My husbands job is moving to Canton Neufchâtel
next year. We are currently deciding on what to do.
Our children are settled in Zug (1st class and 1st KG).
I have learned German to C1 level.
I really don’t want to learn French and I would prefer my children to
continue with German.

The possibility of living in the German speaking side and my husband commuting to Neufchâtel. We have looked at some villages in Canton Bern.
Ins- Finsterhennen- Aarburg etc

I’m a little confused re Canton Fribourg- are there towns that the schooling
is in German? How does one find out which language is spoken in each town?

Bern is very close to Neuchatel, 40 or so mins away by train, so this seems to make a lot of sense in your case as you all already have German language skills.

Fribourg is not a place I would want to be living... it is super rural with not much going on. Bern at least has some small city feel and culture.

The train Fribourg-Neuchâtel is one the oldest railways I've seen in Switzerland. In some tight turns the train goes at 30 km/h max and it makes really interesting noises. And it takes almost an hour.

On the railway of the IC5 train, Biel/Bienn is 20 min from Neuchâtel. Biel is a relaxed place. Two languages, German and French. If case of boredom escape to the Jura mountains or Bern

PS check the tax differences among cantons and gemeinde: https://en.comparis.ch/umzug-schweiz/kantone-schweiz

Some beautiful, beautiful places on the other side of the lake, Canton Bern.

how can you prefer german to french?

Except Bernese dialect. I like the drawl.

German C1 level means easy integration. Why go through the whole I don't understand anything phase after arrival?

I already did that after leaving the French speaking part because no jobs. Either move to the German speaking part or leave CH. If there's an alternative to avoid the hassle, why not?

Now that everybody told you how they feel about your feelings, here a few infos :
This is an info page in German
Here is a short movie they made in English (they did it in several languages!) click into the window where it says "film" in spite of it looking as if there wern't one and don't get nervous when the first few words are in French, they start translating into English.
There are towns in Fribourg/Freiburg where the basic schools are in German (as in all Swiss German schools), the language of these towns is Swiss-German. If you chose one of these towns, I guess your children will feel comfi yet soon pick up French as well.

Your husband commuting will be tough on your family life, I do not recommend it.

__________________
It's all a matter or perspective.
So move your butt and look at it from the other side

Huh? A couple of theatres, a nightclub if that's your thing, several museums, etc, etc, plus several festivals throughout the year.

That said I wouldn't think it's the best choice for commuting to Neuchatel. If you don't mind a more rural/village feel then Ins may well be worth looking at. Don't know what any train journey might be like, but it would be only 20-30 minutes by car to Neuchatel.

Also as Axa suggested Bienne might be a good choice if you want more city life. Bi-lingual so you'll hear both German and French and easy commute to Neuchatel.

Pinkpater, just remember that although you may still be in a German speaking area of Switzerland the Swiss-German dialect will be different to what you're used to so you will have to do some relearning in that respect.

Biel is probably the closest place on the German-speaking boundary, < 20mins by train.

I've been there a fair bit for work and it's nice, in interesting mix of French and German, pretty lake, plenty of restaurants.

We lived in Ins when we worked in Neuchatel. I like country living, but...Our flat was in a modern building; 4-units on the outskirts of the village with fields all round. Not really much shoppi except for a Coop and assorted cheesemongers/butchers, and a restaurant or two. It's pretty quiet, except for the Kuehe and the frogs. Train to Neuchatel is handy. I think there are better places.

Have you actually been to Fribourg? It's an absolute hole compared to Bern, notably poorer way smaller and it has around a quarter of the population. To suggest it is competitive in terms of quality of life to Bern, just because it has the basic amenities common to most small Swiss cities, is a real stretch. In comparison to Fribourg, Bern is a metropolis.

I would probably shoot myself in a small town like Ins or kerzers or the even smaller villages around there, but depending on where you are living now that might be ok for you.

Biel is nice enough and big enough and has german speaking areas.

But it's bilingual enough so that your kids will have a chance at learning french better than the usual swiss germans.

Iwould also look at Murten in Freiburg, it's small but very pretty and useful if you like sports on the water.
There is also a french-speaking minority there, so you'd want to first google how it works in terms of the school the kids go to, just as with Biel I guess.

Hm, yes. Lived just outside the city for over 20 years now.

I have also lived outside of Fribourg for 10 years now, in Bern!

Totally agree that Fribourg is a hole but at least you can't tell for half a year since its covered in fog .

Cities with more than 10k people suck.

Tom