Wilhelm Tell

Undoubtedly, the first name anyone will utter when asked to name a Swiss is Wilhelm Tell, even though it is not certain that this person ever existed. Wilhelm Tell is the name of Switzerland's greatest national hero, a legendary hero of Switzerland's war of liberation against the Austrian rule of the Habsburgs. Legend implicates his name with the assassination of Hermann Gessler, who was the governor of the canton capital of Uri, resulting in an uprising that led to Swiss independence.

Undoubtedly the most famous story associated with Wilhelm Tell is the shooting of the apple placed on his son's head. But let's tell this story from its beginning.

After the opening of the Gotthard Pass, Rudolf von Habsburg, crowned as Rudolf I of Germany, began greedily seizing Swiss land. It was he who appointed loyal men of his own to look after his affairs. One of them, Hermann Gessler, the most hated bailiff, was in charge of tax collection. According to legend, the Austrian governor Gessler hung his hat in the Altdorf marketplace and ordered all who passed by to bow in respect. However, Wilhelm Tell, who was a peasant from a nearby village, had not heard of the order. His decision to disobey Gessler's will led to Wilhem Tell's arrest. Since Tell was known to be a good shot, he was given an ultimatum punishment - he was ordered to shoot an apple placed on his son's head with his crossbow. If he hit the apple, he would be released, but if he failed, or refused, he and his son would be killed. Wilhelm Tell put an arrow in his belt and loaded one into the crossbow, took aim, fired, and hit the apple. Tell's response was that if the first arrow pierced his son, the next would strike Gessler. For this audacity, Tell was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in a fortress.

Wilhelm Tell was tied up and put on a boat, as the lake had to be crossed by boat. Suddenly, however, a storm developed and the Austrian rowers, who did not know the lake, began to beg Gessler to release Tell, as he was a local resident and could direct them to a safe cove. Gessler relented and Tell skillfully led the boat to the shore south of Zizikon. The brave Swiss man grabbed his crossbow, jumped off the boat and disappeared into the woods somewhere, but the urge to kill Gessler was not gone in him. Wilhelm Tell ambushes him and defeats him.

It is interesting that the attitude of the Swiss towards Wilhelm Tell is very contradictory. Most Swiss believe he existed, and for some nationalists, denying his existence is tantamount to state fraud. The legend of Wilhelm Tell is inextricably linked to the Swiss sense of identity and nationalism. Today, the Wilhem Tell Museum exists in his honor, and a Swiss express is named after the country's national hero.