Gersau

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Gersau

Country	Switzerland
Canton	Schwyz
District	Gersau
46°59′N, 8°31′E

Population

1,951 (December 2003)

- Density

82 /km² (213 /sq.mi.)

Area

23.70 km² (9.2 sq mi)

Elevation

435 m (1,427 ft)

Postal code

6442

SFOS number

1311

Surrounded by
(view map)

Arth, Beckenried (NW), Buochs (NW), Emmetten (NW), Ennetbürgen (NW), Ingenbohl, Lauerz, Vitznau (LU)

Website

www.gersau.ch

Gersau [zoom]

Freistaat und Republik Gersau
Free State and Republic of Gersau

City-republic and an allied protectorate
of the Old Swiss Confederacy

←

1433 – 1798
1814 – 1817/18

→

Capital

Gersau

Government

Republic

Historical era

Early Modern Age

- Purchased liberty from
the Counts of Habsburg

1390

- Gained Reichsfreiheit

1433

- Annexed to Helv. Rep.

1798

- Act of Mediation:
Joined Schwyz

February 19, 1803

- Regained independence

1814

- Annexed by Switzerland

1817–18

Gersau is the sole municipality in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland, sitting on the shores of Lake Lucerne

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Cuisine
5 Famous People
- 5.1 Born in Gersau
6 Gallery
7 External links

[edit] History

The estates of Gersau gradually came into the hands of the Habsburgs, but in 1333, under dukes Albert II and Otto IV the Merry of Austria, the jurisdiction and rights over Gersau fell into the hands of Lucerne nobility. On 1359, Gersau allied with the Old Swiss Confederacy as a protectorate of the Confederacy, for its protection and to gain arms from the confederates. On July 9, 1386, the citizens of Gersau fought with the Swiss for the first time, on the battlefield of Sempach, where the banner of Count Rudolf of Hohenzollern was captured.

Gersau purchased its liberty from the counts of Habsburg in 1390 for the sum of 690 pfennigs. The fate of the Vogtei and whether or not the municipality pledged to the Confederacy was then in the hands of Lucerners John, Peter and Agnes von Moos; as a result, the jurisdiction, Vogtei and tax rights went to the courtiers of Gersau, allowing a free municipality without being mortgaged to some other power. In Basel, in 1433, Gersau received original confirmation of the ancient freedoms, rights and privileges from Emperor Sigismund, thus becoming a Reichsunmittelbar municipality under the direct protection of the Holy Roman Emperor, with its own courts, covering an area of 24 km² (9.3 sq mi).

During the French Revolutionary Wars Gersau was annexed into the Helvetic Republic, becoming a district of the canton of Waldstätten. After the Act of Mediation and the collapse of the Helvetic Republic, Gersau became a district of the canton of Schwyz until 1814, when it regained its independence, with Schwyzer approval, centred around the 1745 Rathaus, containing council chambers and a courtroom (now a museum).

In 1817, the Tagsatzung decided, on the basis of the Congress of Vienna and the first article of the 1815 Bundesvertrag that Gersau should be united with the canton of Schwyz, which took effect the following year, against its wishes, becoming the sixth and last district of the canton Schwyz.

[edit] Geography

Gersau is in a self-contained location, nestled in a sunny recess in the lee of the south face of Rigi. Gersau is protected from cool winds by the Rigi-Hochfluh and Gersauerstock peaks to the north, and the winds are further moderated by Lake Lucerne to the south. This produces a mild climate in which Sweet Chestnut trees thrive, and as a result of which Gersau is known in the region as the Riviera of Lake Lucerne.

[edit] Economy

Historically, silk weaving and woodworking were the predominant industries. Today, however, tourism has become the main economic sector. Gersau has been a well-known health and vacation resort since 1860, with a significant number of hotels and guest houses.