Rütli

Beyond the Seelisberger See a road branches off on the right to the Rütli meadow in the middle of the forest, where tradition has it that the Swiss Confederation was established. Here, in 1291, the three "forest cantons" of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden joined in an alliance which became the foundation of the "Perpetual League" against the Habsburgs. The Tell legend, which received its classical form in Schiller's drama "William Tell" (1804), was a later addition to the traditional story.