It is one of the municipalities with a large majority of German speakers in the mostly French speaking Canton of Fribourg.

Because the chapel of Schmitten was consecrated to Saint Otmar, for a period the town was also called Othmarswil, first mentioned in 1379.

[citation needed] With regard to the church as well as political aspects, Schmitten always belonged to the neighbouring community of Düdingen.

In the church community of Düdingen, Schmitten formed two parishes, called the "Wilerschrot" and "Lantenschrot".

The parishes "Wilerschrot" and "Lantenschrot" were unified into the new "Schmittenschrot", which aimed at independency in both the church and political aspects.

The inhabitants of Schmitten were asked about their opinion in a consultational vote, resulting in a share of 95% of voters in favour of an independent political community.

It consists of the village of Schmitten, the hamlets of Fillistorf, Lanthen, Ried, Tützenberg, Berg, Burg, Mühletal and Zirkels, along with the farmhouses of Bunziwil, Hohe Zelg, Wiler, Betlehem and Vetterwil.

[11] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (3,017 or 92.0%) as their first language, French is the second most common (71 or 2.2%) and Albanian is the third (53 or 1.6%).

[11] The historical population is given in the following chart:[4][15] The Wilhelm Vonlanthen Farm House and the Kreuzauffindung parish church are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Even today, agricultural products (crop, milk, meat and fruits) still take an important position.

The local small trade and service companies offer a sizable number of jobs as well.

Right next to the train station, an important industrial area has developed due to the excellent traffic connections.

Today, the following industries play an important role: Construction, transport, wood construction, metal construction, machines, furniture, a large bookbindery, printing, a large dispatching center of a leading national retailers chain, mechanical workplace, cheese dairy and a floor covering company.

In the last decades, Schmitten has also developed into an important residential area for commuters to Fribourg and Bern.

In the tertiary sector; 119 or 24.8% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 123 or 25.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 14 or 2.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 27 or 5.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 43 or 9.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 23 or 4.8% were in education and 92 or 19.2% were in health care.

[11] From the 2000 census[update], 2,320 or 70.7% were Roman Catholic, while 533 or 16.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In 1973, the new motorway A12 (Bern to Vevey) opened in a distance of 6 km to the town center.

This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.

The upper Secondary school is divided into gymnasium (university preparatory) and vocational programs.

After they finish the upper Secondary program, students may choose to attend a Tertiary school or continue their apprenticeship.