Author: Maarten Koning

A Short History of the Constitution

The old Confederation (Eidgenossenschaft) of thirteen cantons or Orte (situation 1513) did not yet have a Constitution but was a loose confederation of cantons. Its members were: Appenzell, Basel, Bern, Freiburg, Glarus, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Unterwalden, Uri, Zug and Zurich.

The Confederation 1291-1515

The Confederation, or Eidgenossenschaft, was based on mutual treaties concluded between two or more cantons over centuries. From the very beginning, the Eidgenossenschaft was a bottom-up process of state-building. More and more cities or Orte joined until 1513.

A critical moment was the conquest of Aargau in 1415. The cantons decided to rule the conquered and subject areas (Untertanengebiet) together (Gemeine Herrschaft). The Tagsatzung, the general assembly of the cantons, was created for this purpose.

Thurgau was conquered in 1460 and became a subject area for the Eidgenossenschaft. The Burgundian wars (1474-1477), the expansion into the Italian territories (Tessin, 1512), and the conquest of Vaud (1536) led to the joint administration of more territories.

The Swabian War (Schwabenkrieg, Schweizerkrieg, or Engadinerkrieg) of 1499 expanded the Eidgenossenschaft to include five new members. In addition, more regions and cities joined as allies or zugewandte Orte.

The Freistaat includes St. Gallen, Graubünden, Valais, Geneva, and Neuchàtel, as well as several cities in Germany and France (e.g., Rottweil, Besançon, Mulhouse, Strasbourg, Colmar).

Until 1515 and the defeat at Marignano, the Eidgenossenschaft was a military superpower with no political unity or Constitution in Central Europe.

1515-1798

The Eidgenossenschaft even survived the Reformation. This is an indication of the strong bond that already existed between the cantons despite the religious strife and other (economic) disputes.

The Eidgenossenschaft without a Constitution survived mainly due to the local constitutions, (shared) interests, and wisdom of the members.

In Zurich, for example, the reformer Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) was not immediately burned but was heard by the city council. He even convinced them, and Zurich became a Protestant city in 1525.

The two (Catholic and Protestant) Appenzellers were created after a vote in the Landsgemeinde (Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Protestant) and the parish of the church (Appenzell Innerrhoden, Catholic) in 1597. Protestant Berne remained an ally of Catholic Solothurn and Freiburg.

1798-1803

The Eidgenossenchaft functioned without a Constitution until 1798. From 1798-1803 the Helvetic Republic was a unitary state with a Constitution based on the French model and principles of unity, legal equality and fraternity.

1803-1815

The Swiss cantons did not fit into the straitjacket of a unitary state. On 19 February 1803, the new (French) Constitution (the  Mediation Act) created a new Confederation of nineteen independent cantons (with the new cantons of  Vaud, Aargau, Thurgau, Tessin, St. Gallen and  Graubünden).

1815-1848

After Napoleon’s defeat, the new Eidgenossenschaft and the Constitution of the twenty-two cantons (with Geneva, Neuchâtel and Valais as new cantons) was founded on 7 August 1815. The Bundesvertrag was the constitutional fundament. The Bund, at the federal level, had minimal powers. The cantons remained sovereign.

The years 1815-1848 represent a crucial period. The old (oligarchic) structures were back in power in most cantons. However, the ideals of popular sovereignty, (direct) democracy and referendums enjoyed the support of the liberal bourgeoisie.

This caused tensions between and within the cantons, between federalists (confederation) and unionists (unitary state), old structures (ancien régime) and radical-liberal groups, and between Catholic and Protestant cantons.

In this complicated situation, the Constitution of 1815 could not be reformed, and a short civil war (Sonderbundskrieg) was the climax in 1847.

This escalation led to the Constitution of 1848 (after approval by a referendum), which was amended 140 times until the year 2000.

1848-2000

Every amendment of the Consitution must be submitted to the People in the form of a mandatory referendum, whether it concerned the first major revision in 1874  (including the optional referendum), the revision of 1891 (including the People’s Initiative), the introduction of the voting system of proportionality (1918), women’s suffrage (1971), the new canton of Jura (1979) or the major revision of 1999 (which came into force on 1 January 2000).

Most adaptations are related to the transfer of new powers to the federal level (der Bund) because of an increasing number of governmental tasks (e.g. concerning the environment, social security, immigration, and transport).

The principles of the Constitution of 1848 have not changed. Switzerland is a confederal, decentralised democratic state. The citizens always have the final say at federal, cantonal and municipal levels, thus controlling the political parties and their networks.

The Eidgenossenschaft and the Constitution are a centuries-old bottom-up project on behalf of the cantons and the People.  Switzerland boasts the maximum alliance of four sovereign cantons and four languages.

The Romandy

The Swiss artist Ben Vautier exhibited his art by the claim “La Suisse n’existe pas” at the world exhibition in Seville (1992).

Switzerland exists, but what about the Romandy or La Suisse romande, the French-speaking part of Switzerland?

Although religion plays a less critical role nowadays, the Catholic and Protestant dividing lines crisscross through the cantons. The economic and political situation and history also differ from canton to canton.

Suisse romande

The Romandy is a nineteenth-century creation, first used in 1837 by the Societé d’histoire de la Suisse romande. The term Suisse romande was used in the Interbellum (1918-1939) by German-speaking Switzerland.

The First World War strengthened its identity in the Romandy. French-speaking Switzerland supported France, and German-speaking Switzerland favoured Germany and Austria-Hungary.

L’Orchestre de la Romande was founded in 1918. The increased French newspapers, radio and later TV contributed to the awareness, and la Suisse romande became an institutionalized and collective identity.

Cantons

The Romandy consists of six cantons: Jura, Valais (Wallis), Genève (Genf), Vaud (Waadt), Fribourg (Freiburg) and Neuchâtel (Neuenburg).

Jura (see also Swiss Spectator 16 February 2020)

The canton Jura has existed since 1979. Until the French occupation in 1792-1798, the territory belonged to the Prince-Bishop of Basel. The area was assigned to Bern and Basel-Stadt (later Basel-Landschaft, in 1833) in 1815 (Congress of Vienna).

History does not end in 1979. There is an ongoing discussion in some French-speaking communes in the Jura Bernois to join the canton of Jura.

A (new) referendum will take place in Moutier in 2021 (see Swiss Spectator 15.2.2019, Mexit in Switzerland).

Fribourg and Valais 

The complication is the bilingualism of Fribourg and Valais. Freiburg, founded by the German-speaking Dukes of Zähringen in the twelfth century, became more and more Fribourg, in particular after the conquest of French-speaking territories (1474-1536).

Geneva

Geneva has always focused on keeping Savoy out and conquering Chablais, Gex and Faucigny. The difficult relationship between the bishop of Geneva and the Protestant city council after the Reformation complicated the situation.

Neuchâtel

Neuchâtel was a sovereign county, then belonged to German and French dynasties (1395-1706). The Prussian king became Prince of Neuchâtel in 1707 (formally until 1857).

Vaud

Vaud has never been independent until 1803. The area was first governed by Savoy and then by Bern (Protestant) and Fribourg (Catholic), hence the region’s patchwork of languages and religions. Vaud became an administrative unit in the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803) and a canton in 1803 (Mediationsakte)

Identity

The cantons of the Suisse romande have their language and some cultural features in common and there is even the Tour de Romandie nowadays.

There are also some identical voting patterns in the French-speaking cantons. The urban- and rural differences seem more important nowadays. The same development takes place in German-speaking cantons.

The French-speaking part of Switzerland has never been a cultural and political unity, and history also shows a different path. The cantons and the communes are still the most relevant political unities regarding identity.

(Source: C. Meuwly e.a. (Red.), Histoire vaudoise, Lausanne 2015), F. Walter, Une histoire suisse, Neuchâtel, 2016).

The Swiss National Anthem

Switzerland did not have an official national anthem until 1961. The decision was preceded by almost a century of searching, including competitions to find a suitable melody and text.

Until the end of the 1950s, the tunes most commonly played at official events in Switzerland were Rufst Du mein Vaterland (“When my Fatherland calls”) and the Schweizer Psalm (Swiss Psalm) Trittst im Morgenrot daher… (“When the morning skies grow red…”).

Johann Rudolf Wyss (1782-1830) wrote the poem Rufst Du mein Vaterland. It was sung to the tune of the British national anthem, “God Save the King/ Queen.” In the 19th century, it was used by numerous kings, dukes, and princes of the German Reich.

It survives as the tune of the British national anthem and the national anthem of the Principality of Liechtenstein (Oben am jungen Rhein lehnet sich Liechtenstein an Alpeshöhn).

The Swiss Psalm

The Swiss Psalm was composed by Alberik Zwyssig (1808-1854). The tune was originally a church hymn based on the psalm Diligam te Domine. In 1841, Zwyssig set the text of the Swiss Psalm to the tune of his melody.

Over time, the lyrics of Rufst Du mein Vaterland came to be seen as outdated, and the tune led to growing confusion when both the Swiss and British anthems were played. For this reason, there were calls to declare the Swiss Psalm the official national anthem.

The Federal Council expressed its views on the issue on several occasions. The first was in 1894. In 1933, a further submission to the Federal Council followed on the same terms as the 1894 request. The Federal Council issued the same reply as in 1934: the people and cantons should decide.

In 1941, a hundred years had passed since the Swiss Psalm was first performed. To mark this centenary, together with the celebrations of 650 years of the Swiss Confederation (1291), another request was made to make the Swiss Psalm Switzerland’s national anthem instead of Rufst Du mein Vaterland. The debate continued in the years that followed.

A parliamentary request by 30 members of the Council of States in 1954 invited the Federal Council to conduct a survey and take steps towards recognising a song that accords with the people’s sensibilities as the national anthem.

1961

In 1955, the decision was taken to enter into discussions with the cantonal governments. In 1961, the Federal Council chose Trittst im Morgenrot daher…  to become the national anthem, initially for a trial period of three years.

In 1981, consultation among the cantons resulted in the final decision. The trial period, which had been renewed every three years since 1961, was abolished.

The Trittst im Morgenrot daher…  was retained as the official national anthem. A motion submitted in the National Council in 2004 calling for the lyrics of the anthem to be modernised was withdrawn in 2006.

The history does not end here, however. Many people regard the text as outdated, too religious, and too Biedermeier; new initiatives are pending.

It shows the careful Swiss decision-making procedures and cultural complexity in action. It is not regarded as a problem, though. For most citizens, the cantons and the communes are the true fatherland; most citizens do not know the text anyway.

The nation is multicultural and cosmopolitan, and one could imagine an Albanese, Portuguese, Eritrean or Kosovar version, as the national football team, the Nati, shows.

The Swiss national anthem of four couplets is available in French, Italian, Romansh and German.

(Source and further information: www.nb.admin.ch).

The Celtic Tribes of the Alps

The Alps had various names in ancient times: the Alps Poenines (Alpes Poeninae), the Alps Graies (Alpes Graiae), the Alps Cottiennes (Alpes Cottiae) and the Alps Maritimes (Alpes Maritimes).

The Alpes Graiae and Alpes Poenines extended over different Celtic regions and peoples. The Alpes Graiae included the Tarentaise, the Beaufortain and the Haut-Faucigny. Valais belonged to the Poenine Alps. The Alpes Cottiae and The Alpes Maritimes were in France. The Tarentaise and the Valais were important routes to Italy, Gaul and Britain.

Several passes connected different regions. The Cormet d’Arêches and Roselend connect the Tarentaise with the Beaufortain. The Bonhomme and Forclaz du Prarion pass link the Beaufortain and Haut-Faucigny, and the Balme and Forclaz de Trento passes connect the Val de Chamonix and Valais.

The Petit Saint-Bernard connects the Tarentaise with the Valle d’Aosta and the Grand-Saint-Bernard links Valais to the Aosta Valley (Valle d’Aosta).

The Ceutrones inhabited the Alpes Graiae: their capital was Aime (Axima). Four tribes inhabited the Alpes Poeninae: the Nantuaten, the Veragri, the Sedunas and the Uberi. The Nantuaten lived in the Rhone Valley from Lake Geneva to Saint-Maurice (Agaune) and had Massongex (Tarnaiae) as their capital.

The Veragri inhabited the valley of Martigny. The Sedunas lived in Sion, and the Uberi settled between Sierre, Brig, and the Gotthard (Adulas mons or Columna Solis).

(source: A. Puéjean, Les Alpes Graies et Poenines à l’époque romaine, Nîmes, 2015).

The Iglo of Hotel Kemmeriboden-Bad

In 2008, the Landgasthof Hotel Kemmeriboden-Bad (Canton of Bern) built the first igloo in its courtyard. As the demand was great, more igloos were made yearly. Until today, there are five. The Kemmeriboden-Bad hotel was built in 1834 and is now owned by the sixth generation.

Today, the igloo restaurant has about 50 seats and a dining room for fondue. In the first year, lorries transported the snow from the mountains. This was too expensive and inefficient, so Landgasthof invested in its snow-making facility.

The hotel’s hydroelectric power station generates part of the energy. The water comes entirely from the hotel’s wells.

The symbiosis between the hotel, nature and the igloo village transforms the courtyard into a winter fairy tale along the River Emme. However, Mother Nature remains the most crucial partner from December to March.

(Source and further information: www.kemmeriboden.ch).

The Kemmeriboden-Bad-Merängg

The Kemmeriboden-Bad (also called Bedli or Schybebad, Schybe meaning shadow in Berner dialect) is located on the banks of the River Emme, on the edge of the Emmental in the canton of Bern. The land was used as a forestry area until 1794.

The healing springs were already known a century before that. In 1794, the owner opened the first spa hotel, a Gastwirtschaft with a bath. A new owner took over the hotel in 1834. It was the beginning of the dynasty of today’s owner Reto Invernizzi.

Between 1878 and 1900, the hotel was renovated and extended to reflect its present state. The large house, the Bauernhaus or Wirtshaus, was completed in 1880. The Chässpycher and the Kegelhüsi were built in 1898 and 1900. Meanwhile, a farm remained connected to the complex. It supplied the kitchen with fresh milk, eggs, meat and other products for the restaurant.

Many celebrities, poets, writers, politicians and business people found their way to the complex. The first generator to produce electricity was completed in 1916. Not only did the Spanish flu wreak havoc on the owners’ family in 1918-1920, but the covered wooden bridge also collapsed three times to the swirling waters of the usually calm Emme.

1939 was an important year for the hotel. Just before the Second World War outbreak on 3 September 1939, the hotel served the Kemmeriboden-Bad-Merängge (Nidli in Bern dialect) for the first time, a desert now nationally and internationally famous.

The following significant changes occurred in 1990 with a hydroelectric power station for electricity, a park and several other buildings.

In 2008, the next project took shape: the annual construction of an igloo made of homemade snow in December. The igloo has been extended over the years and now has five rooms, a restaurant for about guests and a separate room for fondue. The igloo only begins to melt around mid-March if the weather gods allow it.

The place is an ideal starting point for hikes to the Entlebuch and Emmental, and Postauto stops here.

(Source and further information: www. kemmeriboden.ch).

A Concise History of Switzerland

Despite its position at the heart of Europe and its quintessentially European nature, Switzerland’s history is often overlooked.

This comprehensive and engaging history of Switzerland traces this fascinating country’s historical and cultural development from the end of the Dark Ages up to the present.

The authors focus on the initial Confederacy of the Middle Ages; the religious divisions which threatened it after 1500 and its surprising survival amongst Europe’s monarchies; the turmoil following the French Revolution and conquest, which continued until the Federal Constitution of 1848; the testing of the Swiss nation through the late nineteenth century and then two World Wars and the Depression of the 1930s; and the unparalleled economic and social growth and political success of the post-war era.

The book concludes with a discussion of the contemporary challenges, often shared with neighbours, that shape the country today.

Clive H. Church, Randolph C. Head, A Concise History of Switzerland, Cambridge 2013.

The Swiss Confederation around 1300

The classic themes of early Swiss history concentrate on the Confederation letter and oath of 1291, the victory at Morgarten in 1315 and imperial freedom (Reichsunmittelbarkeit). They are presented in a new way and placed in a broader political, economic and social context.

The book (German language) is based on years of intensive research and highlights the beginnings of the Swiss Confederation around 1300.

Roger Sablonier, Gründungszeit ohne Eidgenossen. Politik und Gesellschaft in der Innerschweiz um 1300, 2008.

The symbiosis between humankind and nature in the Entlebuch

The Entlebuch (about 400 m2) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the canton of Lucerne, recognised in 2001. The Entlebuch is also called the Wild West of Lucerne.

The acquisition of the status by UNESCO was not self-evident. The prerequisites were present, however: a magnificent natural environment and flora and fauna that are special even by Swiss standards, the largest peat bog surface in the country, mountain landscapes, rivers and streams, no large-scale farming (around 850 farms) or large agglomerations, and yet still easily accessible to the public.

In Entlebuch, named after the village of Entlebuch, there was the (usual) disagreement between business and nature conservation. The basis for this discussion was the adopted referendum in 1987, the so-called Rothenturm-Initiative. This initiative was subsequently incorporated into Article 78, paragraph 5, of the Constitution.

This law aims to give the peatlands throughout the country a protected status. The business community, including agriculture, in the Entlebuch feared that this would be at the expense of economic development (fewer roads, no expansion of villages, industrial estates, farmland, etc.).

However, some citizens approached this perspective from an entirely different angle, namely the opportunities it offered to businesses by protecting and preserving nature.

And indeed, a project group set up in 1997 succeeded in presenting a plan after (lengthy) consultations with the relevant municipal, cantonal and federal authorities, citizens, businesses and nature conservationists.

The result was a well-thought-out concept to win over all those interested. Agriculture, the wood industry, energy production, tourism, services and small and medium-sized enterprises saw the advantages of the concept with the preservation of the peat landscape following the 1987 referendum.

In September 2000, the citizens of the eight municipalities involved (Entlebuch, Hasle, Doppleschwand, Schüpfheim, Flühli-Sörenberg, Marbach, Escholmatt and Romoos) voted by 94% in favour of the initiative to nominate the Entlebuch as a UNESCO recognised biosphere.

Since then, the Entlebuch ‘poorhouse’ (the term used in Switzerland for this region until 2001) has developed into a prosperous area by the new status and nature conservation.

A hiker can not imagine that the gondola lifts from Flühli to Sörenberg, the largest winter sports area in the canton, is in the middle of this nature reserve. In other places, gondolas and other tourist facilities have been built since 2001.

However, a walk from Sörenberg at an altitude of 1423 to the Kemmeriboden-Bad, almost 500 metres lower and along the River Emme in the canton of Berne, on the border of the Emmental and the Entlebuch, shows how carefully the relationship between humankind and nature has been given substance.

The prosperous farms thrive on the label “Echt Entlebuch” for five hundred agricultural, dairy and meat products. The development of tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, excellent infrastructure and flourishing village communities with as many as 400 cultural, sports, social, economic and political associations (out of a population of 17 000) show that the region is in pretty good shape.

Around 600 000 tourists visit the area every year. A current exhibition in the Entlebucherhaus in Schüpfheim shows this development of the Entlebuch (www.entlebucherhaus.ch).

UNESCO was so enthusiastic that in 2011 it awarded the designation ‘Model region for the world’.

The reserve’s fame even reached the film festival of Cannes with the film “The Entlebuch Message”. The European Energy Gold Award was awarded in 2017 for energy-saving and environmentally friendly measures.

The hiker witnesses this innovative symbiosis between humankind, business, leisure and nature. Even art is everywhere, for example, in the Skulpturenweg (Road of Sculptures) along the Emme.

Nature is the ultimate form of art, such as the naturally formed ice sculptures on the rocks, the silhouettes of the mountain peaks, fairytale streams and waterfalls amidst the coniferous trees in the reserve show.

In addition, a welcome surprise awaits the hiker at the Hotel Landgasthof Kemmeribodenbad (dating back to 1834) and its famous “Nidle” (the Kemmeriboden Merängge), known far beyond the canton of Bern and the country’s borders.

As the name already suggests, this hotel was established as a spa in 1834 when mineral water springs were discovered (further information: www.kemmeriboden.ch).

The Swiss Alpine Club

The Swiss Alpine Club (Schweizer Alpen Club, SAC/Club Alpin Suisse, CAS) regularly organises hiking trips in this region (and elsewhere).

The SAC organises ski tours, mountaineering and other sports in the high mountains and the Alps and activities in other regions.

Proofreader: Adrian Dubock

(Source: Mein Entlebuch 2022, wwosphaere.ch).

The Pile Villages in the Canton of Lucerne

The Wauwilermoos (Canton of Lucerne) is one of the most important sites of pile villages (Pfahlbausiedlungen) from the youngest Stone Age (c. 5,500-2,000) in Europe.

From 17,000 B.C. on, the Wauwilermoos area was ice- and glacier-free. At the same time, the three lakes, Lake Wauwiler (Wauwilersee), Lake Mauen (Mausensee) and Lake Hagimoor (Hagimoorsee), began to silt up with sand, chalk and peat. Peat was even dug out of the area until the 20th century.

In the 19th century, Lake Wauwiler was drained, so only Lake Mauen remains of the original three lakes.

Soon after the last Ice Age (around 14,000), the first herds of animals entered the landscape. People followed them in the rhythm of the seasons and mainly hunted reindeer and wild horses.

The oldest traces of human presence in the Wauwilermoos date back to around 14,000 B.C. Climate warming at the end of the Ice Age promoted the spread of forests, plants and animal species.

Man became sedentary in the Neolithic period (5,500-2,000 B.C.). The era of the so-called lake-dwelling builders began. In the Wauwilermoos, people lived in pile dwellings that were either level with the ground or slightly elevated. These dwellings did not necessarily stand in the water but were supported by piles.

In 2011, UNESCO designated these stilt houses in the six countries of the Alps as World Heritage Sites. Among the 111 registered sites in six countries, three are in the canton of Lucerne: Hitzkirch-Seematt, Sursee-Zellmoos and the Egolzwil E3 (in the Wauwilermoos).

The Egolzwil is the oldest known Swiss stilt settlement, dating back to around 4 300 B.C. The characteristic pottery from this site even gives its name to this cultural area in Central Switzerland: the Egolzwil culture.

The Archaeological Trail from Wauwilermoos (approx. 7 km) comprises six stations near the most important sites.

The starting and finishing point is the reconstructed stilt village settlement in Wauwil with three stilt houses, an excavation tent and a hunter’s hut, and an information pavilion.

In the Wauwilermoos, a dozen stilt houses are known, the oldest of which date back to around 4,300 BC.

(Source and further information: www.pfahlbausiedlung.ch).