About Fribourg


Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton holding the same name. With approximately 40.000 inhabitants the city of Fribourg is the largest city of the canton. The canton of Fribourg is a bi-lingual canton at the cultural border of the German-speaking and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. Fribourg has an elevation of 581 meters.


The old city is located on a hill, only about 100 metres wide, which rises about 40 metres above the valley floor of the Sarine river. The hills are flanked on both sides by steep, largely wooded, slopes and to the east, the municipality reaches up the slopes of Mount Schoenberg with an elevation of 702 metres.


The Fribourg Cathedral (Cathedrale Saint-Nicolas de Fribourg) is a Roman Catholic cathedral built in Gothic style. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg. The main body of the church was completed in 1430, the tower in 1490. It contains beautiful stained-glass windows designed by the Polish painter Jozef Mehoffer and fabricated by local craftsmen.


The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the College Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg. The university was formally established by the canton in 1889 and hosts today about 10.000 students. The University of Fribourg is the only bi-lingual university in Switzerland, offering full curricula in German and French.


The Fribourg Funicular - built in 1899 - is a water-powered funicular, that operates using sewage water.


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