Barberêche

Geschichte

Barberêche is a former municipality in the district of Lac in the Swiss canton of Fribourg. It lies on the "language boundary" between the French- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. On 1 January 2017 it merged with Villarepos and Wallenried into the extant municipality of Courtepin.HistoryThe Barberêche area was settled quite early on, as witnessed by archaeological finds of graves from Hallstatt times and foundations from Roman times.The first documentary mention of Barberêche dates from 1154 under the name Barbereschi. Later names included Barberesche (1173), Barbaresche (1180), Barbareschi (1182) and Barbarica (1423). The placename goes back to an old family name Barbar(i)us.There is evidence to show that, as of the 12th century, there was a noble family in Barberêche. The Barberêche Lordship fell in the beginning under the Dukes of Zähringen, and then later became a fiefdom of the Counts of Thierstein, before a series of changes in ownership in the 15th century. In 1442, Barberêche became part of the Alte Landschaft ("Old Territory") of Fribourg (Spitalpanner). After the collapse of the Ancien Régime in 1798, during the Helvetic Republic and the time following, the village belonged to the District of Fribourg, and from 1831 to the German District of Fribourg, before it was annexed to the Seebezirk ("Lake District") under the new cantonal constitution in 1848.