“J” stamp
The mark in the German passports of Jews, agreed between Switzerland and Germany in 1938.
In the lessonsRefugees turned away
Glossary
Words that come up in the lessons, explained in plain language. Each term links back to the entries where it appears.
Abbey
A monastery or convent led by an abbot or abbess; in the early Middle Ages also a centre of land, writing and power.
In the lessonsAbbey of Saint-MauriceSt. GallenMüstairFraumünster, ZürichZwingli’s Zürich
Act of Mediation
The constitution dictated by Napoleon in 1803, which created a league of 19 cantons.
In the lessonsThe Act of Mediation
Administrative detention
Locking up adults without a court ruling, for example for “idleness” or an “immoral” life; practised in Switzerland until 1981.
In the lessonsContract children and forced placements
Afro-descendant
A person of African descent, especially one living outside Africa. AfroSwissters is led by Afro-descendant women.
In the lessonsSwitzerland and Africa since 1945
Allies (Zugewandte Orte)
Partners bound to the Confederation by treaty without being full members, such as Valais, Geneva, St. Gallen or the Three Leagues.
In the lessonsThe Three Leagues
Anabaptists
Christians who baptise adults who confess their faith instead of infants. Persecuted in the 16th century; Mennonites and Amish descend from them.
In the lessonsThe Anabaptists
Ancient DNA
Genetic material recovered from old bones and teeth. It shows how populations moved and mixed.
In the lessonsNewcomers from the steppe
BCE and CE
Before the Common Era and Common Era: the same count of years as BC and AD, without the religious reference. There is no year 0.
In the lessonsSchnidejochNewcomers from the steppeAugusta Raurica
Bilateral agreements
The treaties between Switzerland and the EU that took the place of membership of the European Economic Area.
In the lessonsNo to the EEA
Catholic reform
The renewal of the Catholic Church after the Reformation, with new orders such as the Jesuits.
In the lessonsThe Catholic answer
Celts
A name used by Greek and Roman writers for many peoples of Iron Age Europe who spoke related languages, such as the Helvetii, Raurici, Allobroges and Lepontii.
In the lessonsThe Helvetii set outLepontic writingThe Raetians
Children of the Road
The programme of the Pro Juventute foundation that took Yenish children from their families between 1926 and 1973.
In the lessons“Children of the Road”
Common lordship
A subject territory ruled jointly by several cantons through governors who took turns.
In the lessonsThe conquest of the AargauThe Villmergen wars
Confederates (Eidgenossen)
Literally “oath comrades”: the members of the alliances sworn between valley and town communities.
In the lessonsThe conquest of the AargauThe Three LeaguesThe Burgundian WarsThe Swabian WarMercenaries and Marignano
Contract children (Verdingkinder)
Children placed with farm families or in homes, often as unpaid workers, until well into the 20th century.
In the lessonsContract children and forced placements
Dendrochronology
Dating wood by the pattern of its annual tree rings. In Swiss lake villages it can date the felling of a building’s timber to the exact year.
In the lessonsPile dwellings
Diet (Tagsatzung)
The meeting of the cantons’ envoys, which until 1848 could only decide what all members accepted.
In the lessonsBasel divides
Dormant accounts
Bank accounts left untouched after their owners died, many of them victims of the Holocaust; their handling led to the settlement of 1998.
In the lessonsFacing the war years
Double majority
Changes to the constitution need a majority of voters and a majority of cantons.
In the lessonsThe Schwarzenbach initiativeNo to the EEAThe responsible business initiative
Federal Council
Switzerland’s government of seven equal members, elected by parliament.
In the lessonsThe federal stateRefugees turned away
Federal state
A state in which power is shared between the centre and member states: Switzerland since 1848, with 26 cantons today.
In the lessonsThe federal state
Foreign service
Service of Swiss soldiers in foreign armies, often arranged by the cantons through treaties and pensions; banned step by step in the 19th century, except for the Pope’s Swiss Guard.
In the lessonsMercenaries and MarignanoThe Swiss Guards in Paris
Founding myth
A story about a community’s origins that expresses its values but is not confirmed by sources from the time. Tell and the Rütli oath are examples.
In the lessonsThe Federal CharterTell and the RütliSempach and Näfels
Franco-Provençal
The Romance dialects of western Switzerland, Savoy and the Lyon region, also called Arpitan or patois; today largely replaced by French.
In the lessonsThe Burgundians in Sapaudia
Half-canton
The former name of the six cantons created by dividing Unterwalden, Basel and Appenzell; each has one seat in the Council of States.
In the lessonsBasel divides
Helvetic Republic
The unitary state created under French influence in 1798 and replaced in 1803.
In the lessonsThe Helvetic Republic
Imperial immediacy
Being subject directly to the king or emperor, with no lord in between.
In the lessonsTowns of the ZähringenCharters for Uri and Schwyz
La Tène
The art and way of life of the late Iron Age in much of Europe, named after the site at Lake Neuchâtel.
In the lessonsLa Tène
Landsgemeinde
An assembly of all voters in the open air, still held in Glarus and Appenzell Innerrhoden.
Magic formula
The arrangement from 1959 to 2003 by which the four largest parties shared the seven Federal Council seats 2:2:2:1.
Militia
The principle that citizens serve part-time, in the army as in politics, rather than as professionals.
In the lessonsThe Gotthard tunnel
Neolithic
The New Stone Age of farming, herding and pottery; in Switzerland from about 5500 to 2200 BCE.
In the lessonsPetit-Chasseur, SionNewcomers from the steppeAlemannic settlers
Neutrality
Staying out of wars between other states. Switzerland’s perpetual neutrality was recognised by the great powers in 1815.
In the lessonsVienna, 22 cantons and neutralityThe Red CrossDada in Zürich
Palaeolithic
The Old Stone Age, the time of hunter-gatherers with stone tools; in Switzerland until the end of the last glaciation.
In the lessonsCotencher caveWildkirchliKesslerlochChampréveyres and Monruz
Patriciate
A small circle of families that monopolised government in the town cantons in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the lessonsThe Peasants’ War
Pile dwelling
A prehistoric house on the shore of a lake or moor, often raised on wooden piles.
In the lessonsPile dwellings
Place (Ort)
The old German word for a full member of the Confederation, today called a canton.
In the lessonsEight placesThirteen places
Plateau (Mittelland)
The hilly lowland between the Jura and the Alps, where most people in Switzerland live.
In the lessonsThe last glaciationThe Helvetii set outRome takes the AlpsAlemannic settlers
Popular initiative
A proposal by citizens to change the federal constitution, put to a vote once it has enough signatures, today 100,000.
In the lessonsThe people decideThe Schwarzenbach initiativeThe responsible business initiative
Réduit
The fortress zone in the Alps into which the army withdrew from 1940, leaving much of the Plateau less defended.
In the lessonsWar, réduit and business
Referendum
A popular vote on a law or a constitutional change; optional for federal laws since 1874.
In the lessonsThe people decide
Reformation
The 16th-century movement that split Western Christianity; in Switzerland led by Zwingli in Zürich and Calvin in Geneva.
In the lessonsThe AnabaptistsBern turns ReformedCalvin’s GenevaThe Villmergen wars
Regeneration
The liberal reform movement of the 1830s that gave many cantons constitutions based on popular sovereignty.
In the lessonsUster and the liberal cantons
Romansh
A Romance language that grew from the Latin of Raetia; a national language since 1938, spoken mainly in Graubünden.
In the lessonsChur and RaetiaA fourth national language
Röstigraben
A joking name for the cultural and political gap between German- and French-speaking Switzerland, along the language border.
In the lessonsThe language border
Seasonal status
A permit for foreign workers limited to nine months a year, without the right to bring their families; abolished in 2002.
In the lessonsWorkers from the south
Sonderbund
The separate alliance of seven Catholic cantons formed in 1845 and defeated in the civil war of 1847.
In the lessonsThe Sonderbund War
Subject lands
Territories ruled by cantons whose people had no say in the Confederation, such as Vaud, Ticino and Thurgau before 1798.
In the lessonsThe conquest of the AargauBern turns ReformedThe Helvetic RepublicThe Act of Mediation
Swiss German
The Alemannic dialects of German-speaking Switzerland, used in everyday life alongside standard German.
In the lessonsThe Rhine frontierAlemannic settlersThe language border
Theban Legion
A legendary Roman legion of Christian soldiers from Egypt said to have been martyred at Agaunum; Maurice, Felix, Regula and Verena are linked with it.
In the lessonsAgaunum and the first bishopsAbbey of Saint-Maurice
Überfremdung
A term used since the early 20th century to express fear of “too many foreigners”, central to anti-immigration campaigns.
In the lessonsThe Schwarzenbach initiative
Walser
Descendants of German-speaking settlers from the upper Valais in high Alpine valleys, with their own dialect.
In the lessonsThe Walser
Yenish
A people of travelling and settled families in Switzerland and neighbouring countries, with their own language; a recognised national minority.
In the lessons“Children of the Road”