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75-593: The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen . Baden is named after the margraves' residence, Hohenbaden Castle in Baden-Baden . Hermann II of Baden first claimed the title of Margrave of Baden in 1112. A united Margraviate of Baden existed from this time until 1535, when it was split into the two Margraviates of Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden. Following a devastating fire in Baden-Baden in 1689,

150-481: A contiguous territorial duchy wedged between Swabia and Burgundy , in spite of late attempts on the part of Berthold V to increase his territorial sway (who as late as 1210 aimed at receiving the jurisdiction over St. Gallen ). Instead of territorial expansion, the dukes of Zähringen from the 1150s focused on attaining more immediate feudal control over the territories they already had. This included their policy of expanding settlements into fortified towns or cities and

225-408: A dense road network. With the rise of industrialisation in the early 19th century, cities became more and more important. In 1860 a drastic population growth of the cities started which lasted for about 100 years. In the 1970s, however, outmigration from the cities started. The municipalities surrounding the cities grew disproportionately, whereas the cities themselves lost inhabitants. In recent times

300-468: A dynasty of Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau . The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation for having conceded the title of Duke of Swabia to the Staufer in 1098. The Zähringer were granted the special title of Rector of Burgundy in 1127, and they continued to use both titles until the extinction of

375-469: A part in the Swiss Plateau. Entirely situated within the Swiss Plateau are the cantons of Zürich , Thurgau and Geneva ; mostly situated within the Swiss Plateau are the cantons of Lucerne , Aargau , Solothurn , Bern , Fribourg and Vaud ; small portions of the Swiss Plateau are situated in the cantons of Neuchâtel , Zug , Schwyz , St. Gallen and Schaffhausen . The geological layers of

450-474: A small airport, Bern Belpmoos Airport . Härkingen respectively Niederbipp and Zürich are scheduled as one of the eight hubs of the proposed Cargo Sous Terrain , an underground cargo transport system those first phase of about 70 kilometres (43 mi) is planned by the early 2030s. Compared to the Swiss Alps, the plateau, and especially the rural plateau, is less geared towards tourism. It serves as

525-632: A transit region. Visitors mainly come to see the major towns and cities with their historical sights and attractions, especially the Old Towns of Bern and Lucerne, but also Zürich, Biel/Bienne, St. Gallen, Fribourg, Geneva and Lausanne. An important natural touristic attraction is the Rhine Fall near Schaffhausen. The lakes also attract tourists, and then there are several spa towns , Baden , Schinznach-Bad , Yverdon-les-Bains and Zurzach , thanks to their hydrothermal vents . Zürich Wilderness Park

600-552: Is viticulture . Grassland with dairy farming and beef production is predominant in the eastern plateau and in the higher regions. Especially in the Thurgau, fruit (apples) is important. The forests in the Swiss Plateau are used in forestry. There are many Norway Spruce forestations, often in monoculture because of their valuable timber. With respect to industry , the plateau is the most important region of Switzerland. The traditional textile industries are situated especially in

675-530: Is 20 °C, alongside the southern edge of the Jura it is 18 – 20 °C, and in higher regions 16 – 18 °C. With regard to mean sunshine duration, the Lake Geneva region is again advantaged with more than 1900 hours, whereas in the rest of the Swiss Plateau, it is between 1600 (especially in the east) and 1900 hours. The annual average rainfall is between 800 millimetres near the Jura, 1200 millimetres in

750-610: Is French-speaking. The language border has been stable for many centuries even though it falls neither on a geographical nor on a political delimitation. It passes from Biel/Bienne over Murten and Fribourg to the Fribourg Alps. The cities of Biel/Bienne, Murten and Fribourg are officially bilingual. Localities along the language border usually use both names, the German and the French one, officially interchangeable. Thanks to

825-605: Is between 400 metres (1,300 ft) and 700 metres (2,300 ft) AMSL . It is by far the most densely populated region of Switzerland, the center of economy and important transportation. In the north and northwest, the Swiss Plateau is sharply delimited geographically and geologically by the Jura Mountains . In the south, there is no clear border with the Alps . Usually, the rising of the terrain to altitudes above 1500 metres AMSL (lime Alps, partly sub-alpine molasse), which

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900-629: Is considered, the Alpine foreland belongs clearly to the Swiss Plateau. In the southwest, the Swiss Plateau is confined by Lake Geneva , in the northeast, by Lake Constance and the Rhine . Geologically, the Swiss Plateau is part of a larger basin that extends beyond the border of Switzerland. At its southwestern end, in France , the plateau, in the Genevois , ends at Chambéry where Jura and Alps meet. On

975-797: Is covered by unfolded strata of Mesozoic sediments , which are part of the Helvetic nappes . Its depth gradually decreases from about 2.5 km in the west to 0.8 km in the east. These layers, like the ones of the Jura Mountains, were deposited in a relatively shallow sea, the Tethys Ocean . Above the Mesozoic layers, is the Molasse , consisting of conglomerate , sandstone , marl and shale . The uppermost layer consists of gravel and glacial sediments that have been transported by

1050-568: Is highly developed. The most important transversal, so to speak the backbone of the Swiss Plateau, is the A1 motorway that connects all the big cities going from Geneva over Lausanne, Bern, Zürich and Winterthur to St. Gallen. The A2, the Swiss north-south axis, crosses the plateau from Olten to Luzern. The railway network is very dense. All major cities are connected, and between Olten and Lausanne, there are two main lines: One passing over Bern and Fribourg,

1125-497: Is not a Zähringer foundation (having been founded in 1286 by Louis I of Vaud ) but shared the characteristic layout of the Zähringer cities. Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia , Margrave of Verona (c. 1000–1078, r. 1061–1077), is also known as "Berthold I of Zähringen". Therefore, the succession of dukes of Zähringen begins with his son as Berthold II: Dukes of Zähringen: Other notable Zähringer: The Veronese margravial title

1200-688: Is stamped by the Gros-de-Vaud plateau (up to 600 meters AMSL) and the Jorat molasse hills (up to 900 meters AMSL) but is sometimes intersected by deep valleys. Only near the Jura, there is an almost continuous dip consisting of the Venoge and the Orbe valleys which are separated by the Mormont hill, the main watershed between Rhône and Rhine, at only 500 m AMSL. The Seeland ('lake land'), characterized by

1275-655: Is very abrupt in certain places, is taken as a criterion for delimitation. Occasionally the regions of the higher Swiss Plateau, especially the hills of the canton of Fribourg , the Napf region, the Töss region, the (lower) Toggenburg , and parts of the Appenzell region are considered to form the Swiss Alpine foreland in a narrow sense. However, if a division into the three main regions Jura Mountains, Swiss Plateau and Alps

1350-622: The Counts of Lenzburg until 1173). Ownership of the county of Rheinfelden and of Burgdorf also dates to c. 1198. The 'rectorate' of the county of Burgundy was granted in 1127 (inheritance of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy ). Ownership of Burgundy was contested, and Zähringer de facto rule was limited to the parts of Upper Burgundy east of the Jura and north of Lake Geneva . The territories south of Lake Geneva were conceded to Savoy and Provence in 1156. In compensation, Berthold IV received

1425-613: The German Empire until 1918, succeeded by the Republic of Baden within the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany . From 1945 to 1952, South Baden and Württemberg-Baden were territories under French and American occupation, respectively. They were united with Württemberg-Hohenzollern to form the modern Federal State of Baden-Württemberg in 1952. Baden lies in the southwest of Germany, with most of its major cities on

1500-470: The Lake Baldegg . Another reminder of the glaciation are glacial erratics which are found all over the Swiss Plateau. These rocks, sometimes of enormous size, are of alien stones, mostly granite and gneiss from the central crystalline Alps. Taken together, they were one of the clues that led to the substantiation of the glaciation theory in the 19th century since transport by water or by volcanism

1575-411: The Rhine advanced sometimes as well until the Jura. The glaciers formed the land by erosion, but also by base moraines (very fine stone meal) often several meters thick, and by the meltwater streams depositing gravel. Traces of the older Günz and Mindel glaciation are only left in a few places because most have been removed or transferred by the later glaciations. The greatest extension was reached by

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1650-842: The Suhre , the Seetal , the Reuss and the Limmat ). The Rhine Glacier has mostly left traces that trend west: The eastern Swiss Plateau of the Thur Valley and Lake Constance. In certain places, there are characteristic drumlins of the base moraine, often clustered, especially in the highlands of Zürich, in the Hirzel region, in the Lake Constance region and between the Reuss Valley and

1725-703: The Upper Rhine Plain . Bounded by Lake Constance on the south and by the river Rhine on the south and west, the region of Baden stretches from the Linzgau , Lörrach and Freiburg im Breisgau to Karlsruhe and then on to Mannheim , leading to the Main and Tauber rivers. To its west lies the French historical region of Alsace , to its south Switzerland , the Palatinate to its northwest, Hesse to

1800-556: The Welfs . Pursuing their territorial ambitions, the Zähringer founded numerous cities and monasteries on either side of the Black Forest , as well as in the western Swiss Plateau . After the extinction of the ducal line in 1218, parts of the family's territories reverted to the crown (attained imperial immediacy ), while other parts were divided between the houses of Kyburg , Urach and Fürstenberg . The earliest-known ancestor of

1875-503: The glaciers of the ice ages . Geologically the most important layer of the Swiss Plateau is the thick molasse sequence that accumulated at the border of the Alps due to the rapid erosion of the concurrently uplifted mountains. The thickness of the molasse increases from west to east (at the same distance from the Alps). The former alpine rivers built huge fans of sediment at the foot of

1950-685: The Aare orifice and Schaffhausen, the predominant trees are oak , tilia and maple . Humans began to settle the plateau in the Neolithic , starting with the banks of lakes and rivers. Major oppida were built after the Celts appeared in the 3rd century BC. Urban settlements with stone houses were built during the Roman Empire . The Swiss Plateau became a part of the Roman Empire in 15 BC when

2025-469: The Alps and the Jura can have the brightest sunshine. Typical for the high fog is the bise , a cold wind from the northeast. Since it is channelled by the Swiss Plateau narrowing in the southwest, it reaches its major strength in the Lake Geneva region where wind speeds of 60 km/h with top speeds of more than 100 km/h are usual in typical bise weather. The regions near the Alps of the central and eastern plateau sometimes have temperature rises due to

2100-510: The Alps. The central Swiss Plateau is characterised by a number of ranges and broad valleys, some of them with lakes, that run northwest. The last of them is the Albis range, which together with the Heitersberg range forms a bar from the Alps to the Jura that the major transportations bypass only in a few places, mostly in tunnels. The eastern Swiss Plateau is structured by the valleys of

2175-689: The Burgundian nobles to order. This latter duke was the founder of the city of Bern in 1191, and when he died in February 1218, the ducal line of the Zähringer became extinct. Among other titles, the Zähringen family acted as Reichsvogt of the Zürichgau area. After the extinction of the ducal line in 1218, much of its extensive territory in the Breisgau and modern-day Switzerland returned to

2250-471: The Ice Age glaciers, there is plenty of gravel and clay. The gravel digging in the Ice Age gravel terraces all over the Swiss Plateau covers the demands of the construction industry. Numerous hydroelectric power plants in the rivers produce electricity. All four Swiss nuclear power plants are situated on the plateau. Because of the comparatively easy topography and the dense population, the transport network

2325-468: The Jura, clays and marl. During the Tertiary orogenic uplift , around 60 – 40 million years ago, the area of today's Swiss Plateau was a Karst plateau somewhat inclined to the south. Through processes of rising and lowering that were brought by the folding of the Alps, the area was twice flooded by a sea. The corresponding sediments are distinguished as sea molasse and freshwater molasse, even though

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2400-805: The Limmat (including Lake Zurich ), the Glatt , the Töss , the Murg , the Thur , and the Sitter . Between them there are hill countries, in the canton of Thurgau also the broad molasse ranges of Seerücken (lit.: 'back of the lake') and Ottenberg north of the Thur, and the hilly ranges between the Thur and the Murg. This area is colloquially also known as Mostindien (lit.: 'Cider India'). Two hill countries get out of line with

2475-611: The Murten, Neuchâtel and Biel lakes, represents the biggest plain of the Swiss Plateau, though it is also interrupted by isolated molasse ranges. In the east, it is neighboured by various hill countries the height of which decreases to the north. Another major plain is the Wasseramt where the Emme runs. In a broad valley alongside the Jura, the Aare collects all the rivers that come down from

2550-513: The Romans occupied the land of the Helvetii under the reign of Augustus , and it remained Roman until the end of the 3rd century. The most important Roman cities in the Swiss Plateau were Auenticum (today Avenches ), Vindonissa (today Windisch ), Colonia Iulia Equestris or, by its Celtic name, and Noviodunum (today Nyon ). They were well connected by a net of Roman roads . After

2625-476: The Swiss Plateau are relatively well known. The base level is crystalline basement which outcrops in the central crystalline Alps as well as in the Black Forest and the Vosges mountain range but forms a deep geosyncline in the Swiss Plateau and in the Jura (see also Jurassic ). Around 2500 – 3000 metres below the surface, but considerably deeper near the Alps, the drillings have hit the crystalline basement. It

2700-526: The Zähringer dukes until 1218. As a result, they are sometimes referred to as 'Dukes of Burgundy', although the existing Duchy of Burgundy was not an Imperial fief but a French one. Duke Berthold IV (d. 1186), who followed his father Conrad and founded the Swiss city of Fryburg (today's Fribourg-Freiburg) in 1157, spent much of his time in Italy in the train of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa . His son and successor, Berthold V , showed his prowess by reducing

2775-527: The assassination of his nephew Count William III , Conrad claimed the inheritance of the County of Burgundy against Count Renaud III of Mâcon . Renaud prevailed, although he had to cede large parts of the eastern Transjuranian lands to Conrad, who thereupon was appointed by Emperor Lothair III as a 'rector' of the Imperial Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles . This office was confirmed in 1152 and held by

2850-598: The capital was moved to Rastatt . The two parts were reunited in 1771 under Margrave Charles Frederick . The restored Margraviate with its capital Karlsruhe was elevated to the status of electorate in 1803. In 1806, the Electorate of Baden , receiving territorial additions, became the Grand Duchy of Baden . The Grand Duchy of Baden was a state within the German Confederation until 1866 and

2925-514: The central and eastern regions. During the last decades, however, it lost importance. Today's most important industries are the machine industry, the automotive industry, the electrical industry, the fine & micro mechanical, watch & electronic industries, next to the optical and metal construction. The food industry processes domestic as well as foreign produces. Furthermore, wood processing and paper converting are also important. Like all of Switzerland, there are few mineral resources. Thanks to

3000-476: The construction of new castles, mostly in their territories north of the Rhine. Their encroachment on the rights of the comital nobility south of the Rhine seems to have been resisted, mostly passively, but in the case of the lords of Glâne and Thun in an open revolt in 1191. The fragmentation of the Zähringer possessions after 1218 was an important factor in the communal movements of the late medieval period in

3075-526: The crown, except for the allodial titles, which were divided between the counts of Urach (who subsequently called themselves the counts of Freiburg) and the counts of Kyburg , both descended from the sisters of Berthold V. Less than fifty years later, the Kyburgs died out, and large portions of their domains were inherited by the House of Habsburg . Bern achieved the status of a free imperial city , whereas other cities (such as Fribourg-Freiburg) only obtained

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3150-506: The ducal line in 1218. The territories and fiefs held by the Zähringer were known as the Duchy of Zähringen (German: Herzogtum Zähringen ), but it was not seen as a duchy in equal standing with the old stem duchies . The Zähringer attempted to expand their territories in Swabia and Burgundy into a fully recognized duchy, but their expansion was halted in the 1130s due to their feud with

3225-542: The end of the German monarchy in 1918. For the Heads of the House of Baden until 1918, see List of rulers of Baden . Heads of the House of Baden since 1918: Adalbert I (d. 1196) was a son of Duke Conrad I of Zähringen. Upon the death of his brother Berthold IV in 1186, he inherited the family estates around Teck Castle and, from 1187, adopted the title of Duke of Teck. His descendant Conrad II of Teck (1235–1292) allegedly

3300-426: The family von Wetter-Rheinfelden). Berthold II is so named both as Duke of Swabia (following Berthold of Rheinfelden, the first duke of Swabia of this name) and as head of the House of Zähringen (following his father, who is counted as Berthold I of Zähringen in spite of not historically having used the name Zähringen). Berthold II did use the name Zähringen, although he moved his main residence from Zähringen Castle to

3375-433: The family was one Berthold, Count in the Breisgau (d. 982), who was first mentioned in 962. In view of his name, he may have been related to the Alemannic Ahalolfing dynasty . Count Berthold's great-grandson, the later Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia (posthumously known as Berthold I of Zähringen, c. 1000–1078), held several lordships ( Herrschaften ) in the Breisgau, in Thurgau , Ortenau and Baar . By his mother, he

3450-425: The favourable climate and fertile grounds, the lower western plateau is the most important agricultural region of Switzerland . The most important cultures are wheat , barley , maize , sugar beet and potato ; especially in the Seeland , vegetables are very important, too. Along the northern shores of the lakes of Geneva , Neuchâtel , Bienne , Morat , as well as in the Zürich Weinland and Klettgau , there

3525-399: The glaciers of the Riss glaciation, when the entire Swiss Plateau was covered with ice except for the Napf and Töss regions. Most notable are the traces of the Würm glaciation about 15 000 years ago. The end moraines of different glacial retreats have been conserved. A look at a map still reveals the directions where the ice age glaciers ran. The farthest expansion of the Rhône Glacier to

3600-406: The glaciers receded to the high alps (sometimes more than today) and subtropical vegetation spread in the plateau. During the ice ages, the Rhône glacier split into two branches when leaving the Alps, covering the whole western Swiss Plateau and reaching today's regions of Solothurn and Aarau . In the region of Bern, it merged with the Aar Glacier . The glaciers of the Reuss , the Limmat and

3675-454: The higher regions and 1400 millimetres at the edge of the Alps. The driest regions of the plateau are in the lee of the High Jura between Morges and Neuchâtel. In the warmest regions at the lakes of Geneva and Neuchâtel, there are less than 20 days with a snow cover, whereas, in the rest of the plateau, it is between 20 and 40, depending on the height. In the winter half-year, the air on the Swiss Plateau can stay still, with little exchange for

3750-405: The higher terraces of Riss glaciation terraces. Sometimes, there is also gravel from older glaciations. Even though the Swiss Plateau forms a basin, it is by no means a flat territory, but depending on the region, it has a manifold structure. Important elements are the two big lakes, Lake Geneva and Lake Constance that delimit the Swiss Plateau in the southwest and the northeast. The western plateau

3825-426: The investiture right for the bishops of Geneva, Sion and Lausanne, de facto realised only in the case of Lausanne. The extinction of the counts of Lenzburg in 1173 strengthened the Zähringer position south of the Rhine, but their territorial expansion was halted following their support of the Welfs in the unsuccessful feud against Conrad III of Germany during 1138–1152. This frustrated their ambitions to carve out

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3900-407: The latter consists rather of fluvial and eolian sediments (a kind of mainland molasse ). In the following time, especially the western part of the plateau was again significantly risen, so that in this area, the sediments of the upper sweetwater molasse and the upper sea molasse have been largely eroded. A characteristic of the sea molasses is fossil snails, shells and shark teeth, whereas in

3975-403: The male line in 1981 and in its entirety in 1994 with the death of Francis's granddaughter, Lady Mary Abel Smith . Swiss Plateau The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland , lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps . It covers about 30% of the Swiss surface area, and is partly flat but mostly hilly. The average height

4050-487: The mentioned landscapes: The Napf region (with 1408 me AMSL the highest point of the Swiss Plateau) and the Töss region (up to 1300 meters AMSL), both of them the remains of Tertiary conglomerate sediment fans. Since they were not glaciated, they have only been eroded by water, resulting in a dense net of deep, narrow valleys. The Swiss Plateau is situated within a transition zone between humid oceanic climate and continental temperate climate. The predominant wind comes from

4125-400: The most populous areas. Other densely populated areas are located at the south edge next to the Jura, and the agglomerations of Lucerne , Winterthur and St. Gallen . Regions of the higher Swiss Plateau like the Jorat region, the Napf region or the Töss region are comparatively scarcely populated with little farming villages and scattered farms. A majority is German-speaking, though the west

4200-444: The mountains. The most important examples are the Napf fan and the Hörnli fan; other sedimentary fans exist in the Rigi region, in the Schwarzenburg region and in the region between the eastern lake Geneva and the middle reaches of the Saane/Sarine . The eroded material has been sorted by grain size. The coarse material was predominantly deposited near the Alps. In the middle of the plateau, there are finer sandstones and near

4275-413: The newly built Freiburg Castle in 1091. In 1092, Berthold II was elected Duke of Swabia against Frederick I of Hohenstaufen . In 1098, he reconciled with Frederick, renounced all claims to Swabia and instead concentrated on his possessions in the Breisgau region, assuming the title of Duke of Zähringen. He was succeeded in turn by his sons, Berthold III (d. 1122) and Conrad (d. 1152). In 1127, upon

4350-402: The north, and parts of Bavaria to the northeast. Its eastern border with the region of Württemberg runs from the Kraichgau through the Black Forest , and from some parts of the forest to the Rhine the distances become as low as 18 kilometres (11 mi) in the so-called "Wespentaille" near Gaggenau . House of Z%C3%A4hringen The House of Zähringen ( German : Zähringer ) was

4425-411: The northeast is indicated by way the western Swiss Plateau valleys trend: The valleys of the Broye and the Glâne as well as Lake Murten , Lake Neuchâtel , and Lake Biel that trend all northeast, parallel to the Jura and to the Alps . The glaciers of the Reuss and the Limmat have carved the valleys of the central Swiss Plateau that trend northwest (among others including the valleys of the Wigger ,

4500-400: The other passing over the edge of the Jura with Solothurn, Biel, Neuchâtel and Yverdon-les-Bains. The train ride from Zürich to Bern takes one hour; crossing the entire Swiss Plateau from St. Gallen to Geneva takes four hours. The two most important Swiss airports are situated on the plateau, Zurich Airport and Geneva Cointrin Airport . The de facto capital of Switzerland, Bern, has only

4575-445: The other side of Lake Constance, the plateau continues in the German and Austrian Pre-Alps . Within Switzerland, the Swiss Plateau has a length of about 300 kilometres (190 mi), and its width increases from the west to the east: In the Geneva region, it is about 30 kilometres (19 mi), at Bern about 50 kilometres (31 mi) and in eastern Switzerland about 70 kilometres (43 mi). Many cantons of Switzerland include

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4650-502: The outmigration has moved farther away from the cities. Even though the Swiss Plateau takes only about 30% of the surface of Switzerland, 5 million people live there, which constitutes more than two-thirds of the Swiss population. The population density is 380 people per square kilometre. All the Swiss cities with more than 50 000 inhabitants except Basel and Lugano are situated in the plateau, especially Bern , Geneva , Lausanne and Zürich . The agglomerations of these cities are

4725-478: The region, including the imperial immediacy of Bern and Zürich, and the growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century. Among the cities founded or expanded by the Zähringer dukes ( German : Zähringerstädte ) are: Other towns owned by or under the jurisdiction ( Reichsvogtei ) of the Zähringer include: Solothurn (acquired 1127), Zürich (acquired 1173), Schaffhausen (acquired 1198) and Stein am Rhein . The city of Morges on Lake Geneva

4800-421: The rest of the atmosphere, building a lake of cold air on the plateau and often a ceiling of high fog. The clouds look like an ocean of fog when seen from above, (usually around 800m) and hence are called the 'nebelmeer'. This weather is called inversion because the temperature below the fog is lower than the temperature above. Sometimes, it lasts for days or even for weeks, during which the neighbouring regions of

4875-409: The retreat of the Roman Empire, the romanized Burgundians occupied the western Swiss Plateau, while the Alamanni settled in the central and eastern portions. The language border between French and German dialects originated in this contrast. During the Middle Ages many towns were founded, especially in the climatically more favoured lower plateau. In 1500 there were already 130 towns, connected by

4950-429: The same status later in history. Berthold I (ancestor of both the House of Zähringen and the House of Baden) held the comital titles of Breisgau and Thurgau , as well as being reeve in Stein am Rhein (owned by the bishop of Bamberg ). The county of Thurgau was lost around 1077. In 1098, Berthold II, founder of the House of Zähringen proper, received Zähringen Castle and the jurisdiction over Zürich (alongside

5025-418: The sweetwater molasse, fossils of typical land mammals and former subtropical vegetation (for instance palm leaves) are found. The contemporary landscape of the Swiss Plateau has been shaped by the ice age glaciers. During all the known alpine glaciations ( Günz glaciation , Mindel glaciation , Riss glaciation and Würm glaciation ), huge glaciers penetrated the Swiss Plateau. During the warm interglacials,

5100-419: The warm foehn wind . The dominating vegetation in the Swiss Plateau is a mixed broadleaf forest with European beeches and silver firs . For forestry , there are major plantations of Norway spruces in many places, though the Norway spruce naturally only grows in the mountains. In certain favoured spots that are warmer and drier, in the Lake Geneva region, in the Seeland and in the northern plateau between

5175-428: The west. In the lower plateau, the mean annual temperature is about 9 – 10 °C. In January, the Lake Geneva region and the watersides of lake Neuchâtel and Lake Biel have the highest mean temperature of about +1 °C. At the same height as AMSL, the temperature is decreasing towards the east. In the Lake Constance region, the mean temperature of the coldest month is -1 °C. In July, the mean temperature of Geneva

5250-421: The wife of King George V , became Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India. Francis's surviving children ceased using their German titles during World War I and (aside from Queen Mary) took the name Cambridge, with his eldest son ( Adolphus ) being made Marquess of Cambridge and his youngest son ( Alexander ) being made Earl of Athlone . This branch of the family died out in

5325-399: Was designated King of the Romans shortly before his assassination. The line became extinct in 1439 with the death of Louis of Teck , Patriarch of Aquileia . In 1871, a ducal title with the same name was granted by King Charles I of Württemberg to Prince Francis of Teck (1837–1900), a morganatic son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg . Francis' daughter Mary of Teck (1867–1953), as

5400-515: Was only a titular one, and Berthold subsequently lost it when, in the course of the Investiture Controversy , he joined the rising of his former rival Rudolf of Rheinfelden against German king Henry IV in 1073. Berthold's son Berthold II (c. 1050–1111), who like his father fought against Henry IV, inherited a lot of the lands of Rudolf's son Count Berthold of Rheinfelden in 1090 (though not his comital title, which stayed with

5475-409: Was physically impossible. Gravel deposits in the bottoms of the valleys are another testimonial of the glaciation. During the advances and withdrawals of the glaciers, gravel layers were deposited in the valleys, sometimes quite thick, though most of it eroded in the subsequent interglacials . Therefore, many valleys have characteristic terraces, the lower terraces consisting of Würm glaciation gravel,

5550-450: Was related to the rising Hohenstaufen family. Emperor Henry III had promised his vassal Berthold the Duchy of Swabia , but this was not fulfilled, as upon Henry's death, his widow Agnes of Poitou appointed Count Rudolf of Rheinfelden to the position of Duke of Swabia in 1057. In compensation, Berthold was made Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona in 1061. However, this dignity

5625-459: Was used by Herman I of Baden , the eldest son of Berthold I of Zähringen . Herman's son, Herman II , was the first to use the title of Margrave of Baden in 1112. Now more commonly known as the House of Baden , Herman's descendants ruled successively as margraves until the Final Recess of 1803, as electors of the Electorate of Baden until 1806, then as Grand Dukes of Baden until

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