Frauenfeld

Frauenfeld (Alemannic: Frauefäld) is the capital of the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. The earliest traces of human settlement are several La Tène era graves to the east of Langdorf. The Roman road from Oberwinterthur (Vitudurum) to Pfyn ran through what is now the Allmend in Frauenfeld. Two Roman villas were discovered in Thalbach and Oberkirch. The villa seems to have become the focal point of the later settlement of Oberkirch. On the ruins of the villa, an Early Middle Ages cemetery was built, and by the 9th century, the Oberkirch church was built. Perhaps as a result of royal donation in the 9th century, or more likely a donation in the 13th century, the area around Frauenfeld belonged to the Dinghof (a church- or monastery-owned manor farm) of Erching. Erching had a manor house, twelve houses, at least one mill, and probably also a church in Oberkirch. In the 13th century, Erching formed a self-contained manor farm complex and was occupied by a Habsburg Vogt after 1270. Starting in the late 12th century, a village grew up in the area around Erching and another grew up around the church at Oberkirch. By the end of the 1220s, a fortified tower with a mill and chapel was built and a third village began to grow up around the castle. This village, which would become Frauenfeld, grew gradually on land owned by Reichenau Abbey. The original fortified tower grew into Frauenfeld Castle. Frauenfeld is first mentioned in 1246 as Vrowinvelt though it had been growing slowly during the second third of the 13th century. The village was inhabited by the knightly family of Hörigen (who were allied with Reichnau) and several other knightly families who were allied with the Habsburg and Kyburg families. In 1246 a knight with the last name/title zum Kyburger Umfeld is first mentioned in Frauenfeld. In the next three decades, several knights who came from the Kyburg lands, adopted the von Frauenfeld name.