Schwyz, the cantonal capital
The cantonal capital Schwyz gave the whole country its name and still keeps the most important document in Swiss history: the Federal Charter of 1291. Anyone who wants to understand Switzerland cannot pass Schwyz by, and is rewarded along the way with one of the loveliest village squares in the country.
Sights in Schwyz
- Museum of the Swiss Charters: home of the original Federal Charter of 1291, together with other documents from the early days of the Confederation.
- Forum of Swiss History: this branch of the Swiss National Museum shows vividly how Switzerland came into being.
- Main square: framed by the town hall with its frescoes, the parish church of St Martin and stately town houses.
- Ital Reding estate: a seventeenth-century manor with gardens and the Bethlehem House, one of the oldest wooden houses in Switzerland.
- Victorinox: nearby Ibach is the home of the Swiss Army knife.
The Federal Charter and the cradle of Switzerland
The Federal Charter of 1291 is the oldest surviving alliance document of the three forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. It is kept in Schwyz because the canton guarded the parchment in its archive for centuries. The museum, built specifically for it, displays the charter alongside other documents and explains what it meant at the time and what later generations made of it.
The name of the whole country derives from the name of this town. If the story interests you, combine the museum with the neighbouring Forum of Swiss History, a branch of the Swiss National Museum covering the period from the Middle Ages to modern times.
A village full of manor houses
What strikes you in Schwyz are the many stately houses with their turrets, portals and gardens. They date from an age when Schwyz families made careers and fortunes in the service of foreign rulers and put the money into grand buildings back home. The Ital Reding estate is the best-known example, but a stroll through the lanes reveals a good dozen more.
In the middle of the ensemble stands the Bethlehem House, a timber house whose beams date from the thirteenth century. It is among the oldest surviving wooden buildings in Switzerland and, beside its baroque neighbours, looks like a greeting from another world entirely.
Around Schwyz
Schwyz is the ideal base for Stoos, the Mythen, Lake Lauerz and Brunnen. Every one of them is a few minutes away, and the weather page for Schwyz shows you conditions on the ground.
The town lies in the basin between Lake Lucerne and Lake Lauerz, overlooked by the Mythen on one side and the Urmiberg on the other. The municipality includes several districts, among them Seewen with the railway station, Ibach and Rickenbach at the foot of the Mythen.
It all combines well into a day out: museum and village centre in the morning, the funicular up to Stoos or the bus to the lake in the afternoon. If you would rather walk, there are flat paths along the Muota around the basin and steeper loops up the Urmiberg.
Tip: Combine the museum with a stroll through the historic village centre; the «Gschichtliweg» history trail takes you past the most important spots in an hour.
Getting there
Public transport: Train to Schwyz (the station is in Seewen), bus to the centre. A few minutes from Arth-Goldau or Brunnen.
