Schwyz, Switzerland Part II

Education: The canton of Schwyz has not joined the “intercantonal agreement on the harmonization of compulsory schooling”. The elementary school comprises the kindergarten (1 year of mandatory attendance), the primary level (6 years) and the lower secondary level (3 years), thus compulsory schooling amounts to 10 years. In the primary level, in addition to the regular classes, the introductory class lasting 2 years and 1 school year as well as small classes can be offered. In the lower secondary level there are two models: the three-part and the cooperative secondary level I. In the three-part lower secondary level there are the school types secondary school (higher demands), Realschule (medium demands) and works school (basic demands). The core classes A, B and C correspond to the different levels of aspiration in the cooperative lower secondary level, which is permeable. A bridging offer (1 year) for vocational preparation can follow on from lower secondary level. The upper secondary level comprises basic vocational training and secondary schools. Basic vocational training concludes with a federal certificate (after 2 years) or the federal certificate of proficiency (after 3–4 years). In addition, the commercial, technical and health / social vocational school-leaving certificate can be acquired at canton level as part of the three to four-year training or afterwards. Middle schools in the canton of Schwyz are grammar schools (4 years, qualification: Gymnasiale Matura) and technical middle schools (3 or 3.5 years, qualifications: Fachmittelschulausweis, Fachmaturität pedagogy). The University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland Schwyz (PHZ Schwyz) is one of the 3 sub-schools of the University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland (PHZ); on 1. 8. In 2013, the sponsorship of the PHZ Schwyz was transferred from the PHZ Concordat to the Canton Schwyz, and the university has been called PH Schwyz ever since. In the village of Pfäffikon, which belongs to Freienbach, there is a study center of the Fernuniversität Hagen. In addition, the canton is a co-sponsor of the HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil, which belongs to the University of Applied Sciences Eastern Switzerland, and a co-sponsor of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, which is divided into 5 departments (technology & architecture, business, social work, design & art, music).

Transportation

Public transport hubs are Arth-Goldau (on the north-south axis) and Pfäffikon, which belongs to Freienbach (on the Zurich-Chur line). The A3 motorway opens up the outer part of the canton on Lake Zurich, while the A4 opens up the inner part of the canton with the Schwyz basin. The connection between Inner and Outer Schwyz is ensured by the main road H 8 and a railway line (south-east railway).

History

According to franciscogardening, the area of what would later become the canton, first mentioned in 972 as Suittes, was largely owned by the Einsiedeln monastery; the establishment of its own manorial power succeeded inter alia. also the Count of Lenzburg. Emperor Friedrich IIgranted the farmers of the Schwyz valley community imperial freedom in 1240 (“freedom letter”); Since then, the Landsgemeinde has had its own seal, although its imperial immediacy was contested by the Habsburgs. With the ” Eternal Bund ” of 1291, the Waldstätte Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden (initially only Nidwalden, Obwalden joined later), and probably renewed an older alliance (as evidenced by the federal letter kept in the Federal Letter Museum in Schwyz; Rütli). Since then Schwyz has been one of the three original cantons in Switzerland that fought for their political independence in the Battle of Morgarten (again at Sempach in 1386); in the following years the name Schwyz was transferred to the entire Swiss Confederation (completion in the late 18th century). Like its allies (“foreign” or mercenary services), Schwyz benefited from the good reputation of the soldiers abroad.

In the 14./15. In the 19th century, Schwyz was able to expand its sphere of influence and after the Toggenburg War of Inheritance (1436–50) it almost reached its current size (except for Reichenburg, which belonged to Einsiedeln until 1817, and Gersau, which remained an independent republic until 1798); Since then at the latest, the Confederates fighting on the side of Schwyz have been called “Schwyzers”.

The Reformation did not find its way into Schwyz; In the 18th century there were absolutist tendencies in the closure of land rights and the treatment of the areas acquired later, which only achieved equality in 1798. After Schwyz had vainly opposed the formation of the Helvetic Republic, it belonged to the newly formed canton of Waldstätten from 1798–1803.

The canton, which was re-established within its old borders in 1803, rejected the federal treaty in 1814; In 1831 federal troops enforced a liberal constitution (adopted in 1833; the division into the half-cantons Inner and Outer Schwyz). 1845–47 Schwyz belonged to the Catholic-Conservative Sonderbund; In 1848 the Landsgemeinde was abolished. With the mandatory referendum and the initiative for the constitutional revision in 1876, Schwyz received a modern constitution (replaced in 1898). On November 24, 2010, the Cantonal Council passed a new constitution, which the population approved in a mandatory referendum on May 15, 2011 and which came into force on January 1, 2013.

Schwyz, Switzerland 2