Unterwalden
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Unterwalden, translated from the Latin ''inter silvas''(''between the forests''), is the old name of a forest-canton of the
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
central Switzerland Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug. Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 Statist ...
, south of
Lake Lucerne __NOTOC__ Lake Lucerne (german: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the four forested settlements" (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), french: lac des Quatre-Cantons, it, lago dei Quattro Cantoni) is a lake in central ...
, consisting of two valleys or ''
Talschaft In Swiss politics and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy, a is the body of voting population in a certain valley (as it were English '' dale -ship''). The grouping of voters by valley rather than municipality is a tradition harking back to ...
en'', now two separate Swiss
cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
(or two half-cantons),
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 govern ...
and
Nidwalden Nidwalden, also Nidwald (german: Kanton Nidwalden, ; rm, Chantun Sutsilvania; french: Canton de Nidwald; it, Canton Nidvaldo) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the ...
. 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 Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...
purchased the estates at
Stans Stans () is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden (Nidwald) in Switzerland. The official language of Stans is German (spoken there in the variety of Swiss Standard German), but the main language is the local variant of Alemannic Swiss German. ...
,
Alpnach Alpnach is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. It comprises the villages of Alpnach Dorf, Alpnachstad and Schoried. History Alpnach is first mentioned about 870 as ''Alpenacho''. Geography Alpnach has an area, , of . Of this ar ...
and
Giswil Giswil is a municipality in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. History Giswil is first mentioned in the 11th century, as ''Kisevilare''. Geography The municipality is located on the southern end of Lake Sarnen. It consists of the villag ...
. From 1304, the local
bailiffs A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their o ...
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 The Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance (german: Bundesbrief) is one of the earliest constitutional documents of Switzerland. A treaty of alliance from 1291 between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, the Charter is one of a series ...
, internally dated 1291, is thought to originate at this time. In the text, Unterwalden figures as ''communitas hominum Intramontanorum Vallis Inferioris'' "community of the men between the mountains of the Lower Valley"; this is usually rendered as "the community of the Lower Valley of Unterwalden" in modern translations, and interpreted as Nidwalden or "Unterwalden proper". Unterwalden was one of the three participants in the
foundation 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 t ...
, named in the
Pact of Brunnen The Pact of Brunnen (''Bund von Brunnen'') is a historical treaty between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, concluded in Brunnen on 9 December 1315. Representatives of the four territories (Unterwalden was composed of Obwalden and Nidw ...
of 1315 with
Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...
and
Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the '' ...
. The division of Unterwalden into two separate territories,
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 govern ...
and
Nidwalden Nidwalden, also Nidwald (german: Kanton Nidwalden, ; rm, Chantun Sutsilvania; french: Canton de Nidwald; it, Canton Nidvaldo) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the ...
in the early period is less than clear. Their status as two independent ''
Talschaft In Swiss politics and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy, a is the body of voting population in a certain valley (as it were English '' dale -ship''). The grouping of voters by valley rather than municipality is a tradition harking back to ...
en'' appears to develop over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, while they retain a single vote in the Confederacy. The flag of Unterwalden in the 14th and 15th centuries was divided horizontally into equal parts red over white, identical with the flag of Solothurn. After the accession of Solothurn to the Confederacy in 1481, there were two cantons with identical flags, sometimes disambiguated by modifying the design of Solothurn's flag. By 1600, Nidwalden was known as Unterwalden proper or ''Subsylvania'', while Obwalden was known as "Unterwalden ob dem Wald", strictly speaking an oxymoron, as it were ''Subsylvania super silva''. From this time, there are also two separate coats of arms for the two half-cantons, the red-and-white flag for Unterwalden proper or Nidwalden, while Obwalden had a silver key in a red field. By the 1640s, these two designs were re-combined in a white-and-red key on a red-and-white field (''per fess gules and argent, a key paleways with double wards counterchanged'') as the coat of arms of the united canton. In
Early Modern Switzerland The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy (''Eidgenossenschaft'', also known as the "Swiss Republic" or ''Republica Helvetiorum'') and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648 ...
, Unterwalden counted as a single state in "foreign relations" with the other member states of the Swiss Confederacy, but it consisted of two separate states internally, with separate governments, jurisdictions and separate flags.
Martin Zeiller Martin Zeiler (also ''Zeiller'', born 17 April 1589 in Ranten, died 6 October 1661 in Ulm) was a Baroque era German author. Zeiler's father was an exile from Upper Styria, forced to emigrate due to his protestant confession. Zeiler was schoo ...
in 1642 reports Unterwalden as divided in two separate
Talschaft In Swiss politics and the history of the Old Swiss Confederacy, a is the body of voting population in a certain valley (as it were English '' dale -ship''). The grouping of voters by valley rather than municipality is a tradition harking back to ...
en the inhabitants of which were derived from separate races, those of Obwalden from the "
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
", those in Nidwalden from the "
Cimbri The Cimbri (Greek Κίμβροι, ''Kímbroi''; Latin ''Cimbri'') were an ancient tribe in Europe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic people (or Gaulish), Germanic people, or even Cimmerian. Several ancient sources indicate that ...
" (viz.
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
). Unterwalden was restored in the
Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion ...
(1803) with a single constitution, but with two separate capitals,
Sarnen , neighboring_municipalities= Alpnach, Entlebuch (LU), Flühli (LU), Giswil, Hasle (LU), Kerns, Sachseln , twintowns = Sarnen is a small historic town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the northern shores of ...
and
Stans Stans () is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden (Nidwald) in Switzerland. The official language of Stans is German (spoken there in the variety of Swiss Standard German), but the main language is the local variant of Alemannic Swiss German. ...
, and two separate cantonal assemblies with equal sovereignty. Unterwalden was a canton of the
Restored Swiss Confederacy The periods of Restoration and Regeneration in Swiss history lasted from 1814 to 1847. "Restoration" is the period of 1814 to 1830, the restoration of the ''Ancien Régime'' ( federalism), reverting the changes imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte on ...
of 1815, and it was listed as a canton in the constitution of 1848, as ''Unterwalden (ob und nid dem Wald)''. The name of Unterwalden has been omitted in the 1999 constitution, with ''Obwalden und Nidwalden'' named as two separate cantons.SR 101 (admin.ch)
/ref>


Gallery

File:Braun Dreizehn Orte Unterwalden UBHD.jpg, Unterwalden depicted as one of the thirteen cantons in 1572. Its name is Latinized as ''Sylvania'', and its date of foundation is given as 1315, the date of the
Pact of Brunnen The Pact of Brunnen (''Bund von Brunnen'') is a historical treaty between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, concluded in Brunnen on 9 December 1315. Representatives of the four territories (Unterwalden was composed of Obwalden and Nidw ...
, taken as the traditional founding date of the Swiss Confederacy until the 19th century. The old flag of Unterwalden is also shown, identical to the later Flag of Solothurn. File:Museum SH Wappenscheibe 6.jpg, '' Standesscheibe'' of Unterwalden (16th century), showing the red-and-white design for Obwalden and the double-key design for Nidwalden. File:Vnderwalden (Merian).jpg, 1642 map of Underwalden (
Matthäus Merian Matthäus is a given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: ;Surname * Lothar Matthäus, (born 1961), German former football player and manager ;Given name * Matthäus Aurogallus, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Wittenberg ...
)


References


Further reading

* * Vnderwalden in M. Zeiller, ''Topographia Helvetiae, Rhaetiae et Valesiae'' (1642). * {{Authority control Regions of Switzerland Former cantons of Switzerland 14th-century establishments in the Old Swiss Confederacy 1315 establishments in Europe