Courtaney Castle (Avry)

Set apart from the village, Courtaney Castle benefits from an enviable location, sheltered from all traffic. Its closest neighbors: the farm and the mill, both belonging to the "lord of the castle". The mill has served for many years as the workshop of the painter and glassmaker Yoki.

A date is legible at the entrance of the main house or Courtaney Castle: 1763. This could refer to its construction or a renovation. What is certain, however, is that the current building replaced another, as the name Courtaney appears long before the 18th century. In history, in connection with Courtaney, we primarily discover the names of Rudolph von Praroman in 1511, Elisabeth von Erlach, Lady of Courtaney in 1664. In 1737, Captain-Lieutenant Bourqui as owner of the estate. In 1761, the distinguished name of Duding appears. A study carried out by archivist Georges Corpataux, published in the Fribourg Annals of 1918, provides some information about this family and about Courtaney.

Originally from Plaisance near Riaz, the Dudings were famous in the Order of Malta, which originated during the Crusades in the 12th century to protect the Holy Places. The Order soon only admitted "well-born" personalities to its center. It had its own army and navy. It minted coins, granted loans at low interest rates, opened banks, and sent diplomatic representatives to all the courts of Europe. Thanks to the knights of the Order, the islands of Malta formed a small sovereign state that rendered the greatest services to Christendom from 1530 to 1798 and was the terror of Muslim pirates. The Order of Malta primarily dedicated itself to charitable tasks during wartime. The Duding family had six commanders of the Order of Malta in three generations, two of whom were Bishops of Lausanne, Jean-Jacques in 1707 and his nephew Claude-Antoine in 1716.

Jean-Baptiste-Publius-Jacques Duding (1744-1824), owner of Courtaney, was the last male representative of the patrician branch of Duding. His wife, born von Montenach, died in Courtaney on August 29, 1820. In her detailed will, dated 1824 and reproduced in the Fribourg Annals of 1918, she bequeathed Courtaney to her cousin Louis von Uffleger, who kept the castle and the estate from 1824 to 1872. Without heirs - like Jacques Duding - Uffleger left Courtaney to his cousin Louis Bourgknecht, the State Chancellor. Today, Courtaney Castle belongs to the family of ME Jean-François Bourgknecht.