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Schnitzturm
The Schnitzturm is a stone tower in the municipality of Stansstad in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. It is part of the ''Teller / Palisaden'' medieval fortifications which are a Swiss heritage site of national significance. History The first fortification along the lake shore was the ''Teller'', a wooden block building and wall built out in Lake Lucerne and dendrochronologically dated to 1206/07. In the late 13th or early 14th centuries the tower was built on an artificial spit which projected out into the lake as part of the defenses around Stansstad. In addition to the Schnitzturm, a defensive wall or palisade consisting of about 8,000 wooden pillars driven into the lake at a depth of about . The palisade had a channel in it, known as the ''Grendel'', to allow boats to enter the harbor. Exactly when the tower was first built is unknown, but it appears in a 1428 chronicle of the 1315 Battle of Morgarten. According to the chronicle, during an attack of Habsburg t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stansstad
Stansstad is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. Geography Stansstad has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 32.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 15.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 2.4% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of or about 8.8% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1981/82 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by and is now about 0.99% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is used for orchards and vineyards and is fields and grasslands. Since 1981/82 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Castles And Fortresses In Switzerland
This list includes castles and fortresses in Switzerland. Entries list the name and location of the castle, fortress or ruins in each Canton in Switzerland. Aargau Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Land Basel-Stadt Canton of Bern, Bern Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg Canton of Geneva, Geneva Canton of Glarus, Glarus Graubünden, Graubünden (Grisons) Canton of Jura, Jura Canton of Lucerne, Lucerne Canton of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel Nidwalden Obwalden Canton of Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen Canton of Schwyz, Schwyz Canton of Solothurn, Solothurn Canton of St. Gallen, St. Gallen Ticino Thurgau Canton of Uri, Uri Vaud Valais Canton of Zug, Zug # Buonas Castle, Risch # Freudenberg Castle (Rotkreuz), Freudenberg Castle, Risch-Rotkreuz # Hünenberg Castle, Hünenberg # St. Andreas Castle, Cham, Switzerland, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Growth Of The Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. The Hohenstaufen emperors had granted these valleys '' reichsfrei'' status in the early 13th century. As ''reichsfrei'' regions, the cantons (or regions) of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were largely autonomous. With the rise of the Habsburg dynasty, the kings and dukes of Habsburg sought to extend their influence over this region and to bring it under their rule; as a consequence, a conflict ensued between the Habsburgs and these mountain communities who tried to defend their privileged status as ''reichsfrei'' regions. The three founding cantons of the '' Schweizerische Eidgenos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals to allow for the launch of arrows or other projectiles from within the defences. These gaps are termed " crenels" (also known as ''carnels'', or ''embrasures''), and a wall or building with them is called crenellated; alternative (older) terms are castellated and embattled. The act of adding crenels to a previously unbroken parapet is termed crenellation. The function of battlements in war is to protect the defenders by giving them something to hide behind, from which they can pop out to launch their own missiles. A defensive building might be designed and built with battlements, or a manor house might be fortified by adding battlements, where no parapet previously existed, or cutting crenellations into its existing parapet wall. A d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campaigns Of 1798 In The French Revolutionary Wars
1798 was a relatively quiet period in the French Revolutionary Wars. The major continental powers in the First coalition had made peace with France, leaving France dominant in Europe with only a slow naval war with Great Britain to worry about. The leaders of the Directory in Paris feared Napoleon Bonaparte's popularity after his victories in Italy, so they were relieved when he proposed to depart France and mount an expedition to Egypt to gain further glory. Campaign in Egypt At this time, Egypt was a province of the Ottoman Empire, but Napoleon viewed invading Egypt as a way to threaten British dominance in the Mediterranean Sea and threaten the British position in India, and to gain prestige for revolutionary arms. Napoleon raised a large army including scientists and cultural experts, and sailed from Toulon on 19 May. Stopping to capture Malta on 12 June, he landed near Alexandria on 2 July and took the city. Napoleon's army proceeded to march against the Mameluke armies in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hip Roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on houses may have two triangular sides and two trapezoidal ones. A hip roof on a rectangular plan has four faces. They are almost always at the same pitch or slope, which makes them symmetrical about the centerlines. Hip roofs often have a consistent level fascia, meaning that a gutter can be fitted all around. Hip roofs often have dormer slanted sides. Construction Hip roofs are more difficult to construct than a gabled roof, requiring more complex systems of rafters or trusses. Hip roofs can be constructed on a wide variety of plan shapes. Each ridge is central over the rectangle of the building below it. The t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Round Arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that Span (architecture), spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with Vault (architecture), vaults, but a vault may be distinguished as a continuous arch forming a roof. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture, and their systematic use started with the ancient Romans, who were Roman Architectural Revolution, the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures. Basic concepts An arch is a pure compression form. It can span a large area by resolving forces into compressive stresses, and thereby eliminating tensile stresses. This is sometimes denominated "arch action". As the forces in the arch are transferred to its base, the arch pushes outward at its base, denominated "thrust". As the rise, i. e. height, of the arch decreases the outward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landsgemeinde
The ''Landsgemeinde'' ("cantonal assembly"; , plural ''Landsgemeinden'') is a public, non-secret ballot voting system operating by majority rule, which constitutes one of the oldest forms of direct democracy. Still at use – in a few places – at the subnational political level in Switzerland, it was formerly practiced in eight cantons. For practical reasons, the ''Landsgemeinde'' has been abolished at the cantonal level in all but two cantons where it still holds the highest political authority: Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. The ''Landsgemeinde'' is also convened in some districts of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Grisons and Schwyz to vote on local questions. The German term ''Landsgemeinde'' itself is attested from at least the 16th century, in the 1561 dictionary of Pictorius. It is a compound from ''Land'' "land, canton; rural canton" and ''Gemeinde'' "community, commune". Eligible citizens of the canton or district meet on a certain day in the open air to decide on specif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obwalden
Obwalden, also Obwald (german: Kanton Obwalden, rm, Chantun Sursilvania; french: Canton d'Obwald; it, Canton Obvaldo), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Sarnen. It is traditionally considered a " half-canton", the other half being Nidwalden. Obwalden lies in Central Switzerland and contains the geographical centre of Switzerland. It is bordered by the canton of Lucerne to the north, the canton of Nidwalden and Uri to the east and the canton of Bern to the south. The canton is essentially in the valley of the Sarner Aa south of Lake Lucerne, with an enclave around Engelberg. It is one of the smallest cantons. The largest town is Sarnen, followed by Kerns and Alpnach. Together with Nidwalden, Obwalden was part of the forest canton of Unterwalden, one of the three participants in the foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy, named in the Pact of Brunnen of 1315 with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unterwalden
Unterwalden, translated from the Latin ''inter silvas''(''between the forests''), is the old name of a forest-canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, consisting of two valleys or ''Talschaften'', now two separate Swiss cantons (or two half-cantons), Obwalden and Nidwalden. The name ''Unterwalden'' is first recorded in 1304, as the translation of Latin ''inter silvas'', which together with ''in intramontanis'' was the name for monastery possessions in the area. In 1291, Rudolf I of Germany purchased the estates at Stans, Alpnach and Giswil. From 1304, the local bailiffs used their own seal. In 1309, Henry VII confirmed the imperial immediacy of the territory of Unterwalden as part of the imperial bailiwick of ''Waldstätte'' (but not as a political entity in its own right). The Federal Charter, internally dated 1291, is thought to originate at this time. In the text, Unterwalden figures as ''communitas hominum Intramontanorum Vallis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th century described as "communities" (, ), the German term ''Orte'' becomes common in the early 15th century, used alongside "estate" after the Reformation. The French term is used in Fribourg in 1475, and after 1490 is increasingly used in French and Italian documents. It only enters occasional German usage after 1648, and only gains official status as synonym of with the Act of Mediation of 1803. ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerland. It formed during the 14th century, from a foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy, nucleus in what is now Central Switzerland, growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy, expanding to include the cities of Zürich and Bern by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mill Stone
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and a concave ''runner stone'' that rotates. The movement of the runner on top of the bedstone creates a "scissoring" action that grinds grain trapped between the stones. Millstones are constructed so that their shape and configuration help to channel ground flour to the outer edges of the mechanism for collection. The runner stone is supported by a cross-shaped metal piece (millrind or rynd) fixed to a "mace head" topping the main shaft or spindle leading to the driving mechanism of the mill (wind, water (including tide) or other means). History The earliest evidence for stones used to grind food is found in northern Australia, at the Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land, dating back around 60,000 years. Grinding stones or grindsto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
