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GRUYERE (Ger. Greyerz)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 642 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GRUYERE (Ger. Greyerz) , a See also:district in the See also:south-eastern portion of the Swiss See also:canton of See also:Fribourg, famed for its See also:cattle and its See also:cheese, and the See also:original See also:home of the " Ranz See also:des Vaches," the See also:melody by which the herdsmen See also:call their cows home at milking See also:time. It is composed of the See also:middle reach (from Montbovon to beyond Bulle) of the Sarine or Saane valley, with its tributary glens of the Hongrin. (See also:left), the Jogne (right) and the Treme (left), and is a delightful See also:pastoral region (in 1901 it contained 17,364 cattle). It forms an administrative district of the canton of Fribourg, its See also:population in 190o being 23,111, mainly See also:French-speaking and Romanists. From Montbovon (11 m. by See also:rail from Bulle) there are See also:mountain See also:railways leading S.W. past See also:Les Avants to See also:Montreux (14 M.), and E. up the Sarine valley past See also:Chateau d'Oex to Saanen or Gessenay (14 m.), and by a See also:tunnel below a See also:low pass to the Simme valley and Spiez on the See also:Lake of See also:Thun. The See also:modern See also:capital of the district is the small See also:town of Bulle [Ger. See also:Boll], with a 13th-See also:century See also:castle and in 1900 3330 inhabitants, French-speaking and Romanists. But 11 the See also:historical capital is the very picturesque little town of Gruyeres (which keeps its final " s " in See also:order to distinguish it from the district), perched on a steep See also:hill (S.E. of Bulle) above the left See also:bank of the Sarine, and at a height of 2713 ft. above the See also:sea-level. It is only accessible by a rough See also:carriage road, and boasts of a very See also:fine old castle, at the See also:foot of which is the solitary See also:street of the town, which in 1900 had 1389 inhabitants. The castle was the seat of the See also:counts of the Gruyere, who are first mentioned in 1073. The name is said to come from the word gruyer, meaning the officer of See also:woods and forests, but the counts See also:bore the canting arms of a See also:crane (grue), which are seen all over the castle and the town.

That valiant See also:

family ended (in the legitimate See also:line) with See also:Count See also:Michel (d. 1575) whose extravagance and consequent indebtedness compelled him in 1555 to sell his domains to See also:Bern and Fribourg. Bern took the upper Sarine valley (it still keeps Saanen at its See also:head, but in 1798 lost the Pays d'En-Haut to the canton du Leman, which in 1803 became the canton of See also:Vaud). Fribourg took the See also:rest of the See also:county, which it added to Bulle and Albeuve (taken in 1537 from the See also:bishop of See also:Lausanne), and to the lordship of Jaun in the Jaun or Jogne valley (bought in 1502–1504 from its lords), in order to See also:form the See also:present administrative district of Gruyere, which is not co-extensive with the historical county of that name. See the materials collected by J. J. Hisely and published in successive vols. of the Memoires et documents de la suisse romande . . introa. a l'hist. (1851) ; Histoire (2 vols., 1855–1857) ; and Monuments de l'histoire (2 vols., 1867–1869); K. V. von See also:Bonstetten, Briefe fiber ein Schweiz. Hirtenland (1781) (Eng. trans., 1784); J. Reichlen, La Gruyere illustree (189o), seq.; H.

Raemy, La Gruyere (1867) ; and Les Alpes fribourgeoises, by many authors (Lausanne, 1908). (W. A. B.

End of Article: GRUYERE (Ger. Greyerz)

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