Ruetli Meadow

Geschichte

Rütli or Grütli is a mountain meadow on Lake Lucerne, in the Seelisberg municipality of the Swiss canton of Uri. Here the oath of the Rütlischwur is said to have occurred, the legendary turning-point in the pursuit of independence. Every August 1, on the Swiss National Day, the oath is re-enacted to commemorate the forming of the Old Swiss Confederacy.HistoryLand forming the Rütli meadow was bought by the Schweizerische Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft in 1859 in order to preserve its state and, among other reasons, to prohibit the construction of a hotel at the historical site. This non-profit company turned the Rütli over to the government as an inalienable gift.On July 25, 1940, General Henri Guisan used the site for his speech, now remembered as the "Rütlirapport", to all commanding officers of the Swiss Armed Forces in which he outlined the Reduit strategy and his aim never to surrender if invaded (see Switzerland during the World Wars):"I decided to reunite you in this historic place, the symbolic ground of our independence, to explain the urgency of the situation, and to speak of you as a soldier to soldiers. We are at a turning point of our history. The survival of Switzerland is at stake." Since 1991, Rütli has also been the start of the Swiss Path hiking trail created to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Switzerland.