Swiss German
Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Linguistically, Swiss German forms no unity, the linguistic division of Alemannic is rather into Low and Highest Alemannic, varieties of all of which are spoken both inside and outside of Switzerland. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality of Samnaun where a Bavarian dialect is spoken, the dialects of Swiss German must not be confused with Swiss Standard German, the variety of Standard German used in Switzerland. Most people in Germany do not understand Swiss German, when an interview with a Swiss German speaker is shown on German television, subtitles are required. Unlike most regional languages in modern Europe, Swiss German is the everyday language of all social levels in industrial cities. Using the dialect conveys neither social nor educational inferiority and is done with pride. There are a few settings where speaking Standard German is demanded or polite, e. g.
in education, in multilingual parliaments and this situation has been called a medial diglossia, since the spoken language is mainly the dialect, whereas the written language is mainly Standard German. Swiss German speakers on TV or in films are usually dubbed or subtitled if shown in Germany. Dialect rock is a music genre using the language, many Swiss rock bands, the Swiss Amish of Adams County and their daughter settlements use Swiss German. Swiss German is a regional or political umbrella term, not a linguistic unity, for all dialects, there are idioms spoken outside Switzerland that are more closely related to them than some Swiss German dialects. Low Alemannic is only spoken in the northernmost parts of Switzerland, in Basel, High Alemannic is spoken in most of the Swiss Plateau, and is divided in an eastern and a western group. Highest Alemannic is spoken in the Alps, each dialect is separable into numerous local subdialects, sometimes down to a resolution of individual villages. Speaking the dialect is an important part of regional and national identities, in the more urban areas of the Swiss plateau, regional differences are fading due to increasing mobility, and a growing population of non-Alemannic descent.
Despite the varied dialects, the Swiss can still understand one another, but may particularly have trouble understanding Walliser dialects. Most Swiss German dialects, being High German dialects, have completed the High German consonant shift, that is, they have not only changed t to or and p to or, There are, exceptions, namely the idioms of Chur and Basel. Basel German is a Low Alemannic dialect, and Chur German is basically High Alemannic without initial or, North of the Benrath line up to the North Sea, this consonant shift did not happen. The Walser migration, going on between the 12th and 13th centuries, spread upper Wallis varieties towards the east and south, into Grisons and even further to western Austria and northern Italy. Informally, a distinction is made between the German-speaking people living in the canton of Valais, the Walliser, and the migrated ones, so, the Walser were pioneers of the liberalisation from serfdom and feudalism
Reformation
The period is usually considered to have begun with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Luther in 1517 to the Thirty Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Protestant position, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura, the initial movement within Germany diversified, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The spread of Gutenbergs printing press provided the means for the dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The largest groups were the Lutherans and Calvinists, Lutheran churches were founded mostly in Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia, while the Reformed ones were founded in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The new movement influenced the Church of England decisively after 1547 under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, there were reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation, which gave rise to the Anabaptist and other Pietistic movements. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent, much work in battling Protestantism was done by the well-organised new order of the Jesuits.
In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of a fierce conflict, culminating in the Thirty Years War, which left it devastated. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, the Protestant Churches generally date their doctrinal separation from the Roman Catholic Church to the 16th century. The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice. They especially objected to the teaching and the sale of indulgences, and the abuses thereof, and to simony, the reformers saw these practices as evidence of the systemic corruption of the Churchs hierarchy, which included the pope. Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church, New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University and from Jan Hus at the Charles University in Prague.
Hus rejected indulgences and adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, the Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance by condemning Hus, who was executed by burning despite a promise of safe-conduct. Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as a heretic and his corpse exhumed and burned in 1428, the Council of Constance confirmed and strengthened the traditional medieval conception of church and empire. The council did not address the national tensions or the theological tensions stirred up during the century and could not prevent schism. Pope Sixtus IV established the practice of selling indulgences to be applied to the dead, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes. He was the father of seven children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, in response to papal corruption, particularly the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote The Ninety-Five Theses. The Reformation was born of Luthers dual declaration – first, the discovering of Jesus and salvation by faith alone, the Protestant reformers were unanimous in agreement and this understanding of prophecy furnished importance to their deeds.
It was the point and the battle cry that made the Reformation nearly unassailable
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations.
On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, French and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, in use since the 16th century.
The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
Municipalities of Switzerland
Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation, in most cantons municipalities are part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,294 municipalities as of January 2016 and their populations range between several hundred thousand, and a few dozen people, and their territory between 0.32 km² and 439 km². The beginnings of the municipality system date back to the Helvetic Republic. Under the Old Swiss Confederacy, citizenship was granted by each town and these citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the towns and the rural villages had differing rights. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of the old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the new citizens, the compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today.
Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created, the first, the so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the local citizens who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde. During the Mediation era, and especially during the Restoration era, many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on the exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the Bürgergemeinde. In the Regeneration era, the revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the Bürgergemeinden were able to power as political communities. In the city of Zurich it wasnt until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the municipality came back into existence. The relationship between the municipality and the Bürgergemeinde was often dominated by the latters ownership of community property.
Often the administration and profit from the property were held by the Bürgergemeinden, leaving the political municipality dependent on the Bürgergemeinde for money. It wasnt until the municipality acquired rights over property that served the public and taxes. For example, in the city of Bern, it wasnt until after the property division of 1852 that the municipality had the right to levy taxes
Alemanni
The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes on the upper Rhine river. In 496, the Alemanni were conquered by Frankish leader Clovis, mentioned as still pagan allies of the Christian Franks, the Alemanni were gradually Christianized during the 7th century. The Pactus Alamannorum is a record of their customary law during this period, until the 8th century, Frankish suzerainty over Alemannia was mostly nominal. But after an uprising by Theudebald, Duke of Alamannia, Carloman executed the Alamannic nobility, during the and weaker years of the Carolingian Empire the Alemannic counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the Bishopric of Constance. According to Asinius Quadratus their name means all men and it indicates that they were a conglomeration drawn from various Germanic tribes. Other sources say the name derives from alahmannen which means men of sanctuary and not all men. The Romans and the Greeks called them as such mentioned and this etymology has remained the standard derivation of the term.
Walafrid Strabo, a monk of the Abbey of St, the name of Germany and the German language in several languages is derived from the name of this early Germanic tribal alliance. For details, see Names of Germany, the Alemanni were first mentioned by Cassius Dio describing the campaign of Caracalla in 213. At that time they dwelt in the basin of the Main. Cassius Dio portrays the Alemanni as victims of this treacherous emperor and they had asked for his help, says Dio, but instead he colonized their country, changed their place names and executed their warriors under a pretext of coming to their aid. When he became ill, the Alemanni claimed to have put a hex on him, Caracalla, it was claimed, tried to counter this influence by invoking his ancestral spirits. In retribution Caracalla led the Legio II Traiana Fortis against the Alemanni, the legion was as a result honored with the name Germanica. Not on good terms with Caracalla, Geta had been invited to a reconciliation, at which time he was ambushed by centurions in Caracallas army.
True or not, pursued by devils of his own, Caracalla left for the frontier, where for the rest of his short reign he was known for his unpredictable and arbitrary operations launched by surprise after a pretext of peace negotiations. If he had any reasons of state for such actions they remained unknown to his contemporaries, whether or not the Alemanni had been previously neutral, they were certainly further influenced by Caracalla to become thereafter notoriously implacable enemies of Rome. This mutually antagonistic relationship is perhaps the reason why the Roman writers persisted in calling the Alemanni barbari, most of the Alemanni were probably at the time in fact resident in or close to the borders of Germania Superior. At that time the frontier was being fortified for the first time
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte, with the Napoleonic period of the Helvetic Republic the term canton/cantone/Kanton was fully established. From 1833, there were 25 cantons, which became 26 after the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern in 1979. The term canton, now used as English term for administrative subdivisions of other countries, originates in French usage in the late 15th century, from a word for edge. After 1490, canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy, English use of canton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy dates to the early 17th century. It was increasingly replaced by Stand after 1550, the French term canton was not adopted into German usage prior to 1648, and after that only in occasional use. The prominent usage of Ort and Stand only gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland with the Helvetic Republic, only with the Act of Mediation of 1803 did German Kanton become an official designation, retained in the Swiss Constitution of 1848.
The term Stand remains in usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament. Republic Some cantonal constitutions provide for a formal name of the state. Most of Romandys cantons and Ticino call themselves république/Repubblica officially, at least within their constitutions, for example, the canton of Geneva refers to itself formally as the République et canton de Genève. Though they were part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499 in Dornach. The old system was abandoned with the formation of the Helvetic Republic following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of an administrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with the Act of Mediation of 1803, the status of Switzerland as a federation of states was restored, at the time including 19 cantons.
Three additional western cantons, Neuchâtel and Geneva, acceded in 1815, the process of Restoration, completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonal patriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. The Liberal Radical Party embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution and this tension, paired with religious issues escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the brief Sonderbund War. The victory of the party resulted in the formation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The cantons retained far-reaching sovereignty, but were no longer allowed to maintain standing armies or international relations. Each canton has its own constitution, legislature and courts, most of the cantons legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats
Lake Zurich
Lake Zürich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. The waters of the Lake of Zürich flow out of the lake at its north-west end, passing through the city of Zürich, the culminating point of the lakes drainage basin is the Tödi at 3,614 metres above sea level. No streams of importance flow into the lake besides the Linth, the Seedamm, a partially artificial causeway and bridge, crosses a narrow point of the lake carrying a railway line and road from Rapperswil to Pfäffikon. The eastern section of the lake is known as the Obersee, west of this dam lie the small islands of Lützelau and Ufenau, where in 1523 Ulrich von Hutten took refuge and died. Both shores are well cultivated and fertile, another touristic destination is the Au peninsula at the village of Au between Wädenswil and Horgen. To the east – separated by Zürichberg-Adlisberg and Pfannenstiel – are two lakes, Greifensee and Pfäffikersee. Zimmerberg and the Etzel regions lie to the west, Lake Zürich is split between the cantons of Zürich, St.
Gallen and Schwyz. The lower lake, to the west of the Seedamm, is largely in the canton of Zürich, besides Bürkliplatz in Zürich and the Seedamm, there are no bridges across the lake. The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft – the Lake Zürich Navigation Company – provides with its 17-passenger ships touristic services on Lake Zürich, there are a number of passenger ferry services, noticeably the Horgen–Meilen ferry, an auto ferry between Horgen and Meilen. Zürich, at the end of the lake, is the largest city on Lake Zürich. On the west shore are Rüschlikon, Horgen, Wädenswil, Richterswil, Pfäffikon, on the opposite shore are Küsnacht, Meilen, Stäfa, and Rapperswil-Jona with the medieval town of Rapperswil, whose castle is home to the Polish museum. Schmerikon is close to the east end of the lake, Lake Zürichs water is very clean and reaches, during summer, temperatures well beyond 20 °C. Swimming in the baths and beaches is very popular. Historically, the best weather for swimming has been late August, with August 28 typically having the nicest weather at around 5, the lakes water is purified and fed into Zürichs water system, it is potable.
Because the lake has grown in size over time, the piles are now around 4 metres to 7 metres under the water level of 406 metres. Also on the area of about 40 square kilometres around Zürichsee, there the settlements Greifensee–Storen/Wildsberg on Greifensee
Horgen
Horgen is a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is one of the towns along the south bank of the Lake of Zurich. Horgen is the type-site of Switzerlands middle Neolithic archaeological culture, the settlement there, the so-called Horgner Kultur, produced examples of a type of crude pottery with parallels to the Seine-Oise-Marne culture of northern France. Horgen is first mentioned in 952 as Horga, Horgen has an area of 21.1 km2. Of this area,27. 7% is used for agricultural purposes, of the rest of the land,20. 4% is settled and the remainder is non-productive. In 1996 housing and buildings made up 12. 5% of the total area, of the total unproductive area, water made up 1. 6% of the area. As of 2007, 16% of the municipal area was undergoing some type of construction. It includes the villages of Horgen and Horgenberg, until 1773, Horgen included the now separate municipalities of Oberrieden and Hirzel. The Sihl forest became part of the city of Zürich in 1803, however the Horgen city council refused to acknowledge this until 1877.
Horgen has a population of 20,164, as of 2007,27. 1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. As of 2008 the gender distribution of the population was 49% male, over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 10. 7%. Most of the population speaks German, with Italian being second most common, in the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 35. 6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS, the FDP and the CSP, the age distribution of the population is children and teenagers make up 20. 7% of the population, while adults make up 64. 1% and seniors make up 15. 2%. In Horgen about 73% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education, there are 7850 households in Horgen. Horgen has an unemployment rate of 2. 66%, as of 2005, there were 213 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 39 businesses involved in this sector. 2017 people are employed in the sector and there are 167 businesses in this sector. 6892 people are employed in the sector, with 623 businesses in this sector.
As of 200756. 5% of the population were employed full-time
Districts of Switzerland
In contrast to centrally organised states, in the federally constituted Switzerland each canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore, there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the subnational entities between canton and municipality, loosely termed districts, most cantons are divided into Bezirke. They are termed Ämter, district or distretto, the Bezirke generally provide only administration and court organization. However, for historical reasons districts in cantons Graubünden and Schwyz are their own legal entities with jurisdiction over tax, seven of the 26 cantons – Uri, Nidwalden, Zug, Basel-City and Geneva – have always existed without the district level of government. An eighth one, Appenzell Innerrhoden, uses no intermediate level either, bern in 2006 decided a reduction of its 26 districts to five administrative regions. Vaud decided a reduction from 19 to 10 districts, valais is planning a similar reduction and in Thurgau, a reduction of eight to four districts is under discussion.
From 2005, districts only have a statistical meaning, the districts are functionally equivalent to municipalities elsewhere in Switzerland, and are generally shown as municipalities on maps etc. The Canton is divided into 6 districts, Appenzell Gonten Oberegg Rüte Schlatt-Haslen Schwende Municipalities of Switzerland
Christian Social Party (Switzerland)
The Christian Social Party is a political party in Switzerland. The CSP is more democratic than the Christian Democratic Peoples Party of Switzerland. With the moderate Christian left as its background, the CSP commits itself to social democratic, the core principles of the CSP contain, among others solidarity with the socially and economically disadvantaged and the preservation of the environment. The party should not be confused with the Christian Social Party of Obwalden, as of 2016, the CSP does not hold any seats in the National Council of Switzerland. A seat in the house was once held for decades by Hugo Fasel representing the canton of Fribourg. On a cantonal level, the CSP has many elected members, mainly in the Roman Catholic cantons of Valais, Obwalden, in the latter, the CSP had until late 2010 one elected member in the Executive body, the Conseil dEtat of the Republic of Jura. The CSP is a political party and has strong environmentalist views. It has social values and aims for taxing richer people, Christian left Christian Social Party at swisspolitics.
org Biography of Hugo Fasel, CSP member of parliament on the website of the Swiss Parliament. Home page, Umbrella organization including Freiburg chapter of the party CSP Jura CSP Näfels CSP Obwalden
