History of the Canton of Uri

Prehistory and early history

The oldest finds in the canton of Uri date from around 6000 BC. These are the smallest stone tools made of rock crystal, which was probably mined in the Urserental itself. Two fireplaces were uncovered near the site, and they appear to have been in use for a long period of time. Further evidence of the presence of people in the canton is an arrowhead from the 3rd millennium BC found near Hospental . As well as several coins, a bronze bell and a fibula in the form of a sea creature from Roman times. The pieces date from the 1st to 3rd century AD. The castle hill Zwing-Uri north of the village of Amsteg was settled in the Bronze Age. The most famous find is the gold treasure from Erstfeld from the 3rd century BC. Chr.

Imperial immediacy

The Uri valley was donated in 853 by Ludwig the German to the Fraumünster Abbey in Zurich , which he founded. As a result, Uri came under the power of the Imperial Bailiwick of Zurich. After the Zähringer , who owned it (1218), died out, Frederick II granted the Habsburgs sovereign rights over Uri ; But already in 1231, the Uri erwirkten by his son King Henry VII. the imperial immediacy that them of 1274 Rudolf von Habsburg was confirmed.

confederation

Uristier from the Sempach battle banner

The people of Uri felt threatened by the Austrians and concluded the eternal alliance of August 1, 1291 with Schwyz and Unterwalden . In 1309 Uri received confirmation of his imperial freedom from Henry VIII , but in 1315 he was declared eighth by Friedrich the Fair with Schwyz and Unterwalden. As a result, Uri helped fight for victory at Morgarten . The legend of Wilhelm Tell takes place at this time .

Conquests

The rights of the abbey and the other landlords were gradually bought out. Frictions between Uri and Milan have led to a series of campaigns since 1403, the result of which in 1440 was the acquisition of the Leventina Valley as a land of Urner subjects. During the Reformation , Uri always followed the strictly Catholic politics of Schwyz and Lucerne.

Helvetic

Uri only reluctantly complied with the Helvetic constitution of 1798, which merged it with Schwyz, Unterwalden and Zug in a canton of Waldstätte . In 1799 the valley was literally devastated by an uprising that Marshal Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult suppressed with great bloodshed, then by the fighting of the French under Claude-Jacques Lecourbe and Loyson with the Austrians and then the Russians under Suvorov .

Ultramontanism

After the mediation act had restored Uri as an independent canton in 1803, but without the Livinental, it always took part in the special efforts of the ultramontane cantons and made a victorious incursion into its former subject, Ticino , in the Sonderbund War . However, after the fall of Lucerne on November 27, 1847, it capitulated and was reluctantly incorporated into the new liberal federal state .

Constitution

On May 5, 1850, Uri adopted its first constitution, which it revised in 1888. After the federal referendum on May 18, 1879 removed the ban on the death penalty from the federal constitution (with the exception of political offenses, where Art. 65 continues to prohibit), Uri was the first canton to reintroduce it (abolished again in 1924) . In 1972 the right to vote for women was introduced, and in 1984 the canton subjected its constitution to a total revision.

economy

In 1853 the first telegraph was installed in Uri , and in 1856 industrialization began with the paper mill on the Isleten . The construction of the Gotthard Railway , which opened in 1882, led to social unrest in Göschenen in 1875 . In 1884 the first telephone network was set up in Uri.

literature

• Ralph Aschwanden: Uri. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Hans Stadler-Planzer: History of the country of Uri: From the beginnings to the modern age. [2nd, revised edition]. Schattdorf: Uranos-Verlag, 1993. ISBN 3-9520414-0-8
• Urs Kälin: The Urner magistrate families: rule, economic situation and lifestyle of a rural upper class 1700–1850. Diss. Zurich: Chronos, 1991. ISBN 3-905278-86-3
• Urs Alfred Müller: Old maps as cultural-historical sources using the example of the Uri pass country (15th – 18th centuries). In: Cartographica Helvetica Heft 2 (1990) pp. 2–8 full text
• Karl Iten: Uri then: Photographs and contemporary documents, 1855–1925. Altdorf: Gamma, 1984. ISBN 3-906200-03-5
• Jürg Bielmann: The living conditions in Uri during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1972. ( Basel Contributions to the Science of History 126). ISBN 3-7190-0603-4

Web links

• History of the canton of Uri in brief
• Wilhelm Tell story

proof

1. ↑ Uri Archeology Department.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Andres Furger: The Celtic gold treasure from Erstfeld. History of discovery and site. 2014.