E105 William Tell and the Origins of Switzerland

Gladio Free Europe

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Ready your crossbow as we venture up high into the Swiss Alps, a tyrannous bailiff might be nearby! This week we explore the William Tell, a national symbol of Switzerland, and the very real history which inspired his story. Join us as we venture back into a time before the Swiss were neutral, before they were known for their chocolate, and before they were even a state. How did this plucky assortment of cantons cohere in the first place, and how does the truth of Swiss history compare with the idyllic land imagined by Orson Welles when he quipped that in 500 years of democracy and peace they produced little more than the cuckoo clock.

Through all of this, the legend of William Tell was born and reborn regularly with a new message, a new intended audience, and a new platform, but always with the same goal: the pursuit of liberty and the battle against injustice. From the Swiss Rebellion of 1654, led by the Three Tells themselves risen from hibernation, to the Napoleonic Wars when William Tell became a symbol of the Helvetic Republic, to the pan-Germanic William Tell imagined by Friedrich Schiller in the eponymous play, William Tell has lived more lives than most.

Hop on our ski lift for one last look at William Tell’s winding journey, through medieval revolts, Napoleonic upheavals, and Schiller’s literary magic. Is he a flesh-and-blood freedom fighter or a cunning invention of Swiss lore? Grab your gear, the slopes are calling.

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