Author: Maarten Koning

Have you heard of Cerniat? Yet this village in the municipality of Val-de-Charmey (canton of Freiburg) is the seat of Switzerland’s only Chartreuse.

The Chartreuse de la Valsainte (le val de tous les saints) was founded in 1924 by Girard de Corbières, Seigneur of the Corbières. Freiburg acquired the Seigneurie in 1553. Apart from the chapel, the Chartreuse is not open to the public and is still functioning.

Photo: Les moines Chartreux ©: Monastère de la Grande Chartreuse

The village’s name also has a long history. Cerniat is derived from the word ‘cierne’ in patois, which means meadow. Its origins go back to the Latin word circinus, ‘cerné’ in French.

The village lies in the present-day Gruyère district of the canton, and the Counts of Gruyère played an important role in this region until their bankruptcy in 1553.

Cerniat and nearby Charmey merged in 2014 to form the commune of Val-de-Charmey. The Seigneurs of the Corbières also governed Charmey until 1454, when the Counts of Gruyère acquired the village. From 1555, Charmey was part of Canton Freiburg.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Charmey was an important trading centre on the road to Lyon. Its main assets were the famous Gruyère cheese and the unique cellars for maturing cheese (les caves à fromages de la Tzintre). The grand mansions still recall the tiny village’s two ‘Golden Ages’.

Today, the village is known, among other things, for its bathhouse complex, hotel facilities, beautiful nature, and opportunities for winter and summer tourism. It also houses an interesting museum.

Musée Charmey

Broc is also a village that should be better known outside Switzerland. However, the entrance to the town already has a long history. The centuries-old castle (Château) d’En Bas (12th century) is the gateway to the village.

The barons of Montsalvens occupied the castle from 1340 to 1555. In that year, Freiburg also acquired this baronnie en Broc. The current stone bridge dates from 1580 and replaced the much older wooden bridge. The castle was rebuilt several more times in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The main religious attraction is the Chapel de Notre-Dame des Marches  (18th century), located less than a kilometre from the village at the foot of the Dent de Broc.

Production- and office facilities and Maison Caillier

However, Broc has plenty of sweet things, namely the Cailler chocolate factory. These chocolate artists are one of the oldest chocolate brands in the world. The Maison Cailler gives an interactive and tangible form to the arrival of cocoa beans to Europe and the rise of Swiss chocolate manufacturers, particularly Cailler. One can smell, taste and touch the chocolate.

Art in Maison Cailler 

The Electrobroc Information and Information Centre is of a different order. This institution uses documentation, films, and equipment. Models and other visualisations show the fascinating world of electricity, its (current) changes and adaptations, and its function and role for the environment, climate, and energy supply.

Impressions van Charmey

The bathing- and hotel complex of Charmey

Grain and bread are familiar, and most people even eat them daily. However, who knows the Grain and Bread Museum (Musée du blé et du pain) in Echallens (canton Vaud)?  Echallens is located in one of Switzerland’s grain-rich regions (le Grenier de la Suisse) and on the trade routes to Yverdon-les-Bains, Lausanne, Romont, Moudon and Fribourg).

The museum opened its doors in May 1988. It is located in the old farmhouse Panchaud (pain chaud, hot bread) or perhaps panchaud , big window) in Old French) near the town hall.

Delegations from the 26 cantons delivered their grain to the museum on 16 April 1989, and the annual festival of grain (Fête du blé) further highlights its (centuries-old) importance. Consequently, a large part of the workforce is still (in)directly employed in the grain sector.

Musée du blé et du pain

Trade and grain have a centuries-old tradition in Echallens, dating back to the markets and a regional function in the Middle Ages in what is now the district of Gros-de-Vaud. Located on the River Talent, the town was also the territory of the Bishop of Lausanne and the Dukes of Savoy for a long time. Its castle (1273) dates back to this period.

The defeat of the Duke of Burgundy and his allies Savoy and the Bishop of Lausanne in 1476 signalled the end of an era for Echallens. From 1484 to 1798, the district of Orbe-Echallens was administered alternately by Bern and Fribourg through bailiffs.

It went well until 1536 and Bern’s reformation. Fribourg, however, remained Catholic. As in other cantons (the Appenzeller, Glarus, and Graubünden, for example), the consultation model and willingness to compromise prevented escalation.

Town hall (1781)

Bern and Fribourg provided the same number of Protestant and Catholic city councillors  (24 in total, 12 per canton), a Catholic and a Protestant bailiff, and equality of religion was established by law.

The two religions, Protestant and Catholic, shared the same church (l’église Saint-Jean l’Evangeliste/John the Baptist), a unique concept known as Simultaneum.

The city even built a new simultaneum church (Simultankirche) in 1727, a testament to the spirit of religious harmony. Since 1798 (Helvetic Republic) and 1803 (Confederation by the Act of Mediation), Echallens has been a municipality in canton Waadt and a symbol of respect for religious diversity.

However, in the nineteenth century, Protestants (1865) and, following their lead, Catholics (1883) built their churches

(Source and further information: Commune de Echallens)

Impressions of Echallens