The Craddle of Switzerland

3 August 2020

Switzerland will be 729 years old on 1 August 2020—or not? On August 1, Switzerland celebrates the alliance between the three cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden.

The document does not provide an exact date but refers to the beginning of August 1291. The first national commemoration took place in 1891.

Napoleon, his Helvetic Republic (1798-1803), the Confederation of 19 cantons (1803-1813), and the Confederation of 22 cantons in 1815 were decisive for the borders of present-day Switzerland.

The new Constitution of 1848, following the Sonderbundskrieg (civil war) of 1847, serves as the constitutional foundation of modern Switzerland.

Several constitutional changes followed, including the creation of the twenty-sixth and last canton of Jura in 1979.