The Highest Mountain in the Canton of Zurich and Direct Democracy
6 October 2025
The Schnebelhorn (1,292 m) is the highest peak in the canton of Zurich. The mountain is located in the Töss Valley.
The Schnebelhorn
The Töss, with a length of 60 kilometres, not only gives the valley its name, but also has a special characteristic that, this time, has nothing to do with climate change: it occasionally dries up completely.
De Töss
Steg
The source of the river is located in St. Gallen, near the Säntis in Appenzell, and, like many other rivers and streams, it flows into the Rhine. The first village it reaches on its way to the Rhine is Steg in the canton of Zurich.
At a bridge over the Töss, there is a detailed explanation about the centuries-old natural causes for the occasional absence of water in the river. However, this does not change the fact that this river has also caused floods in the past. It led to canalisation and other measures at the end of the 19th century.
Steg
Steg is a small village in the municipality of Fischenthal, but it lies at the foot of the highest mountain in the canton and even (still) has a ski area!
It is also located on the old pilgrimage route, the Via Jacobi (Jakobsweg) or the Way of St. James (also known as the Swabian Way (Schwabenweg), which runs from Constance to Einsiedeln), leading to the Fischingen Monastery, Rapperswil, and the Einsiedeln Monastery. The inn “Zum Steg” has been a resting place for pilgrims and other travellers for centuries.
Steg is also the place where, in 1532, the last bear of the Zurich Oberland was shot (the last bear in Graubünden met this fate only in 1904!).
Steg is part of the municipality of Fischenthal, the largest rural municipality in the canton of Aargau. This area, referred to as Fiskinestal in a 9th-century document, was for centuries owned by the Abbey of St. Gallen. After a short period under the Habsburgs, Zurich acquired Fischenthal in 1425.
Fischenthal also belonged to the district (Bezirk) of Uster in the new Confederation (1803–1813). Residents from Fischenthal and Steg may also have participated in the uprising in Uster in 1830/1831, which led to a liberal constitution in the canton.
In doing so, they were also pioneers of the 1848 constitution and direct democracy in the years 1874 and 1891. The Töss does not care about any of this; it dries up when nature dictates.
(Source and further information: Gemeinde Fischenthal)
Impressions from the Tösstal
