I moved from Switzerland when I was 9, and now Iʻm a junior in high school. I have been taking the highest level of german my school offers for 3 years now, and next year my teached approved of an “independent study” – a one-on-one class with self-made curriculum, basically. With this in mind, I have been planning a potential course focused on Switzerland (I recently learned a little about the history of the Bishopric of Basel, and as a Basler, was really fascinated. If thereʻs any Arlesheim residents on here, make sure to check out the history of Schloss Birseck). Anyway, I looked around a bit for a comprehensive German language Swiss history textbook, but the most promising thing I could find was the [historical dictionary of Switzerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Dictionary_of_Switzerland). My issue with this book, interesting though it seems, is that itʻs in alphabetical rather than chronological order, and due to the needs of an independent study, I need it chronologically. If anybody knows of any sort of chronologically organized German-language school textbook, I would greatly appreciate any info on it. Tschuess!

3 comments

  2. At matura, I focussed on a work of the creation of Canton St.Gallen, which had around 7 books that time.

    You in Basel can pull other sources. You can ask at Antikenmuseum Basel for some ideas. Or contact the “Archäologie Schweiz” association.Or the “Archäologie des Kantons Basel”. If you really want to go way back in the history of Switzerland, you can ask for a meeting with members of the Geological faculty at University in Basel.

    However, if you have time for a weekend field trip, you can visit the Swiss National Museum. It is just very politiciced and offers mainly left-wing views of history.

    For an immersive experience, you better go to “forum Schwyz”. There they cover exactly the topic of how Switzerland was made.

    Important reading upfront are the history of Switzerland during the “Ancient Regime” and the time of Napoleons invasion in 1798, and the era until 1848.

    You should also read some works of Friedrich Schiller, mainly “Wilhelm Tell”, since the stories of this German(!) writer played a vital role in forging a Swiss identity during hard times.

  3. The “[Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz”](https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/) is available online and it is a very good second resource. No need to waste a lot of money on that.

    The history of Switzerland has been the focus of historians for a very long time.[Johannes von Müller](https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/016568/2020-03-09/)’s “Die Geschichte der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft”, which was extended by Glutz-Blotzheim, Hottinger, Vulliemin, and [Monard](https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/004812/2010-01-21/). Should you get that? No. Not really. First, it was written 1780 and 1856 and does not follow scientific standard. It is also expensive, as it is an antiquity, but you can find it on Google Books. In addition it [was printed in Fraktur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraktur), which can make it hard to read. But it was the first history book on Switzerland in German language.

    So let go to more contemporary books. In School the “[Schweizer Geschichtsbuch](https://www.cornelsen.ch/Cornelsen/Schweizer-Geschichtsbuch/)” from Cornelsen is used. However, unlike its title suggests it does not just focus on Switzerland alone, but also on world history as well. [See also this recension here](https://swisshomeschoolfamily.org/schweizer-geschichtsbuch/).

    The most comprehensive ones are “[Geschichte der Schweiz und der Schweize](https://schwabe.ch/comite-pour-une-nouvelle-histoire-de-la-suisse-geschichte-der-schweiz-und-der-schweizer-978-3-7965-2067-9)r” published by Schwabe, and the newer “[Die Geschichte der Schweiz](https://schwabe.ch/georg-kreis-die-geschichte-der-schweiz-978-3-7965-2772-2)” also published by Schwabe. Unfortunately, the newer is currently no longer available. I do not know how suitable they are for a high schooler with good but still limited German knowledge.

    Be aware that even if very comprehensive, they had to select what had to be included and what could not made it into the book. The History of Switzerland since 1945 alone does fill many books.

    Books by single authors are [“Die Geschichte der Schweiz – Von den Anfängen bis heute](https://www.chbeck.de/reinhardt-geschichte-schweiz/product/8535280)” by Volker Reinhardt and “[Geschichte der Schweiz](https://www.hierundjetzt.ch/de/catalogue/geschichte-der-schweiz_13000218/)” by Thomas Maissen.

    A brief overview is given in “[Kleine Geschichte der Schweiz](https://www.chbeck.de/reinhardt-kleine-geschichte-schweiz/product/31655)” by Volker Reinhardt.

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