Lac de Schiffenen, reservoir in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland

Lac de Schiffenen is a reservoir in the Canton of Fribourg created by a dam to hold back water from the surrounding river system. The shoreline features cliffs, forests, and meadows, with calm water clear enough to see fish swimming below.

The Schiffenen dam was approved by Fribourg's Grand Council on 20 and 24 November 1959, and its foundation stone was laid that year. The arch dam was completed in 1963, and the Fribourg power company FEW started the plant on 18 September 1964. The reservoir flooded the Saane valley, including the Bad Bonn spa, whose name lives on in a Düdingen concert venue.

The dam crest at 534 m carries main road 177 from Murten via Düdingen to Schwarzsee, so the reservoir is crossed by road rather than reached from a motorway exit. The dam stands on the territory of Düdingen and Kleinbösingen, and the water touches the municipalities of Gurmels, Courtepin, La Sonnaz, Granges-Paccot and Fribourg. The lake stretches almost 13 km, so plan which bank you want before setting out.

The reservoir's name was decided in 1964 by the Fribourg State Council after a report by Germanist Eduard Studer, referring to the village of Schiffenen near the dam; the name is first recorded as Syuvenno in a 1294 document. The former riverbed also swallowed the Bad Bonn spa, popular since the 17th century, whose name lives on in a nearby concert venue.