wall and paving of this road survive near the Pont Porret, and traces of a Roman building have been found at La Salette. A Merovingian cemetery was discovered at Le Tombet. In the Middle Ages Fresens belonged to the allodial estate of Gorgier, which passed to the lords of Estavayer in the 13th century; the castellany of Gorgier became a fief of the house of Neuchâtel in 1344. The village belongs to the parish of Saint-Aubin. Seigneurial accounts from around 1360, kept in the Neuchâtel State Archives, list the inhabitants' dues (wheat, capons, beeswax, walnut oil) and the lord's rights (fines, transfer dues, rents payable at Saint-Maurice).
History of Fresens
Late Neolithic (end of the 4th, beginning of the 3rd millennium BC). The oldest attested occupation in the territory of Fresens: a dolmen with a pierced slab, known today as the Trou des Âmes, is erected beside what would later become a road, in the upper part of the village.
Roman era. The Vy d'Etra crosses the area: a Roman wall and paving of this road survive near the Pont Porret, and traces of a Roman building have been found at La Salette. A Roman villa is said to have occupied the southern part of the village, its materials later reused (to be cross-checked).
Merovingian period. A cemetery is laid out at the place called Le Tombet.
1265. First known written mention: a certain « Hiremanz dit de Fressen » is named, which implies that the place already existed.
1290. The village name is attested in the form « Fresain » (to be cross-checked).
1340. The village is mentioned in the form « villa de Fressens » (to be cross-checked).
1344. The castellany of Gorgier, to which Fresens belongs, becomes a fief of the house of Neuchâtel.
1356. The conflict between Louis de Neuchâtel and Arthaud d'Estavayer over possession of the seigneury of Gorgier-Vaumarcus, which includes Fresens, results in the occupation of this seigneury and marks the beginning of richer documentation about the village.
1359-1378. The seigneury of Gorgier, to which Fresens belongs, passes from the d'Estavayer family to the House of Neuchâtel (Louis Ier de Neuchâtel, then his daughter Isabelle de Neuchâtel), before returning to the d'Estavayer family in 1378.
around 1360. Seigneurial accounts kept at the Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel detail the obligations of the inhabitants of Fresens toward their lord: wheat for the communal oven (7 coupes annually), 16 capons, beeswax and walnut oil, as well as fines, lods (transfer dues) and rents (land taxes) payable at Saint-Maurice.
1433. The seigneury of Gorgier, including Fresens, passes to Jean de Neuchâtel-Vaumarcus.
1806. The principality of Neuchâtel, on which Fresens depends, is ceded by the King of Prussia to Emperor Napoleon I, who turns it into a principality for his marshal Alexandre Berthier.
1815. Following the Congress of Vienna, the principality of Neuchâtel joins the Swiss Confederation as the 21st canton, while simultaneously remaining a possession of the King of Prussia: a unique mixed status in Switzerland, which therefore also applies to Fresens.
1831. Fresens is the first commune of the Béroche to put up a liberty tree, during the republican unrest of 1831.
1856-1857. The Neuchâtel affair, a royalist counter-revolutionary attempt followed by an international diplomatic settlement, ends the status of Prussian principality: Neuchâtel from then on becomes a full-fledged Swiss canton, like the others.
19th century. The village remains agricultural; some inhabitants find work in textile crafts, above all bobbin lace-making.
1914. A small joinery opens; it switches to industrial production in 1971.
1 January 2018. Fresens merges with Bevaix, Gorgier, Saint-Aubin-Sauges, Vaumarcus and Montalchez to form the new municipality of La Grande Béroche, of which it becomes a locality; the village has kept its rural character.
Population of Fresens
| 1632 | 181 (38 houses) |
| 1750 | 169 |
| 1850 | 193 |
| 1880 | 234 |
| 1900 | 175 |
| 1950 | 147 |
| 2000 | 218 |
| 2010 | 215 |
| 2017 | 252 |
Historic sites in Fresens
The Trou des Âmes dolmen. In the upper part of the village, beside the road, stands a stone slab pierced by an oval opening about 40 by 26 cm, a remnant of a pierced-slab dolmen of the type known as Schwörstadt, dating from the Late Neolithic. It was identified during the Second World War, during a survey of megalithic monuments in the region, and belongs to a family of similar dolmens, including those of Onnens (VD), Courgenay (JU), and the one from Auvernier displayed at the Laténium, in Hauterive (NE).
The la Pompe fountain. Old village fountain topped with a wooden shingle roof, a characteristic heritage feature of Fresens (to be cross-checked).
The Fresens terrace and its viewpoint. The village is built at about 620 metres above sea level, on a terrace overlooking the lac de Neuchâtel by about 200 metres, offering a panoramic view over the lake and the Alps. The highest point of the municipal territory, on the slope above the village, reaches 690 metres.
Remains in Fresens
The Trou des Âmes dolmen (Late Neolithic). The only surviving megalithic remnant in Fresens: a stone slab pierced by an oval opening, part of a pierced-slab dolmen dating from the end of the 4th or beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE. The slab today measures about 1.3 by 1.3 metres; it was formerly larger, and its opening was once located at the centre. Other stones from the monument are said to have been reused as fencing elements in the village.
Roman remains. A Roman wall and paving of the Vy d'Etra survive near the Pont Porret, and traces of a Roman building have been found at La Salette. A large Roman villa is also said to have occupied the southern part of the village; its materials were reportedly reused in later buildings (to be cross-checked).
Merovingian cemetery of Le Tombet. A cemetery of the Merovingian period has been uncovered at the place called Le Tombet.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Fresens » (Olivier Girardbille)
- Wikipédia (anglais), Fresens
- Wikipédia (allemand), Fresens
- Archeoplus, Fresens (NE), le dolmen du Trou des Âmes
- Wikimedia Commons, photographie Trou des Ames à Fresens NE
- Association des Sociétés d'histoire de La Grande Béroche, Fresens vers 1360
- Wikipédia (français), Seigneurie de Gorgier
- Gemeinde-Commune-Comune.ch, fiche commune Fresens (statut administratif, fusion, gentilé)
Other villages near Fresens
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