Rütli

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rütliwiese of fountain seen from
The Rütliwiese from a different perspective
The place-name sign at the Rütliwiese in the four national languages ​​of Switzerland (German, French, Italian, Romansh) and in English
Aerial photo from 1951

The Rütli ("small clearing", also: Grütli , hence French le Grütli ) is a mountain meadow (approx. 480  m above sea level ) on the ground of the Uri municipality of Seelisberg in Switzerland on the western shore of Lake Uri , an arm of the Lake Lucerne . According to legend, this is where the alliance of the three original cantons Uri , Schwyz and Unterwalden ( Obwalden and Nidwalden ) was concluded, the so-called Rütli oath .

History, legend

The Rütli Wiese 1887 as a pencil drawing by Wilhelm Kretschmer

It is not known when and in what way the representatives of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden are said to have sealed the mutual assistance pact. A Rütli - am Mythen  - is only mentioned in 1307. There, the people of Uri could have joined the Schwyzers at night in order to invade the territory of the Einsiedeln monastery to the north at dawn .

As the “cradle of Switzerland”, the five- hectare meadow has the character of a national monument . On the Rütli there is an inn, a picnic area, the three-country fountain and a small exhibition on the history of the place. The Rütli can be reached from Lake Uri via a landing stage, but access from the land is time-consuming and arduous.

The preservation of the Rütli in its historical form was made possible by a collection of the Swiss Charitable Society (SGG) in 1859, which bought the site and handed it over to the Swiss Confederation as inalienable national property, subject to management by the SGG. The impetus for this action was the attempt to build a hotel at this point. The Rütli, the old symbol for the founding of the old Swiss Confederation, became the symbol of the newly created liberal federal state twelve years after the Sonderbund War . As a result, the SGG distributed 100,000 graphics from the Rütli to school children in Switzerland. The early legend that the schoolchildren collected for the Rütli was not countered; it strengthened the identification with the Rütli and thus with (modern) Switzerland.

The fact that the importance of the Rütli extends beyond Switzerland is shown by the international visitors and the numerous cultural discussions with the Rütli, from Friedrich Schiller to Queen Victoria to Mark Twain . Since the 700th anniversary in 1991, the Rütli has been a highlight of the Swiss Path around Lake Uri .

Rütlirapport, Rütlifeier

Rütli oath , painted by Johann Heinrich Füssli

In the tradition as a national symbol and of unity during the threat from the Axis powers in World War II , the Rütli report by General Henri Guisan took place on July 25, 1940 on the Rütli .

Since the late 1940s, under the aegis of the Swiss Charitable Society (SGG), a national celebration has been held on the Rütli every year on August 1st , always in a similar setting and with a speech in the center.

In 1975 a woman gave the speech for the first time, the Uri District Administrator Hildegard Simmen-Schmid . Ulrich Bremi, President of the National Council at the time, was the first speaker who did not come from the central Swiss cantons to speak at the 1991 anniversary . The Lucerne Councilor of States Josi Meyer was the first woman with a national position and in 2005 a Federal President spoke to Samuel Schmid for the first time .

From the end of the 20th century, the Rütlifeier was more frequently disturbed by right-wing extremists . In 2004, instead of a national celebration, Schiller's Wilhelm Tell was performed by the German National Theater Weimar and there was only a short welcoming speech by Judith Stamm from the SGG. The high point of further disruptions was the celebration on August 1, 2005, at which Federal President Samuel Schmid was insulted and shouted down. Due to these incidents, access to the celebration in 2006 was controlled by a large number of police. As of this year, visitors need admission cards.

In 2007, more than 2000 people welcomed the first Federal President Micheline Calmy-Rey to the Rütli, who appeared together with the President of the National Council, Christine Egerszegi . According to the NZZ, inconsistent (“The Rütli story of the modern era is told differently in each paper”) reports about a “quarrel” appeared in foreign media beforehand . The New York Times , the Spanish El Mundo , the French Le Monde and the Wiener Zeitung took up the topic. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that it was a matter of "a conservative group of men in Bern and the cantons trying to prevent the first speech by women and a Social Democratic President at the traditional Swiss Confederation". The Austrian radio also spoke of a "campaign skirmish". The WOZ wrote that the eight Nazis present had "played the role of zoo monkeys" for a hundred journalists.

In February 2008, a popular initiative was submitted in the canton of Uri , which demanded that no more national federal celebrations may be approved on the Rütli. Only celebrations in the community of Seelisberg that do not include speakers from outside the canton should be approved. The initiative was later declared invalid.

In 2008 the Uri government councilor Josef Dittli gave the speech, in 2009 the German studies and writer Peter von Matt . In 2010, the keynote speaker was Annemarie Huber-Hotz , President of the SGG. This year the SGG celebrated its 200th anniversary; But it was also the 150th anniversary of the donation of the Rütli to the Swiss Confederation.

Since 2011, the Swiss Charitable Society (SGG) has been inviting major Swiss organizations and one person to give the celebratory speech to organize the federal celebration on August 1st:

Attractions

literature

Web links

Commons : Rütli  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The oldest written spelling (around 1470) is in the rüdlin , to mhd. Riuten "reuten, roden"; the German spelling Grütli appears only occasionally in the 19th century.
  2. ↑ a b List of keynote speakers since 1949 , website of the Swiss Charitable Society, accessed on March 31, 2020
  3. ^ "Wilhelm Tell" as a national celebration on the Rütli. NZZ , July 24, 2004.
  4. ^ John Tagliabue: In Peaceful Switzerland, Trouble at a Historic Meadow. In: New York Times , July 23, 2007.
  5. ↑ Simon Gemperli: "Swiss shrine of freedom under fire". How foreign media interpret the dispute over the Rütli. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. July 24, 2007.
  6. ↑ We were the Rütli Nazis. WOZ, July 26, 2007.
  7. ↑ Federal Celebration 2020 on the SGG website, accessed on July 9, 2020

Coordinates: 46 ° 58 ′ 8 "  N , 8 ° 35 ′ 34"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred eighty-seven thousand eight hundred twenty-eight  /  202625