Battle Of Morgarten Monument

The Morgarten monument stands on a hillside above the Ägerisee, in the canton of Zug, and it commemorates one of the founding episodes of Swiss history. On 15 November 1315, a force of fighters from the three forest cantons, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, ambushed an army led by Duke Leopold I of Austria, of the House of Habsburg, as it marched through a narrow pass along the shore of the lake. Hemmed in between the water and the steep slopes, the heavily armoured knights could not manoeuvre, and the lightly armed Swiss, attacking from the heights with halberds and by rolling logs and stones, routed them. The victory, one of the first great successes of the young Confederation, is remembered as a turning point, and it is still a part of the national story, even though historians debate how much of the traditional account is legend and how much is documented.

A few weeks after the battle, in December 1315, representatives of the three cantons met at Brunnen and renewed their alliance in a new pact, which is seen as a step in the formation of the Confederation. The memory of Morgarten was cultivated in later centuries as a symbol of resistance to outside rule and of the peasant freedom claimed by the Swiss, and monuments, songs and festivals reinforced it. The present monument, put up at the beginning of the twentieth century and dedicated in 1908, is a stone memorial standing on a height and looking over the lake and the ground where the fighting is said to have taken place. It is a simple, imposing structure, in the style of national monuments of the period, and the view from it takes in the water, the hills and the road below.

The site is part of a landscape of memory, with several other features nearby. A chapel and a historic house stand close to the battlefield, and the Letzi tower belongs to a medieval defensive wall, a Letzi, that once closed the pass. Each November, a large shooting competition, the Morgartenschiessen, takes place near the tower, and it draws thousands of participants, who fire at targets in a tradition that goes back more than a century. A theme path, the Morgarten trail, links the village of Sattel with the monument and the battlefield, and it has information stations that tell the story through texts and audio, with a walking time of about two hours. It is suitable for families and anyone interested in history.

The area is also beautiful. The Ägerisee is a calm lake with meadows and woods on its shores, and the views from the monument over the water toward the hills are among the best in the region. The Bundesbriefmuseum in Schwyz, where the Federal Charter of 1291 is preserved, tells more of the early history of the Confederation, and can be combined with a visit to Morgarten in a day trip.

The site is open at all times, and there is no entry fee. Wear sturdy shoes for the trail, and bring water and a light jacket. The monument suits history readers, families and walkers. Allow one to three hours depending on whether you walk the trail. The best time is spring to autumn, and weekdays are quieter.