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In which Swiss town did William Tell shoot an apple off his son's head?
No other Swiss person is so widely known as Wilhelm (William) Tell,the Swiss National Hero of Liberty -thanks to the German poet Friedrich von Schillerand his drama Wilhelm Tell. William Tell's picture can be seen on the back of coinsworth 5 Swiss Francs (largest coin in Switzerland, approximately 4 US $) - but there is reasonable doubt whether Wilhelm Tellever has lived at all. However, the very legend of William Tellitself did have an enormous influence on the history of Switzerlandand of other countries.
The Monument for William Tell in Altdorf (Uri)
built by Richard Kissling (1895)
Local tradition says that a first chapel had been constructed in 1388at the place where William Tell is said to have escaped fromboat of the bailiff Gessler. The oldest documents mentioninga chapel there date back to 1516/1530, however.
Tell's chapel became a place of pilgrimage from the 16thcentury on. The current chapel was constructed in 1879.
Four frescosby Ernst Stückelberger of Basle show the scenes of thelegend:
- The bailiff Gessler forces William Tell to shoot an apple off his son's head with his crossbow.
- William Tell escapes from the boat of the bailiff Gessler during a storm on Lake Lucerne.
- William Tell shooting the tyrant Gessler.
- The oath of the Swiss confederates on the Rütli.
How to find Tell's Chapel: GPS coordinates lat=46.932719 lon=8.611801
Map by search.ch
 The bailiff Gessler representing the count of Habsburg in central Switzerland requests that everybody greets his hat on a rod in Altdorf (Uri). William Tell refuses reverence to the hat. The bailiff forces William Tell to shoot an apple off his sons head with his crossbow. William Tell hits the apple, but he has prepared a second arrow to shoot the bailiff in case he would have hurt the child. |  William Tell is arrested and put in chains. The bailiff leaves with a boat on Lake Lucerne heading for his castle at Küssnacht. A storm due to warm fallwinds (not unusual in the region) brings the bailiff's team into distress. They let William Tell, who is more familiar with the lake, control the boat. William Tell directs the boat towards a small flat rock, takes his crossbow and jumps off while pushing the boat back into the waves. |
 William Tell shoots tyrant Gessler in the hollow way between Immensee and Küssnacht. |  The oath of the Swiss confederates on the Rütli |
The tradition dates the heroic action of William Tell and the oath of the Swiss confederates against the counts of Habsburg on the Rütliback to 1307 (see above, date on monument). But one cannot find anydocument concerning a person named Wilhelm Tell nor theassassination of a bailiff in central Switzerland. Only in 1470, morethan a century after the alledged events, a chronicle named the"White Book of Sarnen" reports the legend for the first time.A few years later, William Tell takes a prominent role in a balladsinging the praises of the beginnings of the Swiss Confederation.One generation later, a drama (Urner Tellspiel) is played inCentral Switzerland.Centuries later, William Tell is mentioned in the standard historybook Chronicon Helveticum (1734) by Aegidius Tschudi.In the 19th and 20th centuries the legend wasseverely questioned by historians.
William Tell and the Revolution
William Tell was very popular during the French Revolution (1789)and he became the official symbol on the seal of the revolutionary Helvetic Republic of Switzerland (1798 - 1803). Even the revolutionary Russians of the 19th century and theSpanish republicans of the 20th century referred toWilliam Tell.
The drama "Wilhelm Tell" by Friedrich von Schiller
The classical drama Wilhelm Tell by the well-known German poet Friedrich von Schiller, put on the stage for the first time in1804 at Weimar (home of Goethe and Schiller), is doubtless the mostelaborate and at the same time most popular version of the legend ofWilliam Tell. Schiller's drama is put on stage every year in Interlaken(www.tellspiele.ch) and even in New Glarus, Wisconsin, U.S.A. (www.wilhelmtell.org). Friedrich von Schiller was always very interested in the subject ofliberty. His drama played an important role for the German moral inthe wars against Napoleon.
Friedrich Schiller: Drama Wilhelm Tell, key phrases and interpretation (in German).
William Tell during the second World War
Before and during the second World War, William Tell became animportant symbol of the Swiss will to withstand the Nazis and todefend Switzerland's autonomy against Hitler's ideas of "Großdeutschland" (Great Germany uniting all Germanspeaking regions in one empire). The reactivation of the Swisstradition of liberation was part of the phenomenon called Spiritual National Defense.Several films showed scenes from the legends in a naive manneras if there had never been any critical historian in the19th century.
The crossbow as label for Swiss quality products
The usage of William Tell's crossbow as a label for Swiss quality products was also born in these times of crisis.In the 1970's, when the Spiritual Defense, extended during the cold war, was definitely abandonded, the crossbow-labelalso disappeared quietly.
William Tell represents the Swiss confederates, he thinks that it is justifiable to kill a tyrant, when the despot in his arbitrarinessdemands for inhuman acts. Liberty is seen as the absence of tyrannyand of oppression. But this is only the first half of the solution ofof the problem of liberty: It is well known, that the liberationmovement of the French Revolution (any many others since) was drownedin the chaos of anarchy and terror - because the second half ofour question was not thoroughly thought of. The other half of the problem of liberty consists exactly in thenecessity to create a stable order that givesrights and equal opportunities to all. Therefore, real liberty can be realized - even if this may appeara paradox - only, if one accepts limits to individual liberty:My liberty must be limited where it collides with the libertyof others. When Friedrich Schiller and today's conservative supporters of aliberty represented by William Tell see only the so-calledhereditary rights of the old Swiss confederates againstthe counts and bailiffs and the right to resistanceagainst tyranny, they sacrifice true liberty. True liberty can be won only together with its sisters, equality and solidarity. If one tries to separateliberty from the other two, liberty will be lost A stable and justbalance that gives real oppotunities to those being less strong,is the key element of a modern, liberal and democratic state.In a constitutional state, nobody is authorized to get himselfjustice with a weapon in his hands like William Tell. Everybody must subordinate themselves to the decisions takenby democratic authorities. Only thus liberty and security can be guaranteed for all. The mass assassination in the cantonal parliament of Zug (centralSwitzerland) on September, 27th 2001, killing dozens ofmembers of parliament and government was committed by a man that felthimself being treated unfairly by the authorities. "Who still doubts, whether our country needs stricter laws on weapons, is advised to read the final report of the investigationcommission of Zug on the attempt of September, 27th 2001. Switzerland and the United States of America do have a similiar, butdangerous tradition of liberal access to weapons. And the rifle lobbyis strong in both countries, preventing stricter laws on weapons andreducing thereby security for all.The central question:
Literature and links on William Tell:
This book by the well known Swiss historian gives a broad description of the history of the Switzerland from the age of the romans to the the birth of the old Swiss confederacy and situates the legend of William Tell in the historic context.
