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144-603: The Swiss National Park ( Romansh : Parc Naziunal Svizzer ; German: Schweizerischer Nationalpark ; Italian : Parco Nazionale Svizzero ; French: Parc National Suisse ) is located in the Western Rhaetian Alps , in eastern Switzerland. It lies within the canton of Graubünden , between Zernez , S-chanf , Scuol , and the Fuorn Pass in the Engadin valley on the border with Italy. Founded in 1914,

288-455: A pension equivalent to half the salary of Federal Council members in office. If a councillor leaves office for health reasons, they may receive this pension even if their length of service was less than three years. Councillors who leave their offices after less than four years may also receive a partial pension. After leaving office, "former federal councillors frequently pursue some other lucrative activity," but "their earnings, when added to

432-607: A "Protestant language". With the Act of Mediation , the Grisons became a canton of Switzerland in 1803. The constitution of the canton dates from 1892. When the Grisons became part of Switzerland in 1803, it had a population of roughly 73,000, of whom around 36,600 were Romansh speakers—many of them monolingual—living mostly within the Romansh-speaking valleys. The language border with German, which had mostly been stable since

576-540: A "test-tube baby" or "castrated language". They argued that it was an artificial and infertile creation which lacked a heart and soul, in contrast to the traditional dialects. On the other side, proponents called on the Romansh people to nurture the "new-born" to allow it to grow, with Romansh writer Ursicin Derungs calling Rumantsch Grischun a " lungatg virginal " "virgin language" that now had to be seduced and turned into

720-667: A blossoming woman. The opposition to Rumantsch Grischun also became clear in the Swiss census of 1990, in which certain municipalities refused to distribute questionnaires in Rumantsch Grischun, requesting the German version instead. Following a survey on the opinion of the Romansh population on the issue, the government of the Grisons decided in 1996 that Rumantsch Grischun would be used when addressing all Romansh speakers, but

864-551: A collection of church songs in the Vallader dialect. These early works are generally well written and show that the authors had a large amount of Romansh vocabulary at their disposal, contrary to what one might expect of the first pieces of writing in a language. Because of this, the linguist Ricarda Liver assumes that these written works built on an earlier, pre-literature tradition of using Romansh in administrative and legal situations, of which no evidence survives. In their prefaces,

1008-476: A continuous speech area, this continuum has now been ruptured by the spread of German, so that Romansh is now geographically divided into at least two non-adjacent parts. Aside from these five major dialects, two additional varieties are often distinguished. One is the dialect of the Val Müstair , which is closely related to Vallader but often separately referred to as Jauer (Romansh: jauer ; derived from

1152-614: A definite guideline, the Normas ortograficas per igl rumantsch da Surmeir , was not published until 1939. In the meantime, the norms of Pallioppi had come under criticism in the Engadine due to the strong influence of Italian in them. This led to an orthographic reform which was concluded by 1928, when the Pitschna introducziun a la nouva ortografia ladina ufficiala by Cristoffel Bardola was published. A separate written variety for Sutsilvan

1296-570: A failed referendum on railway nationalisation did the Radicals decide to co-opt the Conservatives by supporting the election of Josef Zemp . The process of involving all major political movements of Switzerland into the responsibility of government continued during the first half of the 20th century. It was hastened by the FDP's and CVP's gradually diminishing voter shares, complemented by

1440-615: A few villages around Thusis and the village of Samnaun . In the case of Samnaun, the inhabitants adopted the Bavarian dialect of neighboring Tyrol, making Samnaun the only municipality of Switzerland where a Bavarian dialect is spoken. The Vinschgau in South Tyrol was still Romansh-speaking in the 17th century, after which it became entirely German-speaking because of the Counter-Reformation denunciation of Romansh as

1584-576: A high degree of fluency in German, French, and Italian. Each year, one of the seven councillors is elected by the United Federal Assembly as President of the Confederation . The Federal Assembly also elects a vice president of Switzerland. By convention, the positions of president and vice president rotate annually, each councillor thus becoming vice president and then president every seven years while in office. According to

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1728-479: A language as equally acceptable as possible to speakers of the different dialects, by choosing those forms which were found in a majority of the three strongest varieties: Sursilvan, Vallader, and Surmiran (Puter has more speakers than Surmiran but is spoken by a lower percentage of the population in its area). The elaboration of the new standard was endorsed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out by

1872-433: A language of instruction. Opponents argued that Romansh culture and identity was transmitted through the regional varieties and not through Rumantsch Grischun and that Rumantsch Grischun would serve to weaken rather than strengthen Romansh, possibly leading to a switch to German-language schools and a swift Germanization of Romansh areas. The cantonal government refused to debate the issue again however, instead deciding on

2016-416: A member resigns, they are generally replaced by someone who is not only from the same party, but also the same language group. In 2006, however, Joseph Deiss , a French-speaker , resigned and was succeeded by Doris Leuthard , a German-speaker . In 2016, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf , a German-speaker, was succeeded by Guy Parmelin , a French-speaker. Most recently, in 2023, German-speaking Simmonetta Sommaruga

2160-513: A new Conservative Democratic Party , the SVP/UDC was left in opposition for the first time since 1929, but returned into the council with the election of Ueli Maurer on 10 December 2008, who regained the seat previously held by Schmid, who had resigned. The SVP/UDC regained its second seat on the Council in 2015 , when Widmer-Schlumpf decided to resign after the SVP/UDC's large election gains in

2304-641: A non-standing committee of the Federal assembly visited the Val Cluozza and afterwards supported the idea of a national park. Within the following year the region around the Fuorn Pass and the Val Minger were leased from their respective municipality and the lease of the Val Cluozza was renewed to now all last 99 years. The municipality of Zernez was increasingly supporting the idea due to the fact that

2448-566: A personal bailiff ( huissier or Bundesweibel ) who accompanies them, in a red and white ceremonial uniform, to official events. The spouses of Councillors do not play an official part in the business of government, apart from accompanying the Councillors to official receptions. Federal councillors receive an annual salary of CHF 472,958, plus another CHF 30,000 annually for expenses. The councillors pay tax on this income. Former councillors with at least four years of service receive

2592-401: A plan to Germanize the Romansh areas of Grisons, many German-speaking groups wished that the entire canton would become German-speaking. They were careful however, to avoid any drastic measures to that extent, in order not to antagonize the influential Romansh minority. The decline of Romansh over the 20th century can be seen through the results of the Swiss censuses. The decline in percentages

2736-563: A seat to fill presents two candidates with mainstream viewpoints to the United Federal Assembly, which then chooses one. This was not so, however, during the 2003 election , which was the most controversial in recent memory. Until the end of the 19th century, it was informally required of Federal Councillors to be elected to the National Council in their canton of origin every four years to put their popularity to

2880-399: A sitting Councillor. This has only happened four times – to Ulrich Ochsenbein in 1854, to Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel in 1872, to Ruth Metzler in 2003 and to Christoph Blocher in 2007. In practice, therefore, Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after three to five terms of office. Unlike most senior members of government in other countries,

3024-607: A small number of pre-Latin words have survived in Romansh, mainly concerning animals, plants, and geological features unique to the Alps , such as camutsch " chamois " and grava " scree ". It is unknown how rapidly the Celtic and Raetic inhabitants were Romanized following the conquest of Raetia. Some linguists assume that the area was rapidly Romanized following the Roman conquest, whereas others think that this process did not end until

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3168-428: A team of young Romansh linguists under the guidance of Georges Darms and Anna-Alice Dazzi-Gross. The Lia Rumantscha then began introducing Rumantsch Grischun to the public, announcing that it would be chiefly introduced into domains where only German was being used, such as official forms and documents, billboards, and commercials. In 1984, the assembly of delegates of the head organization Lia Rumantscha decided to use

3312-474: A term of four years after each federal parliamentary election , without the possibility of recall or a vote of no confidence . Incumbents are not term-limited and are by convention almost always re-elected; most serve around 8 to 12 years in office. As of 2024, the members of the Federal Council are, in order of seniority: The Federal Council was instituted by the 1848 Federal Constitution as

3456-692: A term of four years by both chambers of the Federal Assembly sitting together as the United Federal Assembly. Each Federal Council seat is up for (re-)election in the order of seniority, beginning with the Councillor who had the longest term of office. The office holders are then elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of the valid votes. Every adult Swiss citizen is eligible (and could even be elected against his own will), but in practice, only members of Parliament or more rarely, members of cantonal governments, are nominated by

3600-533: A test. This practice was known under the French term of élection de compliment . The first Councillor who failed to be reelected ( Ulrich Ochsenbein ) lost his election to the National Council in 1854. Once elected, Councillors remain members of their political parties, but hold no leading office with them. In fact, they usually maintain a certain political distance from the party leadership, because under

3744-472: A three-step plan in December 2004 to introduce Rumantsch Grischun as the language of schooling, allowing the municipalities to choose when they would make the switch. The decision not to publish any new teaching materials in the regional varieties was not overturned at this point, however, raising the question of what would happen in those municipalities that refused to introduce Rumantsch Grischun at all, since

3888-634: A transition zone between them. The Engadinese varieties Putèr and Vallader are often referred to as one specific variety known as Ladin (Ladin, Sursilvan, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun : ladin ; Sutsilvan: ladegn ), which is not to be confused with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains also known as Ladin . Sutsilvan and Surmiran are sometimes grouped together as Central Romansh (rm. Grischun central ), and then grouped together with Sursilvan as "Rhenish Romansh" (in German, "Rheinischromanisch"). One feature that separates

4032-541: Is a Romance language descending from Vulgar Latin , the spoken language of the Roman Empire . Among the Romance languages, Romansh stands out because of its peripheral location. This has resulted in several archaic features. Another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long language contact with German , which is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh. Romansh belongs to

4176-688: Is also used to host official guests of the Swiss Confederation. While Councillors can draw on an Army security detail if they need personal protection, in particular during official events, they are often encountered without any escort in the streets, restaurants and tramways of Bern. Ueli Maurer was known to use the bicycle on most days from his apartment in Münsingen to the Federal Palace in Bern. Councillors are also entitled to

4320-550: Is colloquially referred to as its " field trip ", a day trip to some attractions in the President's home canton. In that and other respects, the council operates like a board of directors of a major corporation. Each Federal Councillor heads a government department, much like the ministers in the governments of other countries. Colloquially and by the press (especially outside Switzerland), they are often referred to as ministers even though no such post formally exists. For example,

4464-401: Is it, when one can learn the languages of both without effort? In response however, the editor of the newspaper added that: According to the testimony of experienced and vigilant language teachers, while the one who is born Romansh can easily learn to understand these languages and make himself understood in them, he has great difficulties in learning them properly, since precisely because of

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4608-622: Is located in Zernez . The road through the park leads over the Fuorn Pass (or Ofenpass ) to South Tyrol in Italy. In addition to the Swiss National Park, there are sixteen regional nature parks in Switzerland. The Swiss National Park is home to several large animals. Visitors of the park will often hear and see alpine marmots . These may even be observed from very close up in one of the many designated resting places within

4752-483: Is only partially due to the Germanization of Romansh areas, since the Romansh-speaking valleys always had a lower overall population growth than other parts of the canton. Starting in the mid-19th century however, a revival movement began, often called the "Rhaeto-Romansh renaissance". This movement involved an increased cultural activity, as well as the foundation of several organizations dedicated to protecting

4896-464: Is the fact that the eighth non-voting member of government, the chancellor, who sets the government agenda, was also a woman. In total, there have been ten female councillors in the period 1989 to present: Until 1999, the Constitution mandated that no canton could have multiple representatives on the Federal Council at the same time. For most of Swiss history, the canton of any given councillor

5040-471: Is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation . Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since after World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions . While the entire Federal Council is responsible for leading

5184-524: Is under increased strain. "Latin speakers" – people who either speak French, Italian, or Romansh – now form a majority on the council, despite more than seventy percent of the Swiss citizens speaking German as a first language. Likewise, no current Federal Councillors grew up in an urban area (with the exception of Karin Keller-Sutter , who spent some school years in Neuchâtel NE ). Whenever

5328-530: The Questione Ladina . Some linguists posit that these languages are descended from a common language, which was fractured geographically through the spread of German and Italian. The Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli first made the claim in 1873. The other position holds that any similarities between these three languages can be explained through their relative geographic isolation, which shielded them from certain linguistic changes. By contrast,

5472-406: The 2015 election , being replaced by Guy Parmelin . Women gained suffrage on the federal level in 1971. They remained unrepresented in the Federal Council for three further legislatures, until the 1984 election of Elisabeth Kopp . In 1983, the failed election of the first official female candidate, Lilian Uchtenhagen and again in 1993 the failed election of Christiane Brunner (both SP/PS),

5616-527: The Gallo-Italic languages to the south, and placing it closer to Ladin , Friulian and Franco-Provencal , are: Another defining feature of the Romansh language is the use of unstressed vowels. All unstressed vowels except /a/ disappeared. Whether or not Romansh, Friulan , and Ladin should compose a separate " Rhaeto-Romance " subgroup within Gallo-Romance is an unresolved issue, known as

5760-519: The Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, which includes languages such as French , Occitan , and Lombard . The main feature placing Romansh within the Gallo-Romance languages is the fronting of Latin / u / to [ y ] or [ i ] , as seen in Latin muru(m) "wall", which is mür or mir in Romansh. The main features distinguishing Romansh from

5904-780: The Radicals (presently FDP. The Liberals ). After winning the Sonderbund War (the Swiss civil war) against the Catholic cantons, the Radicals at first used their majority in the Federal Assembly to fill all the seats on the Federal Council. This made their former war opponents, the Catholic-Conservatives (presently the Christian Democratic People's Party , CVP), the opposition party . Only after Emil Welti 's resignation in 1891 after

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6048-526: The Romonsch fusionau of Gion Antoni Bühler in 1867 and the Interrumantsch by Leza Uffer in 1958. Neither was able to gain much support, and their creators were largely the only ones actively using them. In the meantime, the Romansh movement sought to promote the different regional varieties while promoting a gradual convergence of the five varieties, called the " avischinaziun ". In 1982, however,

6192-525: The Swiss order of precedence , the president of the Confederation is the highest-ranking Swiss official. They preside over council meetings and carry out certain representative functions that, in other countries, are the business of a head of state. In urgent situations where a council decision cannot be made in time, they are empowered to act on behalf of the whole council. Apart from that, though, they are primus inter pares , having no power above and beyond

6336-513: The canton of Bern were elected in 2010 . As of 2023, four cantons have never been represented on the Federal Council: Nidwalden , Schaffhausen , Schwyz , Uri . The canton of Jura is the most recent canton to be represented; since 1 January 2023, it has been represented by Elisabeth Baume-Schneider . With the council's 2023 iteration, the constitutional requirement that languages and regions be appropriately balanced

6480-429: The federal administration of Switzerland , each Councillor heads one of the seven federal executive departments. The President of the Swiss Confederation chairs the council, but exercises no particular authority; rather, the position is one of a first among equals and rotates among the seven Councillors annually. The Federal Council is elected as a body by the 246 members of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland for

6624-510: The mountain hut in the park. Due to this there are over 80 kilometers of marked hiking paths, separated into 21 individual hikes of various distances and difficulties. Dogs are not allowed, even on a leash. Due to these strict rules, the Swiss National Park is the only park in the Alps which has been categorized by the IUCN as a strict nature reserve , the highest protection level. A visitor centre

6768-501: The "supreme executive and directorial authority of the Confederation". When the Constitution was written, constitutional democracy was still in its infancy, and the founding fathers of Switzerland had little in the way of examples. While they drew heavily on the United States Constitution for the organisation of the federal state as a whole, they opted for the collegial rather than the presidential system for

6912-402: The 10th or 11th century, although major works did not appear until the 16th century, when several regional written varieties began to develop. During the 19th century the area where the language was spoken declined due to the industrialization of Switzerland, but the Romansh speakers had a literary revival and started a language movement dedicated to halting the decline of their language . In

7056-573: The 12th century; and by the 15th century, the Rhine Valley of St. Gallen and the areas around the Walensee were entirely German-speaking. This language shift was a long, drawn-out process, with larger, central towns adopting German first, while the more peripheral areas around them remained Romansh-speaking longer. The shift to German was caused in particular by the influence of the local German-speaking élites and by German-speaking immigrants from

7200-553: The 14th century. In rare cases, these Walser settlements were eventually assimilated by their Romansh-speaking neighbors; for instance, Oberhalbstein , Medel , and Tujetsch in the Surselva region. The Germanization of Chur had particularly long-term consequences. Even though the city had long before ceased to be a cultural center of Romansh, the spoken language of the capital of the Diocese of Chur continued to be Romansh until

7344-450: The 15th century. After a fire in 1465 which virtually destroyed the city, many German-speaking artisans who had been called in to help repair the damage settled there, causing German to become the majority language. In a chronicle written in 1571–72, Durich Chiampell mentions that Romansh was still spoken in Chur roughly a hundred years before, but had since then rapidly given way to German and

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7488-413: The 16th century, now began moving again as more and more villages shifted to German. One cause was the admission of Grisons as a Swiss canton, which brought Romansh-speakers into more frequent contact with German-speakers. Another factor was the increased power of the central government of the Grisons, which had always used German as its administrative language. In addition, many Romansh-speakers migrated to

7632-441: The 1830s and 1840s. Initially, these were merely translations of the German editions, but by the end of the 19th century teaching materials were introduced which took the local Romansh culture into consideration. Additionally, Romansh was introduced as a subject in teacher's college in 1860 and was recognized as an official language by the canton in 1880. Around the same time, grammar and spelling guidelines began to be developed for

7776-425: The 1830s had also had good experiences with that mode of governance. Today, only three other states, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Andorra and San Marino , have collective rather than unitary heads of state. However the collegial system of government has found widespread adoption in modern democracies in the form of cabinet government with collective responsibility. The 1848 constitutional provision providing for

7920-464: The 1940s with the aim of reintroducing Romansh to children. Although the Scoletas had some success – of the ten villages where Scoletas were established, the children began speaking Romansh amongst themselves in four, with the children in four others acquiring at least some knowledge of Romansh – the program ultimately failed to preserve the language in the valley. A key factor was the disinterest of

8064-498: The 2000 Swiss census, 35,095 people (of whom 27,038 live in the canton of the Grisons ) indicated Romansh as the language of "best command", and 61,815 as a "regularly spoken" language. In 2010, Switzerland switched to a yearly system of assessment that uses a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys. In 2019, there were 40,074 Swiss residents who primarily spoke Romansh; in 2017, 28,698 inhabitants of

8208-625: The 4th or 5th century, when more thoroughly Romanized Celts from farther north fled south to avoid invasions by Germanic tribes . The process was certainly complete and the pre-Roman languages extinct by the 5th–6th century, when Raetia became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom . Around 537 AD, the Ostrogoths handed over the province of Raetia Prima to the Frankish Empire , which continued to have local rulers administering

8352-491: The 5th century AD replaced the Celtic and Raetic languages previously spoken in the area. Romansh retains a small number of words from these languages. Romansh has also been strongly influenced by German in vocabulary and morphosyntax . The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced in other areas by Alemannic and Bavarian dialects. The earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from

8496-458: The CVP/PDC's Ruth Metzler . Due to controversies surrounding his conduct in office, a narrow Assembly majority did not reelect Blocher in 2007 and chose instead Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf , a more moderate SVP/UDC politician, against party policy. This led to a split of the SVP/UDC in 2008. After liberal regional SVP/UDC groups including Federal Councillors Widmer-Schlumpf and Samuel Schmid founded

8640-522: The Central Romansh varieties do not share many unique features, but rather connect Sursilvan and Ladin through a succession of numerous small differences from one village to the next. The dialects of Romansh are not always mutually comprehensible. Speakers of Sursilvan and Ladin, in particular, are usually unable to understand each other initially. Because speakers usually identify themselves primarily with their regional dialect, many do not take

8784-465: The FDP councillors seats were unsuccessfully attacked by the green party. The following councillors were reelected: Following the resignation of Alain Berset as of 31 December 2023, replacement elections were held: In addition, Viktor Rossi ( GLP ) was newly elected as Federal Chancellor with 135 out of 245 votes cast in the second round of voting. Additionally Viola Amherd was elected President of

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8928-561: The Federal Council ;– and indeed the institution of the Council itself – has remained unchanged to this day, even though Swiss society has changed profoundly since. The 1848 Constitution was one of the few successes of the Europe-wide democratic revolutions of 1848 . In Switzerland, the democratic movement was led – and the new federal state decisively shaped – by

9072-399: The Federal Council's unique nature as a voluntary grand coalition of political opponents, its operation is subject to numerous constitutional conventions . Most notable is the principle of collegiality ; that is, the Councillors are not supposed to publicly criticise one another, even though they are often political opponents. In effect, they are expected to publicly support all decisions of

9216-612: The Federal Councillors are not entitled to an official residence . However, the Federal Palace houses living apartments for both the Federal Chancellor and President of the Confederation . Mostly, Federal Councillors have chosen to rent apartments or hotel suites in Bern at their own expense. However, they are entitled to use the Federal Council's country estate, Lohn , for holidays, and this estate

9360-592: The Fuorn pass in 1976. It was during Schloeth's tenure as director that the park would become part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and would be classified as a IUCN category Ia. The most recent extension of the park occurred in 2000, when 3.6 km the Macun Lakes and surrounding area was added to the park. There was a proposition to create a less heavily regulated zone in the areas surrounding

9504-836: The Gallo-Italic varieties of Northern Italy were more open to linguistic influences from the South . Linguists who take this position often point out that the similarities between the languages are comparatively few. This position was first introduced by the Italian dialectologist Carlo Battisti . This linguistic dispute became politically relevant for the Italian irredentist movement . Italian nationalists interpreted Battisti's hypothesis as implying that Romansh, Friulan, and Ladin were not separate Romance languages but rather Italian dialects . They used this hypothesis as an argument to claim

9648-501: The German-speaking north, especially as the ruling élite now comprised almost entirely speakers of German. At the time, Romansh was spoken over a much wider area, stretching north into the present-day cantons of Glarus and St. Gallen , to the Walensee in the northwest, and Rüthi and the Alpine Rhine Valley in the northeast. In the east, parts of modern-day Vorarlberg were Romansh-speaking, as were parts of Tyrol . The northern areas, called Lower Raetia, became German-speaking by

9792-585: The Grisons then took steps to strengthen the role of Rumantsch Grischun as an official language. Since the cantonal constitution explicitly named Sursilvan and Engadinese as the languages of ballots, a referendum was launched to amend the relevant article. In the referendum, which took place on June 10, 2001, 65% voted in favor of naming Rumantsch Grischun the only official Romansh variety of the Canton. Opponents of Rumantsch Grischun such as Renata Coray and Matthias Grünert argue, however, that if only those municipalities with at least 30% Romansh speakers were considered,

9936-413: The National Park is Piz Quattervals, 3165 m.a.s.l, which can be reached by an alpine hike. As of 2022, this is the only National Park in Switzerland. There are plans to create more. An Adula National Park was planned in the Adula Alps , but in November 2016 the inhabitants voted against it. In the national park, it is forbidden to leave marked paths or to sleep anywhere apart from the Chamanna Cluozza,

10080-416: The Protestants with its cultural center around Ilanz , and a Catholic variety with the Disentis Abbey as its center. The Engadine dialect was also written in two varieties: Putèr in the Upper Valley and Vallader in the Lower Valley. The Sutsilvan areas either used the Protestant variety of Sursilvan, or simply used German as their main written language. The Surmiran region began developing its own variety in

10224-451: The Rhenish varieties as in détg "said" or fatg "did", while developing into /t/ in Ladin ( dit and fat ). A feature separating Sursilvan from Central Romansh, however, involves the extent of palatalization of Latin /k/ in front of /a/, which is rare in Sursilvan but common in the other varieties: Sursilvan casa , Sutsilvan tgea , Surmiran tgesa , Putèr chesa , and Vallader chasa "house". Overall however,

10368-512: The Rhenish varieties from Ladin is the retention of the rounded front vowels / y / and / ø / (written ü and ö ) in Ladin, which have been unrounded in the other dialects, as in Ladin mür , Sursilvan mir , Surmiran meir "wall" or Ladin chaschöl to Rhenish caschiel "cheese". Another is the development of Latin -CT-, which has developed into /tɕ/ in

10512-581: The Romansh language. In 1863, the first of several attempts was made to found an association for all Romansh regions, which eventually led to the foundation of the Società Retorumantscha in 1885. In 1919, the Lia Rumantscha was founded to serve as an umbrella organization for the various regional language societies. Additionally, the role of Romansh in schooling was strengthened, with the first Romansh school books being published in

10656-536: The Social Democrats were also temporarily included with Ernst Nobs . The 1959 elections, following the resignation of four councillors, finally established the Zauberformel , the "magical formula" that determined the council's composition during the rest of the 20th century and established the long-standing nature of the council as a permanent, voluntary grand coalition . In approximate relation to

10800-502: The Swiss Confederation for the year 2024 and Karin Keller-Sutter was elected vice president of the Federal Council for the year 2024. Following the elections there was a departmental reshuffle. Élisabeth Baume-Schneider took over the Federal Department of Home Affairs vacated by Alain Berset and newly elected Beat Jans took over Baume-Schneiders Justice and Police Department. The members of the Federal Council are elected for

10944-530: The Swiss National Park is the oldest national park in the alps and in Central Europe. It is part of the worldwide UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and has IUCN category Ia, which is the highest category, signifying a strict nature reserve. Today, the Swiss National Park has an area of 170.3 km and is the largest nature reserve in Switzerland. The Swiss National Park covers various terrains, from relatively low valleys to high peaks. The highest peak in

11088-538: The agricultural sector, which had been a traditional domain of Romansh, became less important. All this meant that knowledge of German became more and more of a necessity for Romansh speakers and that German became more and more a part of daily life. For the most part, German was seen not as a threat but rather as an important asset for communicating outside one's home region. The common people frequently demanded better access to learning German. When public schools began to appear, many municipalities decided to adopt German as

11232-486: The authors themselves often mention the novelty of writing Romansh, and discuss an apparently common prejudice that Romansh was a language that could not be written. The first writing in the Sursilvan and Sutsilvan dialects appears in the 17th century. As in the Engadine, these early works usually focused on religious themes, in particular the struggles between Protestants and Counter-Reformers. Daniel Bonifaci produced

11376-413: The bill at issue. The decisions themselves are formally taken by voice vote by a majority of the Councillors present at a meeting. However, the great majority of decisions are arrived at by consensus ; even though lately there is said to be a trend towards more contentious discussions and close votes. The meetings of the Federal Council and the result of the votes taken are not open to the public, and

11520-410: The canton of the Grisons (14.7% of the population) used it as their main language. Romansh is divided into five different regional dialect groups ( Sursilvan , Vallader , Putèr , Surmiran , and Sutsilvan ), each with its own standardized written language. In addition, a pan-regional variety called Rumantsch Grischun was introduced in 1982, which is controversial among Romansh speakers. Romansh

11664-466: The cantons, the political parties and major interest groups are invited, and in which all members of the public can participate. If a change in a federal statute is to be proposed to the Federal Assembly, this step is mandated by law. In such cases, the consultation procedure also serves to identify political concerns that could later be the focus of a popular referendum to stop passage of

11808-469: The council are always prepared by the responsible department. Accordingly, a change in the salaries of federal employees would be proposed to the council by the head of the Federal Department of Finance , to whose department the Federal Office of Personnel belongs. Before a vote is taken at a council meeting, though, all proposals are circulated in writing to the heads of departments, who commission

11952-446: The council, even against their own personal opinion or that of their political party. In the eye of many observers, this convention has become rather strained after the 2003 elections (see below). Due to the fact that technically no sole federal councillor but rather the entire council in corpore is the Swiss head of state , Federal Councillors did for a long time not travel abroad in official business. In other countries, Switzerland

12096-472: The creation of a nature reserve. The Swiss Federal Council created a committee to determine a suitable location for this nature reserve, and the area surrounding the Fuorn Pass was found to be best suited for this endeavour due to its remoteness from civilization and richness in flora and fauna . In 1909 supporters of the idea leased the Val Cluozza from the municipality of Zernez for 25 years. In 1913

12240-444: The dialect shares many features with the neighboring Putèr dialect of Romansh. As these varieties form a continuum with small transitions from each village to the next, there is no straightforward internal grouping of the Romansh dialects. The Romansh language area can be described best as consisting of two widely divergent varieties, Sursilvan in the west and the dialects of the Engadine in the east, with Sutsilvan and Surmiran forming

12384-400: The early 18th century, with a catechism being published in 1703, though either the Catholic variety of Sursilvan or Putèr was more commonly used there until the 20th century. In the 16th century, the language border between Romansh and German largely stabilized, and it remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century. During this period, only isolated areas became German-speaking, mainly

12528-404: The effort to attempt to understand unfamiliar dialects, and prefer to speak Swiss German with speakers of other varieties. A common Romansh identity is not widespread outside intellectual circles, even though this has been changing among the younger generation. Romansh originates from the spoken Latin brought to the region by Roman soldiers, merchants, and officials following the conquest of

12672-414: The elite had been German-speaking for centuries, so that German was associated with power and education, even though most people did not speak it, whereas Romansh was associated with peasant life. In the Engadine and the Surselva by contrast, the elite was itself Romansh-speaking, so that Romansh there was "not only the language spoken to children and cows, but also that of the village notable, the priest, and

12816-518: The exception of Präz , where the Scoleta remained open until 1979. In other areas, such as the Engadine and the Surselva, where the pressure of German was equally strong, Romansh was maintained much better and remained a commonly spoken language. According to the linguist Mathias Kundert, one important factor was the different social prestige of Romansh. In the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys,

12960-574: The executive branch of government ( directorial system ). This accommodated the long tradition of the rule of collective bodies in Switzerland. Under the Ancien Régime , the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy had been governed by councils of pre-eminent citizens since time immemorial, and the later Helvetic Republic (with its equivalent Directorate) as well as the cantons that had given themselves liberal constitutions since

13104-507: The first surviving work in this category, the catechism Curt mussameint dels principals punctgs della Christianevla Religiun , published in 1601 in the Sutsilvan dialect. A second edition, published in 1615, is closer to Sursilvan, however, and writings in Sutsilvan do not appear again until the 20th century. In 1611, Igl Vêr Sulaz da pievel giuvan ("The true joys of young people"), a series of religious instructions for Protestant youths,

13248-426: The head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports is often called "the Swiss defence minister", even though no such post officially exists. However, as council members, they are not only responsible for their own department, but also for the business of their colleagues' departments, as well as for the conduct of the government and the federal administration as a whole. Decisions to be taken by

13392-499: The head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs . Visiting heads of state are received by the Federal Council in corpore . The Federal Council operates mainly through weekly meetings, which are held each Wednesday at the Federal Palace in Bern , the seat of the Swiss federal government . Apart from the seven Councillors, the following officials also attend the meetings: During

13536-446: The language much more than Italian has. Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects , which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, each of which has developed a standardized form. These regional standards are referred to as idioms in Romansh to distinguish them from the local vernaculars, which are referred to as dialects . These dialects form a dialect continuum without clear-cut divisions. Historically

13680-471: The language of schooling is decided by the municipalities themselves in the Grisons. The teachers of the Engadine in particular were outraged over the decision, but those in the Surmeir were mostly satisfied. Few opinions were heard from the Surselva, which was interpreted either as support or resignation, depending on the viewpoint of the observer. Swiss Federal Government The Federal Council

13824-476: The language was maintained to a much greater extent. In the Central Grisons, by contrast, German had been a central part of schooling since the beginning, and virtually all schools switched entirely to German as the language of instruction by 1900, with children in many schools being punished for speaking Romansh well into the 1930s. Early attempts to create a unified written language for Romansh include

13968-486: The larger cities, which were German-speaking, while speakers of German settled in Romansh villages. Moreover, economic changes meant that the Romansh-speaking villages, which had mostly been self-sufficient, engaged in more frequent commerce with German-speaking regions. Also, improvements in the infrastructure made travel and contact with other regions much easier than it had been. Finally, the rise of tourism made knowledge of German an economic necessity in many areas, while

14112-477: The leased area had little to no agricultural potential. On the national holiday of Switzerland, 1 August 1914, the Swiss National Park was opened. Initially the costs of the lease were paid by a private company, called the Schweizerischer Bund für Naturschutz (Swiss coalition for nature protection), which today is called Pro Natura . However, when in 1913 these costs could no longer be surmounted by

14256-571: The logical result of which would be to abolish the regional varieties as languages of instruction. The cantonal parliament passed the measure in August 2003, even advancing the deadline to 2005. The decision was met by strong opposition, in particular in the Engadine, where teachers collected over 4,300 signatures opposing the measure, followed by a second petition signed by around 180 Romansh writers and cultural figures, including many who were supportive of Rumantsch Grischun but opposed its introduction as

14400-451: The medium of instruction, as in the case of Ilanz, where German became the language of schooling in 1833, when the town was still largely Romansh-speaking. Some people even welcomed the disappearance of Romansh, in particular among progressives. In their eyes, Romansh was an obstacle to the economic and intellectual development of the Romansh people. For instance, the priest Heinrich Bansi from Ardez wrote in 1797: "The biggest obstacle to

14544-402: The meetings, the Councillors address each other formally (e.g. Mrs. Sommaruga, Mr. Berset), even though they are on first name terms with each other. This is done to separate the items on the agenda from the person promoting them. After the meetings, the Councillors take lunch together. The council also meets regularly in conclave to discuss important topics at length; it annually conducts what

14688-516: The modern-day Grisons area by the Romans in 15 BCE. Before that, the inhabitants spoke Celtic and Raetic languages, with Raetic apparently being spoken mainly in the Lower Engadine valley . Traces of these languages survive mainly in toponyms , including village names such as Tschlin , Scuol , Savognin , Glion , Breil/Brigels , Brienz/Brinzauls , Purtenza , and Trun . Additionally,

14832-401: The moral and economical improvement of these regions is the language of the people, Ladin [...] The German language could certainly be introduced with ease into the Engadine, as soon as one could convince the people of the immense advantages of it". Others however, saw Romansh as an economic asset, since it gave the Romansh an advantage when learning other Romance languages. In 1807, for example,

14976-423: The new standard language when addressing all Romansh-speaking areas of the Grisons. From the very start, Rumansh Grischun has been implemented only on the basis of a decision of the particular institutions. In 1986, the federal administration began to use Rumantsch Grischun for single texts. The same year, however, several influential figures began to criticize the introduction of Rumantsch Grischun. Donat Cadruvi, at

15120-602: The north, with the lower and rural classes retaining Romansh longer. In addition, beginning around 1270, the German-speaking Walser began settling in sparsely populated or uninhabited areas within the Romansh-speaking heartland. The Walser sometimes expanded into Romansh-speaking areas from their original settlements, which then often became German-speaking, such as Davos , Schanfigg , the Prättigau , Schams , and Valendas , which became German-speaking by

15264-519: The opening of Switzerland due to the Kennedy assassination, foreign travels of Federal Councillors were only normalized after the dissolution of the USSR . The most recent federal council elections were held on 13 December 2023. Federal Council Alain Berset and Federal Chancellor Walter Turnherr had both announced that they would not be seeking reelection. The other Federal Councillors were all reelected,

15408-421: The other six Councillors. The president is not the Swiss head of state; this function is carried out by the council in corpore , that is, in its entirety. However, in recent practice the president acts and is recognised as head of state while conducting official visits abroad, as the Council (also by convention) does not leave the country in corpore . More often, though, official visits abroad are carried out by

15552-465: The parents, whose main motivation for sending their children to the Scoletas appears to have been that they were looked after for a few hours and given a meal every day, rather than an interest in preserving Romansh. The other factor was that after entering primary school, the children received a few hours a week of Romansh instruction at best. As a result, the last Scoletas were closed in the 1960s with

15696-550: The park rangers may fine visitors up to 300 swiss francs . Some of the rules are as follows: There are 21 numbered hiking routes in the National Park, of which 3 and 4 are alpine hikes. Hike no. 4 leads on top of Piz Quattervals (3165 m.a.s.l.), which is the highest peak in the park. Romansh language Romansh is one of the descendant languages of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire , which by

15840-494: The park, which was however rejected by the public. In 2008, a new visitor centre was inaugurated in Zernez. Some of the changes in territory that the park underwent since its inception in 1909 are detailed in the table below: In the park, visitors have to follow strict rules. These rules are regulated in a special cantonal law by the canton of Grisons and enforced by park rangers throughout the park. If these rules are not followed,

15984-401: The park. In 1961, the park was heavily extended once more, now totalling 166.5 km. In 1964, zoologist Robert F. Schloeth was appointed director of the park. He would go on to serve in that post for more than 25 years while heavily influencing the parks' development. In 1968, during his tenure a new visitor centre was inaugurated in Zernez as was a Naturlernpfad (Nature learning hike) on

16128-464: The park. Other large animals include ibex , red deer , chamois , red fox , golden eagles and many more. Occasionally wolves and brown bears are also observed in the park but only rarely and these animals do not permanently reside in the park any more. After the 19th century led to a lot of the Swiss countryside being destroyed or cultivated to create space for farming in 1904 Swiss National Council Dr. Fritz E. Bühlmann among others called for

16272-525: The parties' respective strength in the Federal Assembly, the seats were distributed as follows: During that time, the FDP/PRD and CVP/PDC very slowly but steadily kept losing voter share to the SVP/UDC and SP/PS, respectively, which overtook the older parties in popularity during the 1990s. The governmental balance was changed after the 2003 elections, when the SVP/UDC was granted a council seat for their leader Christoph Blocher that had formerly belonged to

16416-439: The pension they receive as an ex-federal councillor, may not exceed the salary of a federal councillor in office, otherwise their pension is reduced accordingly." Serving federal councillors "enjoy a certain number of special benefits, from free telephone contracts to a chauffeur-driven car for official business, a courtesy car for personal use or the use of federal planes and helicopters for official business trips. Each member of

16560-599: The personal pronoun jau "I", i.e. "the jau -sayers"). Less commonly distinguished is the dialect of Tujetsch and the Val Medel , which is markedly different from Sursilvan and is referred to as Tuatschin . Additionally, the standardized variety Rumantsch Grischun , intended for pan-regional use, was introduced in 1982. The dialect of the Val Bregaglia is usually considered a variety of Lombard , and speakers use Italian as their written language, even though

16704-418: The political parties and receive a substantial number of votes. The voting is conducted in several rounds, under a form of exhaustive ballot . After the election is concluded, the winner holds a short speech and accepts or refuses the office of Federal Councillor. The oath of office is then taken, even then the regular term of office only begins a few weeks later, on 1 January. Usually, the party which has

16848-417: The priest Mattli Conrad wrote an article listing the advantages and disadvantages of Romansh: The Romansh language is an immense advantage in learning so much more rapidly the languages derived from Latin of France, Italy, Spain etc, as can be seen with the Romansh youth, which travels to these countries and learns their language with ease. [...] We live in between an Italian and a German people. How practical

16992-746: The private company, the Swiss Federal Government took over the costs. In 1936, the Val Tavrü was removed from the Park upon request by the municipality of Scuol . In 1959, the National Park was legally restructured. A law called the Bundesbeschluss für den Nationalpark (Federal law concerning the National Park) was passed, which among other things extended the leases indefinitely and banned high voltage lines leading through

17136-417: The proponents of Rumantsch Grischun to Nazi thugs raiding a Romansh village and desecrating, destroying, and burning the Romansh cultural heritage. The proponents responded by labeling the opponents as a small group of archconservative and narrow-minded Sursilvans and CVP politicians among other things. The debate was characterized by a heavy use of metaphors, with opponents describing Rumantsch Grischun as

17280-424: The records remain sealed for 50 years. This has lately been the subject of some criticism. In particular, the parties at the ends of the political spectrum argue that this secrecy is contrary to the principle of transparency . However, the council has always maintained that secrecy is necessary to arrive at consensus and to preserve the collegiality and political independence of the individual Councillors. Due to

17424-579: The referendum would have been rejected by 51%, with an even larger margin if only those with at least 50% Romansh speakers were considered. They thus interpret the results as the Romansh minority having been overruled by the German-speaking majority of the canton. A major change in policy came in 2003, when the cantonal government proposed a number of spending cuts, including a proposal according to which new Romansh teaching materials would not be published except in Rumantsch Grischun from 2006 onwards,

17568-511: The regional varieties could continue to be used when addressing a single region or municipality. In schools, Rumantsch Grischun was not to replace the regional dialects but only be taught passively. The compromise was largely accepted by both sides. A further recommendation in 1999, known as the "Haltinger concept", also proposed that the regional varieties should remain the basis of the Romansh schools, with Rumantsch Grischun being introduced in middle school and secondary school. The government of

17712-570: The regional written dialects. One of the earliest was the Ortografia et ortoëpia del idiom romauntsch d'Engiadin'ota by Zaccaria Pallioppi , published in 1857. For Sursilvan, a first attempt to standardize the written language was the Ortografia gienerala, speculativa ramontscha by Baseli Carigiet, published in 1858, followed by a Sursilvan-German dictionary in 1882, and the Normas ortografias by Giachen Caspar Muoth in 1888. Neither of these guidelines managed to gather much support however. At

17856-801: The rise of new parties of lesser power at the ends of the political spectrum . These were the Social Democratic Party (SP) on the Left and the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (BGB; presently the People's Party , SVP) on the Right . In due course, the CVP received its second seat in 1919 with Jean-Marie Musy , while the BGB joined the council in 1929 with Rudolf Minger . In 1943, during World War II,

18000-449: The rules of collegiality , they will often have to publicly promote a council decision which does not match the political conviction of their party (or of themselves). Once elected for a four-year-term, Federal Councillors can neither be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence nor can they be impeached . Reelection is possible for an indefinite number of terms; it has historically been extremely rare for Parliament not to reelect

18144-507: The same time, the Canton published school books in its own variety. Sursilvan was then definitely standardized through the works of Gion Cahannes , who published Grammatica Romontscha per Surselva e Sutselva in 1924, followed by Entruidament devart nossa ortografia in 1927. The Surmiran dialect had its own norms established in 1903, when the Canton agreed to finance the school book Codesch da lectura per las scolas primaras de Surmeir , though

18288-477: The senior career officials of their department – the heads of the Federal Offices – to prepare a written response to offer criticism and suggestions. This is called the co-report procedure ( Mitberichtsverfahren / procédure de co-rapport ), designed to build a wide consensus ahead of a council meeting. To prepare for important decisions, an additional public consultation is sometimes conducted, to which

18432-408: The similarity, he mixes them so easily with his own bastardized language. [...] in any case, the conveniences named should hold no weight against all the disadvantages that come from such an isolated and uneducated language. According to Mathias Kundert, this quote is a good example of the attitude of many German-speakers towards Romansh at the time. According to Mathias Kundert, while there was never

18576-516: The so-called Duchy of Chur . However, after the death of the last Victorid ruler, Bishop Tello , around 765 AD, Charlemagne assigned a Germanic duke to administer the region. Additionally, the Diocese of Chur was transferred by the (pre- Schism ) Roman Catholic Church from the Archdiocese of Milan to the Diocese of Mainz in 843 AD. The combined effect was a cultural reorientation towards

18720-467: The teacher." Additionally, Romansh schools had been common for several years before German had become a necessity, so that Romansh was firmly established as a medium of education. Likewise, in the Upper Engadine, where factors such as increased mobility and immigration by German speakers were even stronger, Romansh was more firmly established as a language of education and administration, so that

18864-479: The territories for Italy where these languages were spoken. From a sociolinguistic perspective, however, this question is largely irrelevant. The speakers of Romansh have always identified as speaking a language distinct from both Italian and other Romance varieties. Furthermore, unlike Friulian, Ladin, or Lombard , Romansh is located north of the German-Italian linguistic border, and German has influenced

19008-474: The then secretary of the Lia Rumantscha, a sociolinguist named Bernard Cathomas  [ de ] , launched a project for designing a pan-regional variety. The linguist Heinrich Schmid presented to the Lia Rumantscha the same year the rules and directives for this standard language under the name Rumantsch Grischun (Rumantsch Grischun: rumantsch grischun ). Schmid's approach consisted of creating

19152-499: The time the president of the cantonal government, claimed that the Lia Rumantscha was trying to force the issue. Romansh writer Theo Candinas also called for a public debate on the issue, calling Rumantsch Grischun a "plague" and "death blow" to Romansh and its introduction a "Romansh Kristallnacht", thus launching a highly emotional and bitter debate which would continue for several years. The following year, Candinas published another article titled Rubadurs Garmadis in which he compared

19296-572: The titles survive for many of them. Another early writer, Giachem Bifrun , who also wrote in Putèr, penned the first printed book in Romansh, a catechism published in 1552. In 1560 he published a translation of the New Testament : L'g Nuof Sainc Testamaint da nos Signer Jesu Christ . Two years later, in 1562, another writer from the Engadine, Durich Chiampel , published the Cudesch da Psalms ,

19440-473: The turn of the century, the inner Heinzenberg and Cazis became German-speaking, followed by Rothenbrunnen , Rodels , Almens , and Pratval , splitting the Romansh area into two geographically non-connected parts. In the 1920s and 1930s the rest of the villages in the valley became mainly German-speaking, sealing the split. In order to halt the decline of Romansh, the Lia Rumantscha began establishing Romansh day care schools, called Scoletas , beginning in

19584-566: The various Romansh-speaking regions would still have developed their own separate written standards. Instead, several regional written varieties of Romansh began appearing during the 16th century. Gian Travers wrote the first surviving work in Romansh, the Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs , in the Putèr dialect. This epic poem, written in 1527, describes the first Musso war , in which Travers himself had taken part. Travers also translated numerous biblical plays into Romansh, though only

19728-528: Was changed to require an equitable distribution of seats among the cantons and language groups of the country, without setting concrete quotas. Since the rule against Federal Councillors being from the same canton was abolished, there have been a few examples of it happening. The first time was from 2003 to 2007, when both Moritz Leuenberger and Christoph Blocher from the canton of Zurich were in office. It happened again between 2010 and 2018, starting when Simonetta Sommaruga and Johann Schneider-Ammann from

19872-437: Was controversial and the Social Democrats each time considered withdrawing from the council altogether. There were two female councillors serving simultaneously for the first time in 1999, and three out of seven councillors were women from 2007 till 2010, when Simonetta Sommaruga was elected as the fourth woman in government in place of Moritz Leuenberger , putting men in minority for the first time in history. Also remarkable

20016-415: Was determined by their place of origin, but starting in 1987 this was changed to the canton from which they were elected (for former members of the Federal Assembly or cantonal legislative or executive bodies) or place of residence. Nothing prevented candidates from moving to politically expedient cantons; this was one of the motivators for abolishing the rule. At the 1999 Swiss referendums , the Constitution

20160-468: Was developed in 1944 by Giuseppe Gangale . Around 1880, the entire Romansh-speaking area still formed a continuous geographical unit. But by the end of the century, the so-called "Central-Grisons language bridge" began to disappear. From Thusis , which had become German-speaking in the 16th/17th century, the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys were gradually Germanized over the next decades. Around

20304-472: Was nearly exclusively represented by diplomats. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy , the Federal Councillors convened an urgent meeting, where they discussed sending a Councillor to Kennedy's funeral. Given that the absence of the Swiss government would not be understood by the population, they decided to send Friedrich Traugott Wahlen . On his travel to the U.S. capital, Wahlen also met with Secretary of State Dean Rusk to discuss tariffs . Despite

20448-530: Was now not much appreciated by the inhabitants of the city. Many linguists regard the loss of Chur to German as a crucial event. According to Sylvia Osswald, for example, it occurred precisely at a time when the introduction of the printing press could have led to the adoption of the Romansh dialect of the capital as a common written language for all Romansh speakers. Other linguists such as Jachen Curdin Arquint remain skeptical of this view, however, and assume that

20592-640: Was published by Steffan Gabriel . Four years later, in 1615, a Catholic catechism, Curt Mussament , was published in response, written by Gion Antoni Calvenzano . The first translation of the New Testament into Sursilvan was published in 1648 by the son of Steffan Gabriel, Luci Gabriel . The first complete translation of the Bible, the Bibla da Cuera , was published between 1717 and 1719. The Sursilvan dialect thus had two separate written varieties, one used by

20736-441: Was replaced by French-speaking Elisabeth Baume-Schneider . Historically, at least two council seats have been held by French- or Italian-speakers. The language makeup of the council as of 2022 is four German-speakers, two French-speakers and one Italian-speaker. In November 2017, Ignazio Cassis became the first Italian speaker to serve on the council since 1999. For elections to the Federal Council , candidates are usually helped by

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