Unterwalden

Unterwalden,translated from the Latininter silvas( "between the forests" ), is the old name of aforest-cantonof theOld Swiss Confederacyincentral Switzerland,south ofLake Lucerne,consisting of two valleys orTalschaften,now two separate Swisscantons(or twohalf-cantons),ObwaldenandNidwalden.

Unterwalden Unterwalden
c. 1300–1798 1815–1999
Flag Coat of arms
Status	Cantonof theOld Swiss Confederacy
History
• Established	c. 1300
•Imperial immediacy	1309
•Pact of Brunnen	1315
• division of Obwalden and Nidwalden	before 1500
•Disestablished modern canton	1798 1815–1999
Preceded by Succeeded by Zürichgau (Swabia) Aargau (Burgundy) Canton of Waldstätten Canton of Waldstätten Canton of Obwalden Canton of Nidwalden

The nameUnterwaldenis first recorded in 1304, as the translation of Latininter silvas,which together within intramontaniswas the name for monastery possessions in the area. In 1291,Rudolf I of Germanypurchased the estates atStans,AlpnachandGiswil.From 1304, the localbailiffsused their own seal. In 1309,Henry VIIconfirmed the imperial immediacy of the territory of Unterwalden as part of theimperial bailiwickofWaldstätte(but not as a political entity in its own right). TheFederal Charter,internally dated 1291, is thought to originate at this time. In the text, Unterwalden figures ascommunitas hominum Intramontanorum Vallis Inferioris"community of the men between the mountains of the Lower Valley"; this is usually rendered as "the community of the Lower Valley of Unterwalden" in modern translations, and interpreted as Nidwalden or "Unterwalden proper". Unterwalden was one of the three participants in thefoundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy,named in thePact of Brunnenof 1315 withUriandSchwyz.

The division of Unterwalden into two separate territories,ObwaldenandNidwalden,in the early period is less than clear. Their status as two independentTalschaftenappears to develop over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, while they retain a single vote in the Confederacy.

Theflag of Unterwaldenin the 14th and 15th centuries was divided horizontally into equal parts red over white, identical with the flag of Solothurn. After the accession of Solothurn to the Confederacy in 1481, there were two cantons with identical flags, sometimes disambiguated by modifying the design of Solothurn's flag. By 1600, Nidwalden was known as Unterwalden proper orSubsylvania,while Obwalden was known as "Unterwalden ob dem Wald", strictly speaking an oxymoron, as it wereSubsylvania super silva.From this time, there are also two separate coats of arms for the two half-cantons, the red-and-white flag for Unterwalden proper or Nidwalden, while Obwalden had a silver key in a red field.

By the 1640s, these two designs were re-combined in a white-and-red key on a red-and-white field (per fess gules and argent, a key paleways with doublewardscounterchanged) as the coat of arms of the united canton.

InEarly Modern Switzerland,Unterwalden counted as a single state in "foreign relations" with the other member states of the Swiss Confederacy, but it consisted of two separate states internally, with separate governments, jurisdictions and separate flags.

Martin Zeillerin 1642 reports Unterwalden as divided in two separateTalschaftenthe inhabitants of which were derived from separate races, those of Obwalden from the "Romans",those in Nidwalden from the"Cimbri"(viz.Germans).

Unterwalden was restored in theAct of Mediation(1803) with a single constitution, but with two separate capitals,SarnenandStans,and two separatecantonal assemblieswith equal sovereignty.

Unterwalden was a canton of theRestored Swiss Confederacyof 1815,and it was listed as a canton in theconstitution of 1848,asUnterwalden (ob und nid dem Wald).The name of Unterwalden has been omitted in the 1999 constitution, withObwalden und Nidwaldennamed as two separate cantons.

Gallery

• 
  Unterwalden depicted as one of the thirteen cantons in 1572. Its name is Latinized asSylvania,and its date of foundation is given as 1315, the date of thePact of Brunnen,taken as the traditional founding date of the Swiss Confederacy until the 19th century. The old flag of Unterwalden is also shown, identical to the laterFlag of Solothurn.
• 
  Standesscheibeof Unterwalden (16th century), showing the red-and-white design for Obwalden and the double-key design for Nidwalden.
• 
  1642 map of Underwalden (Matthäus Merian)

Further reading

• Emil Weber:UnterwaldeninGerman,FrenchandItalianin the onlineHistorical Dictionary of Switzerland,2013.
• Vnderwaldenin M. Zeiller,Topographia Helvetiae, Rhaetiae et Valesiae(1642).
• Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort(1911)."Unterwalden".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 27 (11th ed.). pp. 780–781.