FREIBURG, FREYBURG, or FRIBURG, the capital of the canton of Freiburg in Switzerland, is built on several steep hills on both banks of the Sarine, and is thus rendered an extremely striking and picturesque object in the landscape. It lies nearly 16 English miles S.W. of Berne, and 33 N.E. of Lausanne. Intermixed with churches, convents, and other buildings, are green fields, gardens, trees, and naked rocks. The opposite banks of the Sarine are joined by four bridges, of which two are of wood, one of iron, and the fourth an iron suspension-bridge—one of the finest in the world. It is 28 feet wide, 906 long, and 175 feet above the level of the stream. Other remarkable structures are the Lyceum, opened in 1805; the Chancellery, where the Council of State meets and the offices of government are located; the Franciscan Convent, of which Father Girard, promoter of popular education, was an inmate; the town-house, in which the Great Council meets, built in the sixteenth century; the collegiate church of St Nicholas, built in the twelfth century, and famous for its organ and a curious bas-relief of the Last Judgment; the College of St Michael, founded by the Jesuits, by whom
several hundred young men are here boarded and educated; and the Ursuline Monastery, which has elementary schools for females. The population of Freiburg is about 9000. Its manufactures are few, the principal being pottery, hardware, leather, tobacco, straw hats, and woollens. There are two printing presses, some dye houses, and sugar refineries. Freiburg has also several libraries, learned societies, a museum, a diocesan school, public baths, a prison, an hospital, and a savings-bank. Saturday is the market-day, and there are five fairs held at stated times throughout the year.