Hi-Yo, Swiss Independence!

Everyone knows some element of the William Tell story, whether it be the famous apple-shooting scene or the ubiquitous overture from Rossini’s opera (later appropriated, of course, as the theme song of The Lone Ranger). But few would guess that this tale of martial defiance originated in neutral Switzerland.

According to legend, Wilhelm Tell lived in the 14th century in the canton of Uri, just south of Zürich. The Hapsburg emperors installed an Austrian “protector,” Hermann Gessler, to further their attempts to dominate the region. Gessler demanded that all citizens of Altdorf bow before a pole with his hat on it, but the stubborn Tell refused. The protector ordered Tell to shoot an apple off his son’s head, or else both would be executed.

Tell, an expert marksman, had no problem with his crossbow. He then declared that if he had hit his son, he would have immediately attacked Gessler. None too happy, Gessler ordered that Tell be brought to his castle on the Vierwaldstättersee. Tell escaped his captors in a storm, waited for the Austrian in the castle, and promptly dispatched him at first sight—with a crossbow, of course. The act sparked a wave of defiance that led to the formation of the Swiss Confederation.