Schwyz

“ The valley of Schwyz is first mentioned in 972 under the form of “Suittes.” Later, a community of freemen is found settled at the foot of the Mythen, possessing common lands, and subject only to the count of the Zürichgau, as representing the German king. Its early history consists mainly of disputes with the great monastery of Einsiedeln about rights of pasture. In 1240 the community obtained from the Emperor Frederick II. the privilege of being subject immediately to the empire. ”

“ Mindful of their former independence,181 and weary of tyranny and extortion, the principal citizens of the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwald met, seventeen days after Rudolf’s death, and on the 1st of August, 1291, took a solemn oath to stand by each other and resist all foreign intervention, until they had recovered their former freedom. This oath—the corner-stone of the Swiss Confederation—was duly sworn by all the principal inhabitants, among which figure men whose names are noted in legend as well as in history. ”

“ Duke Charles advanced with great noise of trumpets and clarions. Those of Schwyz, Thun and others (whose names we can not easily recall) started forth above Valmarcus. The bandières of Soleure, Bern, Lucerne, Fribourg, and that of Neuchâtel which included three hundred citizens and more, as well as that of Landeron and the hommes royés of M. de Langern, led straight to the plain; those of Siebenthal, Unterwald, Morat, Biel and others followed the shore of the lake. ”

“ MORGARTEN, the name of the pasture slopes that descend westwards to the south end of the lake of Aegeri in the Swiss canton of Zug, about 2 m. by road from the Sattel station on the railway line from Schwyz to Zürich. It was at the foot of these slopes and on the shore of the lake that the small Swiss force defeated the large Austrian army, advancing from Zug on Schwyz, on the 15th of November 1315, and so laid the foundations of Swiss liberty. ”

“ Be that as it may, the apple of discord was soon in the midst, and there set up as claimants numerous seigneurs of Graubünden, barons from the Valais, near relatives, as well as Austria and the empire. Zurich and Schwyz also contended for the promised stretch of land. To penetrate into the maze of petty conflicts which followed would be ridiculous as it would be impossible. ”

“ In 1900 the population was 55,385, of whom 53,834 were German-speaking, 1108 Italian-speaking, and 296 French-speaking, while 53,537 were Romanists, 1836 Protestants and 9 Jews. The most populous town is Einsiedeln, with its famous Benedictine monastery, but Schwyz (the port of which is Brunnen) is the political capital.
There is a certain amount of industrial activity in the canton, particularly in the portion bordering on the lake of Zurich, while silk-weaving at home is widespread. There are many fruit trees, particularly cherry trees. ”

“ He had for a local guide through Switzerland Colonel Weywrother, an Austrian officer. Misled by him the Russian general calculated that he could reach Schwyz in seven days. He had twenty thousand men. Uncorrected by Weywrother, he selected a road which ended at Altorf whence the only passage to Lucerne and Schwyz was by water. ”

“ Deeply wounded by the position of the Confederates in the opposition ranks, and still more by the humiliation inflicted on her by the rustics of Schwyz, the proud, free city of Zurich thirsted for revenge. Thus the second period of conflict began, and in June, 1442, Zurich sought a foreign alliance. Stüssi, or his secretary, who was his right hand, taking advantage of her old leanings towards Austria, conceived the Machiavelian plan of joining in union with the [Pg 193] deadly foe of the Confederates. ”

“ But the Swiss found it inconvenient to be reformed by strangers. The “Forest Cantons”—Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden—revolted, and in the end the French were as cordially detested as they had at first been cordially welcomed by the Swiss people, whose problem then was how to regain their independence. ”

“ The various acts of agreement were drawn up in Latin, and the document—the Magna Charta of the Eidgenossenschaft—treasured up at Schwyz, is held in veneration by the whole Swiss nation. It bears an essentially conservative character, and witnesses to the thought and consideration given to the matter, no less than to the strong sense of equity and clear judgment of the contracting parties. Amongst other things it enjoins that every one shall obey and serve his master according to his standing; that no judge shall be appointed who has bought his office with gold, nor unless he be a native ”

“ It was exceedingly fertile, and was much in request, and in the thirteenth century was parcelled out amongst religious-houses, great nobles, and lesser freemen. The Habsburgs being not only the greatest proprietors, but also stewards of the religious-houses, naturally held sovereign sway. It was only by the aid of friendly neighbours indeed that Unterwalden could hold its own against such powerful masters, and of all its neighbours the men of Schwyz were not only the best organized, politically, but the most energetic and far-seeing. ”

“ Gall the communal Alpine pasturages comprise one-half such lands. Schwyz has a stretch of common land (an allmend) thirty miles in length and ten to fifteen in breadth. The city of Zurich has a well-kept forest of twelve to fifteen square miles, worth millions of francs. Winterthur, the second town in Zurich, has so many forests and vineyards that for a long period its citizens not only had no taxes to pay, but every autumn each received gratis several cords of wood and many gallons of wine. ”

“ EINSIEDELN, the most populous town in the Swiss canton of Schwyz. It is built on the right bank of the Alpbach (an affluent of the Sihl) , at a height of 2908 ft. above the sea-level on a rather bare moorland, and by rail is 25 m. S.E. of Zürich, or by a roundabout railway route about 38 m. north of Schwyz, with which it communicates directly over the Hacken Pass (4649 ft.) ”

“ One of these leading men was burgomaster Stüssi, of Zurich, and the other was Ital von Reding, from Schwyz, both highly gifted and energetic men. Even from their youth they had been rivals, incited by the Emperor Sigismund whose favour they enjoyed.
Save the battle of St. Jacques on the Birse, the [Pg 192] war brought forth no great military exploits, and as it effected no material changes it may be very briefly passed over. It splits naturally into three periods. The first of these (1436-1442) is simply a series of wasteful feuds waged by the Confederates alone. ”

“ Brunnen, which is called the port of Schwyz, and from which it is distant about three miles, is singularly crushed and over-weighted by the great hotels on the Seelisberg and the Axenfels, and has suffered perhaps more severely by the exploitation of its neighbourhood than any other single station on the lake. ”

“ By admirable manœuvring he disposed his eight divisions about Eastern and Central Switzerland, his force amounting to no fewer than seventy-five thousand men. The highlands of Schwyz, Uri, and Glarus, were held by Lecourbe, a skilled strategist, thoroughly at home in the Alps, and the entrance to the St. Gothard pass was blocked. Marshal Soult gave battle to Hotze in the marshy district between Lake Zurich and Walensee, on the 25th of September, with the result that Hotze was slain, and the Austrian force retired from Swiss soil. ”

“ Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were the names of these three cantons. A little later another canton joined the three. These four cantons lie round a lake which is called the Lake of the four Forest Cantons. When Albrecht, Duke of Austria was chosen Emperor he said to himself that now truly he would be lord and master of Switzerland. So he sent two nobles to the Swiss to talk to them, and persuade them to own him as their king.
Some of the people of Switzerland were persuaded to belong to Austria, but all the people of the free cantons replied that they wished to remain free. ”

“ Whereupon the men of Schwyz, being without protection, made a league for ten years with Werner, Count of Honburg; and that their submission to the Austrian power might not be construed into a duty, they sent to the King for an Imperial Bailiff. Albrecht appointed Hermann Gessler of Brunek, and Beringer of Landenberg, whose cousin Hermann was in much favor with him. ”

“ Dr Jacob Sturzl, an envoy from Ferdinand-whose policy here agreed with the Emperor's-proposed to the Five Catholic Cantons, Luzern, Schwyz, Uri, Unterwaiden, and Zug, a league with Austria, partly for defence and common religious ends. War was threatened; for, while the Imperial government was eager to attack Constance, Zurich and possibly Bern were equally bound to defend it, and also to chastise Unterwaiden for violating Bernese territory. ”

“ They were levelled chiefly against the excesses and tumultuous risings that were continually taking place in the country cantons, their object being to re-establish order and prevent a repetition of the insubordination, and to set bounds to "the too much [Pg 222] freedom in the Länder." Despite the resistance of Schwyz the agreement was ratified, and gradually became part and parcel of the judicial enactments of the Confederation. Breathing as they do the vigorous spirit of Hans Waldmann, the most influential Swiss statesman of his time, these measures were, though wrongly, attributed to him. ”

“ Zürich tried to cut off supplies of food from reaching the Romanist members (contrary to the wishes of Zwingli) , and, on the death of the abbot of St Gall, disregarding the rights of Lucerne, Schwyz and Glarus, who shared with her since 1451 the office of protectors of the abbey, suppressed the monastery, giving the rule of the land and the people to her own officers. Bern in vain tried to moderate this aggressive policy, and the Romanist members of the League indignantly advanced from Zug towards Zürich. ”

“ One is rather apt to forget that the Switzerland of the days before the French Revolution—the Switzerland whose name is a synonym for liberty; the Switzerland of Sempach, Morat, and Morgarten—consisted only of the thirteen German-speaking states that are clustered mostly to the north and west of the original mountain nucleus of Uri, Unterwalden, and Schwyz.
With Flüelen, exactly at the head of the lake, we conclude our perambulation of the Vierwaldstättersee. I do not know that this little village has much of particular interest ”

“ Once again the Habsburgs were passed over, and Henry VII. became King of Germany. To him Unterwalden owes its charter, which placed the three small states on an equal footing politically. However, he died in Italy when going to receive the imperial crown—it is thought by poison. On his decease the opposing parties elected two sovereigns, Louis of Bavaria, and Frederick the Handsome, of Austria, son of Albrecht. During a short interregnum, which occurred after the death of Henry VII., Schwyz began hostilities against the Abbey of Einsiedeln, of which the Habsburgs were stewards. ”

“ Gmur, after having received on his march the submission of Zug, scaled the heights of Meyers Kappel. Everything made for success. Victory was hotly disputed, but the Schwyzers were in the end thrown back towards Immensee, whence they fell back on Art and Goldau. Troops from the other cantons turned [43] to Lucerne. The separation of Schwyz with its allies was accomplished. On every hand the federal troops marched simultaneously on that capital. The gates were opened to them by a convention, and on the 24th of November Dufour made his entry. ”

“ After a brave resistance Glarus was defeated at Rapperswyl, on the 30th of April, 1798, and then Schauenburg proceeded with his whole strength against Schwyz. In its defence a band of some four thousand stout-hearted men was collected under the command of Reding, a young and handsome officer, who had just returned from Spanish service. Reding was an enthusiastic patriot of the old stamp, deeply imbued with conservative principles. Men rallied to his standard eagerly, and swore a solemn oath, "not [Pg 354] to flee, but conquer." ”

“ Originally under the protection of the counts of Rapperswil (to which town on the lake of Zürich the old pilgrims’ way still leads over the Etzel Pass, 3146 ft., with its chapel and inn) , this position passed by marriage with their heiress in 1295 to the Laufenburg or cadet line of the Habsburgs, but from 1386 was permanently occupied by Schwyz. A black wooden image of the Virgin and the fame of St Meinrad caused the throngs of pilgrims to resort to Einsiedeln in the middle ages, and even now it is much frequented, particularly about the 14th of September. ”

“ The little I shall have to say, in order to make them understood, will be founded on what I observed in the cantons I visited this summer, and in which I inquired into the system, and saw it at work. Those cantons were Unterwalden, Uri, Schwyz, and Glarus. My observations will, to some extent, be illustrated and checked by facts drawn from other quarters. For there is nothing in the world, whether in human institutions, in physiology, or in anything else, that can be understood if looked at as an isolated phenomenon. ”

“ In the town Cantons, such as Bern, Basel, and Zurich, the town was the lord, and the country districts were attached to each as dependent properties. In the rural Cantons, such as Uri and Schwyz, it was an aggregate of democratic communities, which exercised lordship over other dependent communities in their neighborhood. The conquered districts, instead of being created into new Cantons, remained subject, in some cases to individual Cantons, in others to associations of Cantons for their members jointly. In the rustic communities the government was a pure democracy ”