Schwyz

In early August 1291, the valley communities of Uri, Schwyz, and Nidwalden signed the Federal Charter (Bundesbrief), a pact of mutual defense that is Switzerland's oldest constitutional document. The charter was likely drafted shortly after the death of King Rudolf I of Habsburg on 15 July 1291, to ensure self-governance during the power vacuum. The original parchment document belongs to the Canton of Schwyz's State Archives and is permanently displayed at the Bundesbriefmuseum in Schwyz, built in 1936 at Bahnhofstrasse 20.

On 15 November 1315, troops from Schwyz ambushed a Habsburg army at the Morgarten pass on the shores of Lake Aegeri. Approximately 1,300 men from Schwyz, supported by allies from Uri and Unterwalden, rolled boulders and tree trunks down the slope, then attacked with halberds. The Austrians lost over 1,500 men; Swiss losses were fewer than a dozen. In 1240, Emperor Friedrich II had presented the blood-red war banner to the warriors of Schwyz as a symbol of imperial sovereignty. The prestige gained at Morgarten was so great that the entire Confederation came to be known by forms of the canton's name.

Haus Bethlehem (House of Bethlehem) in Schwyz was built in 1287 -- four years before the Federal Charter -- and confirmed by dendrochronological dating as Europe's oldest surviving wooden dwelling. The two-story blockhouse is assembled entirely from interlocking wooden beams joined with wooden nails, with low ceilings of 1.90 m, tiny windows of 40 x 15 cm, and no chimney. It stands next to the Ital Reding-Hofstatt, a mansion built in 1609 for the provincial governor Ital Reding, blending Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque elements. The complex survived the great fire of 20 April 1642 that destroyed 47 buildings in central Schwyz.

Werner Stauffacher came from a prominent Schwyz family that held the office of Landammann (chief magistrate) throughout the 13th and 14th centuries. According to legend, a Habsburg bailiff threatened the family for building a stone house. Werner's wife -- later named Gertrud in Friedrich Schiller's 1804 play Wilhelm Tell -- encouraged her husband to resist Habsburg tyranny, inspiring the alliance that led to the Ruetli Oath. A statue of the Stauffacherin stands in the chamber of the National Council in the Federal Palace in Bern, honored as the 'bearer of the idea' of Swiss independence. The three legendary oath-takers were Walter Fuerst (Uri), Werner Stauffacher (Schwyz), and Arnold von Melchtal (Unterwalden).

On 2 September 1806, the south face of the Rossberg mountain collapsed, sending 40 million cubic meters of rock into the valley in just three minutes. The landslide buried the villages of Goldau and parts of Lauerz, destroying 111 homes, 220 stables, and 4 churches, killing 457 people and 323 head of cattle -- making it the largest historical natural disaster in Switzerland. An offshoot of the rock avalanche reached Lake Lauerz 2.5 km away, triggering a tsunami that claimed further lives. The lake lost one-seventh of its surface area in a single moment. The catastrophe marked a turning point as one of the first geological disasters studied with a scientific approach.

Einsiedeln Abbey, about 25 km northeast of Schwyz, is Switzerland's largest pilgrimage site. It was founded by the Benedictine hermit Saint Meinrad around 835 AD, who lived alone in the Dark Forest for 26 years, keeping two ravens as companions, before being murdered by two bandits in 861. The Black Madonna -- a 15th-century wooden statue of the Virgin Mary -- is housed in the Chapel of Grace beneath a painted dome. Between 150,000 and 200,000 Catholic pilgrims visit annually, with total visitors exceeding 800,000 per year. In 1314, men from Schwyz raided Einsiedeln Abbey in a grazing rights dispute, directly triggering the Habsburg invasion that led to the Battle of Morgarten.

The Mythen are two striking rock pyramids east of Schwyz: the Grosser Mythen (1,898 m) and the Kleiner Mythen (1,811 m). The name derives from Latin 'meta' (cone, pyramid), not from the German word for 'myth.' The Grosser Mythen is a popular hiking destination classified as T3 (challenging mountain hike) -- relatively steep but rewarded with a panoramic view of the Glarus and Uri Alps, Lake Lucerne, and the surrounding region. The twin peaks are the landmark and symbol of the town of Schwyz, appearing on countless postcards, paintings, and logos. The Rütli meadow, the Morgarten battlefield, and Lake Lucerne are all visible from the summit.

The Schwyz Rathaus (Town Hall) was built 1642-1645 after a great fire destroyed 47 buildings. In 1891, for the 600th anniversary of the Confederation, Munich-based painter Ferdinand Wagner was commissioned to paint historical scenes on the facades. The west facade depicts the Ruetli Oath (1291), the Battle of Morgarten, and the Pact of Brunnen (1315). The north facade shows the Stauffacherin, the handover of the Schwyz Freedom Charter (1240), Saint Martin, and allegorical figures of justice and freedom. The murals were painted using Keim mineral paints and completed on 18 July 1891, just in time for the jubilee celebrations.