"The cradle of the confederation" Chamber of the Swiss national Council by Charles Giron (1859-1914), 1901.
Photograph: www.parlament.ch.

Swiss Culture and History in European perspective

Archives

This section displays the news and newsletters from the various periods, Column EU-Switzerland, Agenda and Quotes.

The Roman Empire and Romanization

News

Latest news:
The amphitheatre and (Roman) history of Martigny

During the reign of Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD), Martigny, a small village of the Celtic tribe of the Veragres, was turned into a Roman city. When he became emperor, the emperor undertook the conquest of Britain. He made accessible the most direct route to Britain: the Great St Bernard Pass. At the same time, he reorganised … Read more » “The amphitheatre and (Roman) history of Martigny”

European Affairs

Gotthard Base Tunnel

Since 1990, Switzerland has made efforts to ensure the development of the European transport system and the integration of the European high-speed rail network through the construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Gotthardbasistunnel). The Gotthard tunnel is an important construction on the European corridor Rotterdam-Milan-Genoa. The new freight line from Rotterdam to the Dutch-German border is … Read more » “Gotthard Base Tunnel”

The Middle Ages, Arts and State Building

News

Latest news:
The Saint-Maurice Abbey

Available in French and Dutch.

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The long nineteenth century 1815-1918

News

Latest news:
Geneva, France and the Swiss Confederation 1798-1815

Available in French, Dutch and German

Agenda
Augusto Giacometti in Aarau and Chur

The exhibition Freiheit | Auftrag (Freedom, Commission) focuses on a multi-faceted artistic personality whose oeuvre counts among the highest expressions of art in the first half of the 20th century. The exhibition travels along the “Freedom” and “Commission” issues to explore the relationship between free creation and commissioned art. It reveals the tension within which … Read more » “Augusto Giacometti in Aarau and Chur”

Multicultural, Cosmopolitan and European Switzerland

News

Latest news:
Sgraffiti in Engadine

Engadine ((canton Grisons) houses are often decorated with geometric motifs, drawings, animals or sayings. Italian artists introduced the technique in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries after the Bündner expansion in the Italian territories. The artists wanted to earn money, and the fresco technique was well-known in Italy. It was a successful export product. The technology is … Read more » “Sgraffiti in Engadine”

Quotes

The Swiss Confederation was a functioning composite polity, but it was not a state and of course, it was not a monarchy. Yet the Confederation embraced territories that retained a feudal-hierarchical structure, albeit only as associated members (the abbacies of Engelberg and St. Gallen, the prince-bishopric of Basel, the county of Neuchâtel). How, therefore, did the Confederation survive?

Before the Burgundian Wars (1474-1477) no one gave the Confederation much chance of survival. Yet these wars did help to create a sense of collective identity manifest not in institutions but in patriotic narratives of Swiss valour and heroism of city-led republic. This vision was shattered in the Swiss wars of religion, but in the end, pragmatism and flexibility ensured that the discord did not lead to disaster. Ultimately, aggression yielded to accommodation. (T. Scott, The Swiss and Their Neighbours 1460-1560. Between Accommodation and Aggression, Oxford 2017).

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