Schwyz

Schwyz, canton (1993 pop. 116,100), 351 sq mi (909 sq km), central Switzerland, one of the Four Forest Cantons. Bordering on the Lake of Zürich in the north and the Lake of Lucerne in the southwest, Schwyz is a mountainous and forested region, with meadows supporting livestock and orchards in the valleys. Cotton and silk textiles and wood furniture are manufactured, and there are large hydroelectric plants in the north. The population is German-speaking and Roman Catholic. In the early 13th cent. the rights to Schwyz passed to the counts of Hapsburg, but in 1240 Emperor Frederick II granted Schwyz a charter making it immediately subject to the Holy Roman Empire. The charter was revoked in 1274 by Rudolf I of Hapsburg, and in 1291 Schwyz concluded with Uri and Unterwalden the pact which became the basis of Swiss liberty. (The name Switzerland derives from Schwyz.) The canton rejected the Reformation and in 1845 joined the Catholic Sonderbund. Its capital, Schwyz (1993 pop. 13,000), one of the oldest towns in Switzerland, is a summer resort. The Swiss federal archives there contain the original pact of 1291. The town has a 16th-century town hall with historic paintings, several baroque churches, and numerous patrician houses (17th-18th cent.).

The town of (Schwyz, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.

As of 2006 its population is 14'171. With the territory of 53.17 km², the population density is 269/km².

The Bundesbrief can be seen at the Bundesbriefmuseum.

History of the toponym

The name Schwyz is first attested in 972 as the village Suittes and is perhaps related to Old High German suedan "to burn", referring to the area of forest that was burned and cleared to build. The name was extended to the area dominated by Schwyz (the Canton of Schwyz), and later to the entire Old Swiss Confederacy: while other cantons tended to resent this in the 15th century, the term Schwyzer was widely adopted as self-designation after 1499, out of spite, as it had been employed as a term of abuse by the Swabian side during the Swabian War, and Eidgenossenschaft and Schwytzerland could be used interchangeably in the 16th century. Today, Swiss-German people use the name Schwyz as the Swiss name of the country. Famous is the sentence "Hop hop Schwyz", which most Swiss people yell in an international soccer game.

References

External links

• Municipality of Schwyz
• Canton of Schwyz