History of Switzerland

Year	Fact
1291	The 3 Cantons Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden - the so called "Ur-Kantone" unite against the surrounding aggressors. A citizen of each Canton swears on August, 1st 1291 on a small mountain named "Rütli": "We will be a one and only nation of brothers ...". This leads to the term "Eidgenossenschaft" (confederation).
1332	Luzern joins the Swiss Federation.
1351	Zürich joins the Swiss Federation.
1352	Glarus and Zug join the Swiss Federation.
1353	Bern joins the Swiss Federation - 8 Cantons form the "acht alten Orte" (eight old Cantons).
1460	Foundation of the university of Basel which later became the first university of Switzerland.
1481	Fribourg and Solothurn join the Swiss Federation.
1500	Beginning of a new area called "Renaissance", people become interested in science.
1501	Basel and Schaffhausen join the Swiss Federation.
1513	Appenzell joins the Swiss Federation.
1522	Beginning of the "Reformation".
1648	Declaration of Independence - Switzerland becomes an independant Nation.
1803	Sankt Gallen, Graubünden, Thurgau, Ticino, Aargau and Vaud join the Swiss Federation.
1812	The Swiss Federation declares its neutrality.
1815	Valais, Neuchâtel and Genéve join the Swiss Federation - Switzerland gets its final boundaries.

Year / Date

Fact

1848

The Swiss Federation changes from a Union of States to a Confederation. Its first "Bundesverfassung" (Federal Constitution) is set up.

1864

Foundation of the International Red Cross (IKRK).

1872

Start of the construction of the railway across the alps ("Gotthardbahn").

1882

Opening of the "Gotthardbahn".

1932

Swiss physician Auguste Piccard sets record when he reaches a height of 16'940 m with his balloon. This was the first ballon equipped with a preassure cabin.

1-Feb-1959

Vaud (VD) was the first canton to give women the vote, followed by Neuchâtel (NE) (27-Sep-1959) and Genève (GE) (6-Mar-1960).

1960

Jacques Piccard (son of Auguste Piccard mentioned above) sets record when he dives together with American Don Walsh in a Bathyscaphe (special type of submarine) called "Trieste" as low as 10'916 m below sea level.

1971

Swiss people vote for the women's suffrage.

1978

Some villages leave the Canton Bern (BE) and found the new Canton Jura (JU).

2-Oct-1984

The "Vereinigte Bundesversammlung" (combined federal assembly) elected Elisabeth Kopp as the first woman as member of the "Bunderat" (executive authority). Ms. Kopp had to step back on 12.1.1989 due to some possible illegal activities of her husband.

30-Apr-1989

Appenzell Ausserrhoden (AR) was the last canton to give women the vote; Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI) had to be forced by the "Bundesgericht" (Swiss federal court) to give women the vote (27-nov-1990).

1992

Swiss people vote against becoming a member of the EEA (European Economic Area).

31-Jul-1992

Claude Nicollier (born 2-Sep-1944) takes off on board of the space shuttle Atlantis (ST-46) and becomes the first Swiss in space.

10-Mar-1993

The "Vereinigte Bundesversammlung" (combined federal assembly) elected Ruth Dreifuss as the second woman as member of the "Bunderat" (executive authority).

2-Dec-1993

Claude Nicollier's second journey on board of a space shuttle. The mission of Endeavour (STS-61) is seen as the most difficult one so far, the repair of the Hubble space telescope. It is Claude Nicollier's task to catch the telescope with the robotic arm of the space shuttle.

1999

Ruth Dreifuss became the first female president of the "Bundesrat" ("Bundesratspräsidentin").

11-Mar-1999

The "Vereinigte Bundesversammlung" (combined federal assembly) elected Ruth Metzler as the third woman as member of the "Bunderat" (executive authority). Ruth Metzler is only 34 years young !

20-Mar-1999

Swiss Scientist Bertrand Piccard (son of Jacques Piccard mentioned above) and British co-pilot Brian Jones have become the first balloonists to circumnavigate the globe with a non-stop, non-refuelled flight. It has taken the team 19 days, 21 hour and 55 minutes to travel the 46'759 km on board of Breitling-Orbiter 3.

18-Apr-1999

Swiss people accept a new "Bundesverfassung" (Federal Constitution) on a vote.

21-May-2000

The Swiss people accept the bilateral contracts with the European Union, see www.europa.admin.ch for further information.

3-Mar-2002

Finally, Switzerland is to join the United Nations. Today, both the people and cantons have accepted the popular initiative on Swiss membership of the United Nations.

10-Sep-2002

Switzerland was declared a full member of the United Nations as recommended by UN's Security Council.

2-Mar-2003

Team Alinghi - lead by the Swiss Ernesto Bertarelli - wins the 31st America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand after a 5:0 victory over Team New Zealand. Team Alinghi makes history by bringing the America's Cup to Europe for the first time in 152 years.

28-Jan-2009

Zürich's ice hockey team ZSC Lions wins the final of the Champions Hockey League against the Russian team Metallurg Magnitogorsk. This is the biggest success of a Swiss club team in Europe ever. On their way to the finals, the ZSC Lions won against teams from Sweden, Czech Republic and Finland.

ZSC Lions - Winner of the Champions Hockey League

08-Feb-2009

The Swiss people approves the continuation and extension of the bilateral agreements about the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the European Union, see www.europa.admin.ch for further information.

29-Sep-2009

Zürich's ice hockey team ZSC Lions wins the Victoria Cup against the Chicago Blackhawks from the US National Hockey League. This is the first victory of a Swiss team against a team from the NHL ever.

ZSC Lions - Winner of the Victoria Cup 2009

History of Switzerland

Table of contents:

1. The growing phase of Switzerland (1291 - 1815):

2. The more recent history of Switzerland (1815 - today):

3. Link collection related to the history of Switzerland: