Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The

Federal Charter of 1291 The Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance () is one of the earliest constitutional documents of Switzerland. A treaty of alliance from 1291 between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, the Charter is one of a series of alliances from wh ...

or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''

Bundesbriefmuseum The Museum of the Swiss Charters of Confederation (German: ''Bundesbriefmuseum''; up to 1992 the ''Federal Charter Archive'') is a history museum in Schwyz. It was built in 1936 as a national shrine for the Federal Charter of 1291, which was beli ...

''. The official language of Schwyz is (the Swiss variety of)

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

dialect.

Name

The earliest certain record of the name dates to 972, recorded in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

as '. There are a number of uncertain records dated between 924 and 960, in the form ''Swites'' (''Suuites'') and ''Switz''. The name is recorded as ''Schwitz'' in the 13th century, and in the 17th to 18th century often as ''Schweitz''. The name's etymology is uncertain. It was long presented as derived from the name of an

eponymous founder An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

in Swiss legend, one ''Suito'' or ''Switer'', an explanation found in Swiss school textbooks until the first half of the 20th century. There is currently no consensus on the name's derivation.

Isaac Wake Sir Isaac Wake (1580/81 – 1632Vivienne Larminie‘Wake, Sir Isaac (1580/81–1632)’ ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 10 November 2008) was an English diplomat and political commentator. He ...

, diplomat of King

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, suggested in 1625 that the name originated in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, among the ''

Suecia In Modern English, the name of Sweden ( ) is derived from 17th century Middle Dutch and Middle Low German. In Old English, the country was named ''Swēoland'' (literally "Swede land") and ''Swēorīċe'' (literally "Swede kingdom"); the latter is c ...

'', "who in the time of king ic

Sigebert Sigebert (which means roughly "magnificent victory"), also spelled Sigibert, Sigobert, Sigeberht, or Siegeberht, is the name of: Frankish and Anglo-Saxon kings * Sigobert the Lame (died c. 509), a king of the Franks * Sigebert I, King of Austrasi ...

made a transmigration out of Suecia and planted themselves in this country". A Germanic etymology was suggested by Gatschet (1867), deriving the name from an

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

verb ' "to burn" (referring to

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...

clearing of woodland for habitation). Brandstetter (1871) is critical of Gatschet's suggestion and prefers derivation from an Alemannic personal name in ''Svid-'' as it were presenting a scholarly defense of the ''Suito'' of the founding legend. The etymology proposed for the ' by Hubschmied (1929) derives the name from a Gallo-Roman *', from the Gaulish or Latin word for "

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

", via a Romance *' "(mountain, pasture) of pigs" yielding an Alemannic '. Hubschmied distanced himself from this opinion in 1961, preferring an unspecified pre-Roman (or "Etruscan") source. Sonderegger (1966) revisits Gatschet's ' "slash-and-burn" proposal, but now claims derivation from a cognate Celtic root, ', Proto-Celtic ' with a meaning of "clearing" or similar, giving Gaulish *' (the long vowel as in ' "

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

"), Gallo-Romance *''Svēdus, -is'', and finally ' in Old High German by the 8th century. The name ' was extended to the area dominated by Schwyz (the Canton of Schwyz), and later to the entire

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

. Other cantons tended to resent this in the 15th century, but after 1499 the term ' was widely self-adopted, out of spite so to speak, since it had been employed as a term of abuse by the Swabian side during the

Swabian War The Swabian War of 1499 ( (spelling depending on dialect), called or ("Swiss War") in Germany and ("War of the Engadin" in Austria) was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg. What had begun ...

. and (the origin of the English name ''Switzerland'') could be used interchangeably as country names in the 16th century. The

pronunciation is the same for the name of the town and that of the country (the two are distinguished only by use of the definite article for the latter, "Schwyz", "Switzerland"). The spelling of ''y'' for ːoriginates from the ligature '' ij'' in 15th-century handwriting.

History

While a few

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

coins have been found in Schwyz, the earliest evidence of a settlement comes from the 8th century. The

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...

cemetery at the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

and the church itself are both from the first half of the 8th century. This first church was followed by a second

ottonian The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German stem du ...

church around 1000, which may have been destroyed by the

1117 Verona earthquake An earthquake, rated at IX (''Violent'') on the Mercalli intensity scale, struck northern Italy and Germany on 3 January 1117. The epicentre of the first shock was near Verona, the city which suffered the most damage. The outer wall of the Vero ...

. In 1121 the third church building, a romanesque building, was consecrated. This was followed in the 15th century by the much larger fourth church which was destroyed, along with much of the village, by fire in 1642. The fifth church, an early

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

church was replaced because of serious structural defects by the current late baroque church which was dedicated in 1774. Because Schwyz was the capital of a canton, many of the government organizations administered both the town and the canton at the same time, and the history of the town is closely tied to the history of the canton. According to the chronicle of Johann Stumpf from 1548, the old town originally consisted of a village square, the church and its cemetery, the town hall, the inn, the archive tower and a number of scattered wooden houses. Around 1500, to distinguish it from the Canton of Schwyz, Schwyz town was often called ''Kilchgassen'', which meant the village around the church but not the surrounding villages. The fire of 1642, which destroyed 47 buildings in the center of the village, allowed the town to be totally rebuilt. A new, larger town square with major roads radiating out was built in front of the new church and the new city hall. The houses were rebuilt as urban townhouses and a ring of about 30 large patrician farm houses grew up surrounding the village center.

Geography

Besides the town of Schwyz, the municipality includes the settlements of Ibach, Seewen and Rickenbach. To the east, the municipality includes, or borders on, the mountains of

Hochstuckli The Hochstuckli is a high mountain of the Schwyzer Alps, overlooking Mostelberg in the canton of Schwyz. It can be reached via a gondola lift, whose valley station is located near railway station. During winter, the mountain is part of a s ...

Kleiner Mythen The Kleiner Mythen is a mountain in the Schwyzer Alps of Central Switzerland. The mountain lies in the canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in t ...

Grosser Mythen The Grosser Mythen (also ''Grosse Mythe'') is a mountain in the Schwyzer Alps of Central Switzerland. The mountain lies in the canton of Schwyz, to the east of the town of Schwyz, and to the south of the village of Alpthal in the valley of the ri ...

, Rotenflue, and

Furggelenstock The Furggelenstock (1,656 m) is a mountain of the Swiss Prealps, located west of Oberiberg in the canton of Schwyz. It lies on the range surrounding Alpthal Alpthal is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Schwyz District ...

. The river

Muota The Muota is a river in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Schwyz and a tributary of Lake Lucerne. It has a length of . The Muota rises on the Ruosalp, an alpine pasture, alp to the north of the Glatten (mountain), Glatten on the border between the ...

flows out of these mountains and through the municipality on its way to

Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne (, literally 'Lake of the four Waldstätte, forested settlements' (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), , ) is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country. Geography The lake has a compli ...

. The Haggenegg Pass and Holzegg Pass both cross to

Alpthal Alpthal is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. Besides the village of Alpthal, the municipality includes the ski resort of Brunni, and settlement of Eigen. History Al ...

, whilst the Ibergeregg Pass crosses to

Oberiberg Oberiberg is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The municipality comprises the village of Oberiberg and the hamlet (place), hamlet and ski area of Hoch-Ybrig. Histor ...

. Schwyz has an area, , of . Of this area, 46.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 39.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 8.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (5.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

is ''Gules, a Confederate cross couped in the hoist argent.''

Demographics

Schwyz had a population () of . , 15.6% of the population were resident foreign nationals. Over the year 2010–2011 the population reduced by 0.6%. Migration accounted for −0.9%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.0%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 11 December 2013 Most of the population () speaks

(12,441 or 90.1%) as their first language,

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

is the second most common (378 or 2.7%) and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

is the third (273 or 2.0%). There are 23 people who speak

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and 25 people who speak Romansh. , the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. The population was made up of 5,824 Swiss men (42.2% of the population), 1,058 (7.7%) non-Swiss men, 5,932 Swiss women (43.0%) and 988 (7.2%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 6,681 or about 48.4% were born in Schwyz and lived there in 2000. There were 2,195 or 15.9% who were born in the same canton, while 2,780 or 20.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,797 or 13.0% were born outside of Switzerland. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.1%. , there were 6,314 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 6,305 married individuals, 722 widows or widowers and 461 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 5,250 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 1,582 households that consist of only one person and 536 households with five or more people. , a total of 4,968 apartments (90.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 375 apartments (6.8%) were seasonally occupied and 156 apartments (2.8%) were empty.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 – Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.8 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent an average apartment in Schwyz was 1185.58

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s (CHF) per month (US$950, £530, €760 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 543.08 CHF (US$430, £240, €350), a two-room apartment was about 904.87 CHF (US$720, £410, €580), a three-room apartment was about 1068.78 CHF (US$860, £480, €680) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1461.34 CHF (US$1170, £660, €940). The average apartment price in Schwyz was 106.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Rental prices
2003 data accessed 26 May 2010 The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.25%.

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:800 height:500 PlotArea = top:10 left: 100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:14000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:3000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:600 start:0 Colors= id:TO value:yellowgreen legend:Total id:GE value:teal legend:German_Speaking id:IT value:green legend:Italian_Speaking id:CA value:lightpurple legend:Catholic id:PR value:oceanblue legend:Protestant id:SW value:red legend:Swiss PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from:start till:5432 text:"5,432" color:TO bar:1870 from:start till:6137 text:"6,137" color:TO bar:1888 from:start till:6616 text:"6,616" color:TO bar:1900 from:start till:7398 text:"7,398" color:TO bar:1910 from:start till:8000 text:"8,000" color:TO bar:1930 from:start till:8256 text:"8,256" color:TO bar:1950 from:start till:10259 text:"10,259" color:TO bar:1970 from:start till:12194 text:"12,194" color:TO bar:1990 from:start till:12872 text:"12,872" color:TO bar:2000 from:start till:13802 text:"13,802" color:TO LineData = points:(244,274)(307,292) color:GE points:(307,292)(369,306) color:GE points:(369,306)(431,315) color:GE points:(431,315)(493,371) color:GE points:(493,371)(556,410) color:GE points:(556,410)(618,419) color:GE points:(618,419)(680,445) color:GE points:(244,93)(307,97) color:IT points:(307,97)(369,100) color:IT points:(369,100)(431,97) color:IT points:(431,97)(493,97) color:IT points:(493,97)(556,111) color:IT points:(556,111)(618,103) color:IT points:(618,103)(680,98) color:IT points:(120,245)(182,265) color:CA points:(182,265)(244,277) color:CA points:(244,277)(307,298) color:CA points:(307,298)(369,313) color:CA points:(369,313)(431,319) color:CA points:(431,319)(493,373) color:CA points:(493,373)(556,422) color:CA points:(556,422)(618,416) color:CA points:(618,416)(680,412) color:CA points:(120,90)(182,91) color:PR points:(182,91)(244,92) color:PR points:(244,92)(307,94) color:PR points:(307,94)(369,95) color:PR points:(369,95)(431,97) color:PR points:(431,97)(493,100) color:PR points:(493,100)(556,104) color:PR points:(556,104)(618,109) color:PR points:(618,109)(680,111) color:PR points:(120,244)(182,261) color:SW points:(182,261)(244,272) color:SW points:(244,272)(307,287) color:SW points:(307,287)(369,301) color:SW points:(369,301)(431,314) color:SW points:(431,314)(493,373) color:SW points:(493,373)(556,407) color:SW points:(556,407)(618,413) color:SW points:(618,413)(680,426) color:SW

Heritage sites of national significance

The ''Bundesbriefmuseum'' ( Museum of the Swiss Charters of Confederation), the Dominican nuns

Convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of St. Peter am Bach, the entire medieval and

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

settlement, the Hermitage and chapel, the Forum der Schweizer Geschichte (Forum of Swiss History), the ''Ab Yberg im Grund'' House, the ''Bethlehem'' House at Reichsstrasse 9, the ''Ceberg im Feldli'' house at Theodosiusweg 20, the house at Gotthardstrasse 99 in Ibach, the ''Grosshus'' at Strehlgasse 12, the ''Immenfeld'' house, the house at Langfeldweg 14 in Kaltbach, the house at Oberschönenbuch 79 in Ibach, the Herrenhaus Waldegg, the Hettlingerhäuser, the Hofstatt Ital Reding, the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St. Martin, the Maihof, the Palais Büeler, the

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

(Town council house), the Reding House, the State Archives of Schwyz and the ''Köplihaus'' house are listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire old city of Schwyz is part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

. File: Bundesbriefmuseum.jpg , ''Bundesbriefmuseum'' ( Museum of the Swiss Charters of Confederation) File: Frauenkloster www.f64.ch-2.jpg , Dominican Nuns

of St. Peter am Bach File: Einsiedelei Schwyz www.f64.ch-1.jpg , Hermitage with Chapel of the 14 Emergency Helpers and a Brothers' House File: Forum Schweizer Geschichte Schwyz 04.jpg , Forum der Schweizer Geschichte (Forum of Swiss History) File: Haus Ab Yberg Schwyz 1-www.f64.ch.jpg , ''Ab Yberg im Grund'' House with St. Sebastian Chapel File:Herrenhaus "Mittleres Feldli" in Schwyz (2022).jpg, Manor house "Mittleres Feldli" and Mythen File: Schwyz Haus Bethlehem und Grosser Mythen.jpg , ''Bethlehem'' House at Reichsstrasse 9 File: Haus Ceberg Schwyz www.f64.ch-3.jpg , ''Ceberg im Feldli'' House at Theodosiusweg 20 File: Gotthardstrasse 99 www.f64.ch-1.jpg , House at Gotthardstrasse 99, Ibach File: Grosshus Schwyz www.f64.ch-2.jpg , ''Grosshus'' House at Strehlgasse 12 File: Haus Immenfeld Schwyz www.f64.ch-9.jpg , ''Immenfeld'' House File: Langfeldweg 14 www.f64.ch-3.jpg , House at Langfeldweg 14, Kaltbach File: Schönenbuch Schwyz www.f64.ch-2.jpg , House at Oberschönenbuch 79, Ibach File: Hettlingerhaeuser Schwyz www.f64.ch-4.jpg , Hettlingerhäuser File: Ital-Reding-Hofstatt Schwyz.jpg , Hofstatt Ital Reding File: Kopp1august 1.JPG ,

of St. Martin ith ''Kerchel'' and ''Heiligkreuz'' Chapel File: Maihof Palais Niederoest 2-www.f64.ch.jpg , Maihof File: Palais Bueeler Schwyz www.f64.ch-1.jpg , Palais Büeler (formerly Palais von Weber) File: Schwyz Rathaus.jpg ,

(Town council house) File: Schwyz_Hofstatt_Ital_Reding.jpg , Reding House File: Staatsarchiv www.f64.ch-2.jpg , State Archives of Schwyz

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 39.91% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (26.12%), the SPS (17.05%) and the FDP (12.72%). In the federal election, a total of 5,554 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was 57.8%.

Economy

, Schwyz had an unemployment rate of 1.8%. , there were 484 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 174 businesses involved in this sector. 2,756 people were employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

and there were 179 businesses in this sector. 7,099 people were employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

, with 696 businesses in this sector. the total number of

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often use ...

jobs was 8,570. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 303, of which 273 were in agriculture and 30 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 2,647 of which 1,589 or (60.0%) were in manufacturing, 8 or (0.3%) were in mining and 928 (35.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 5,620. In the tertiary sector; 1,357 or 24.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 306 or 5.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 272 or 4.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 136 or 2.4% were in the information industry, 733 or 13.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 427 or 7.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 260 or 4.6% were in education and 1,053 or 18.7% were in health care. , there were 4,484 workers who commuted into the municipality and 2,168 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.1 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving.Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 13.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 45.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 11,269 or 81.6% were

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, while 675 or 4.9% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 423 members of an Orthodox church (or about 3.06% of the population), there were 7 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 155 individuals (or about 1.12% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 5 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and 502 (or about 3.64% of the population) who were

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic. There were 42 individuals who were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, 31 individuals who were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and 7 individuals who belonged to another church. 377 (or about 2.73% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 385 individuals (or about 2.79% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Schwyz about 4,873 or (35.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

, and 1,473 or (10.7%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). Of the 1,473 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.1% were Swiss men, 19.4% were Swiss women, 5.3% were non-Swiss men and 4.1% were non-Swiss women. , there were 419 students in Schwyz who came from another municipality, while 186 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Schwyz is home to the ''Kantonsbibliothek Schwyz'' library. The library has () 108,142 books or other media, and loaned out 136,064 items in the same year. It was open a total of 276 days with average of 29 hours per week during that year. A major school in Schwyz is the ''Kantonsschule Kollegium Schwyz'' (KKS), an upper Secondary school that is a Gymnasium and a vocational or technical college. The KKS has operated for over 150 years, though it builds on several older schools. The first

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...

in Schwyz opened in 1627 in the former Capuchin monastery of St. Josef im Loo. This school remained open until the 1798 French invasion. On 25 July 1841, the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

laid the cornerstone of what would become the Jesuit College on the site of the modern ''Kollegium''. The school opened in 1844 but only remained under Jesuit control for three years. In 1847, Federal troops marched into Schwyz to suppress the Catholic

Sonderbund The Sonderbund War (, , ) of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the ("separate alliance") in 1845 to protect their interests against ...

and forced the Jesuits to flee. It was reopened in 1855 under the Capuchin

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

Theodosius Florentini and in the following year began teaching students. The school continued to teach students using both religious and secular teachers until the 1970s. In 1972, the lower Secondary students moved to Pfäffikon and the school became an upper Secondary ''Kantonsschule''.

Weather

Schwyz has an average of 149.2 days of rain per year and on average receives of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

. The wettest month is August during which time Schwyz receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 14.8, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 13.9 days., the weather station elevation is 480 meters above sea level.

Transport

The A4 motorway, between

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and the

Brunnen Brunnen is a resort on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, part of the municipality Ingenbohl (Canton of Schwyz), at . Brunnen railway station, on the Gotthard railway, is served by hourly InterRegio trains, and by lines S2 of the Stadtbahn Zug, wh ...

passes through the west of the municipality, and the town is linked to it by main roads and motorway junctions. Other main roads connect the town to

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

(along both banks of

), to the

Gotthard Pass The Gotthard Pass or St. Gotthard Pass (; ) at is a mountain pass in the Alps traversing the Saint-Gotthard Massif and connecting northern Switzerland with southern Switzerland. The pass lies between Airolo in the Italian-speaking canton of Ti ...

and southern Switzerland, and to Pfaffikon and

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and Districts of Switzerland#Schwyz, district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. Histor ...

in the north of the canton of Schwyz. A minor road crosses the Ibergeregg Pass to

, providing an alternative route to Einsiedeln. Other minor roads reach to near the summits of both the Haggenegg Pass and Holzegg Pass, but only hiking trails actually cross these passes and continue to

Schwyz railway station Schwyz railway station () is a railway station in the municipality of Schwyz, the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. Opened in 1882, it is owned and operated by the Swiss Federal Railways, and forms part of the Gotthard railway, ...

, on the Gotthard railway, is located about outside the town, in the parish of Seewen. The station is served by

InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...

and

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

trains. Early plans for the Schweizerische Südostbahn included a proposal for what is now the

Pfäffikon SZ–Arth-Goldau railway Pfäffikon may refer to: *Pfäffikon District Pfäffikon District is one of the twelve districts of the German-speaking canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Its capital is the town of Pfäffikon. Municipalities Pfäffikon contains a total of ten m ...

to terminate at

Brunnen railway station Brunnen railway station () is a railway station serving the resort of Brunnen, in the Swiss canton of Schwyz and municipality of Ingenbohl. It is located on the Gotthard railway, and is served by long-distance trains as well as by commuter and ...

instead of

Arth-Goldau railway station Arth-Goldau railway station () is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Schwyz and municipality of Arth. The station is located in the centre of the village of Goldau, which forms part of Arth. The station is an important junction, where th ...

. If that proposal had come to fruition, the Schwyz town centre would have had a railway station – initially on the Kollegi football field, and later in Steisteg. From 6 October 1900 to 14 December 1963, the

Schwyzer Strassenbahnen Schwyzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Eduard Schwyzer (1874–1943), Swiss linguist * Hugo Schwyzer (born 1967), American professor and writer * Philip Schwyzer (born 1970), American-British author and educator {{Su ...

linked the Schwyz railway station with the town centre. On 8 May 1915, the additional section between Schwyz and Brunnen See was opened – and on the same day, the Schwyz SBB–Schwyz line was shut down. The trams were eventually replaced by the

Auto AG Schwyz Auto AG Schwyz (AAGS) is a company based in Schwyz, Switzerland which provides bus services to the Canton of Schwyz. The company operates commercial daytime services throughout the Canton, and its vehicles venture into the neighbouring Canton of ...

, which today operates 12 bus lines in the cantons of Lucerne and Schwyz. The

Rotenfluebahn The Rotenfluebahn is a gondola lift in the canton of Schwyz. It links Rickenbach with the Rotenfluh. It's owned and operated by the Rotenfluebahn Mythenregion AG (formerly Seilbahn Rickenbach-Rotenfluh AG until September 2013). The current lift ...

links Rickenbach with the summit of the

Rotenfluh mountain The Rotenfluh (also spelled ''Rotenflue'') is a mountain in the Swiss Prealps, located east of Schwyz in Central Switzerland. It is part of the range surrounding the valley of Alpthal, culminating at the Gross Mythen. The Rotenfluh is a popular v ...

, which is, in summer, a popular vantage point over the

region, and, in winter, a ski area.

Notable people

Theodor von Reding Field Marshal Theodor von Reding (5 July 1755 – 23 April 1809) was a Spanish Army officer who served as the Captain General of Catalonia in 1809. Biography Reding was born in Schwyz, Switzerland, to Theodor Anton Reding and Magdalena Freule ...

(1755 in Schwyz – 1809) a Spanish general, led Swiss and Spanish troops against Napoleon *

Alois von Reding Josef Fridolin Vinzenz Aloys Reding von Biberegg (Schwyz, 6 March 1765 – Schwyz, 5 February 1818) was a Swiss military officer and politician, best known for leading an early revolt against the Helvetic Republic. Early life and career Reding w ...

(1765 in Schwyz – 1818) a Swiss patriot, military officer and politician, brother of Theodor *

Carl Elsener Sr. Carl Elsener Sr. (also known as Charles Elsener or Carl Elsener III, born 6 July 1922, Ibach, Switzerland † 1 June 2013 Schwyz, Switzerland) was a Swiss entrepreneur. Life Carl Elsener was the grandson of Karl Elsener (1860–1918) and the ...

(1922 – 2013 in Schwyz) a Swiss entrepreneur with the Swiss Army knife *

Xavier Koller Xavier Koller (born 17 June 1944, Schwyz, Switzerland) is a Swiss film director and screenwriter. He is most known for his work on the Disney live action film ''Squanto: A Warrior's Tale'', an adventure historical fiction film based on the life o ...

(born 1944 in Schwyz) a Swiss film director and screenwriter *

Gertrud Leutenegger Gertrud Leutenegger (7 December 1948 – 20 June 2025) was a Swiss poet, novelist and playwright who wrote in German. Her first novel, ''Vorabend'', appeared in 1975. Her last novel, the 2014 ''Panischer Frühling'', earned her shortlisting in m ...

(born 1948 in Schwyz) a Swiss poet, novelist, playwright and theatre director * Monika Kaelin (born 1954 in Schwyz) a model and actress IMDb Database
retrieved 28 January 2019 ; Sport *

Oscar Camenzind Oscar Camenzind (born 12 September 1971) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Switzerland. He became national road champion in 1997. In 1998 he won the World Road Championship and the Giro di Lombardia, in 2000 the Tour de Suisse and ...

(born 1971 in Schwyz) a former professional road racing cyclist * Luca Schuler (born 1998 in Schwyz) a Swiss freestyle skier, competed at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Corinne Suter Corinne Suter (born 28 September 1994) is a Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in the speed events of downhill and super-G. Career Suter made her World Cup debut at age 17 in November 2011, and won season titles in downhill and s ...

(born 1994 in Schwyz) a Swiss alpine skier, Olympic gold medallist at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

References

External links

Municipality of Schwyz

Canton of Schwyz
{{Authority control Schwyz (capital) Cantonal capitals of Switzerland Cities in Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Schwyz