Canton Bern (BE) |
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History of Canton Bern: Chronology DEUTSCH / ENGLISH / FRANÇAIS / ITALIANO |
1191 | Foundation of the city of Berne by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen. |
1218 | Confirmation of municipal rights to the city by King Friedrich II (German Empire). |
1255 | Berne seeks protection of the Dukes of Savoy. |
1289 | Siege of Berne by the Habsburg armies. |
1300 | Beginning of territorial expansion beyond the city boundaries. |
13th & 14th century | Establishment of treaties and alliances between cities controlled by Burgundy and Berne. |
1328 | Purchase of the city of Thun. |
1339 | Battle of Laupen (rural gentry resists the city). |
1353 | Berne joins the Confederation: "eternal alliance with the Founding Cantons". |
1386 | Battle of Sempach (territorial expansion: Seeland and Oberland). |
1397 | Trade agreement with Lombardy through the Bernese Oberland. |
1415 | Conquest of Aargau with the other Confederates. |
1421 | Justinger writes chronicle of Berne. |
1445 | Oberland peasants revolt against Berne. |
1474 - 1477 | Burgundy Wars (1476 Battle of Murten). First conquests in the Romandie. |
1499 - 1515 | Milanese military campaigns (Bernese fight against Bernese). |
1515 | Luther's book of the Indulgence is published in Berne. |
1528 | Introduction of the Reformation (destruction of many artifacts in the Bernese cathedral). |
1536 | Conquest of Vaud (taken from Savoy). |
1591 - 1646 | Tax unrests. |
1648 | Separation from the German Empire. |
1653 | Peasant War. |
1654 | Due to the indebtedness of the Count of Greyerz, various territories are taken over by Berne. |
1664 | Berne returns Savoy territories. |
1798 | Invasion by the French revolution army. Fall of the old Berne. |
1803 | Napoleon’s Mediation Act gives Berne a new constitution. |
1814/1815 | Fall of Napoleon. The Bernese patricians return to power and grab control over a large part of the old diocese of Basel during the Congress of Vienna. |
1831 | End of the patrician rule over the State. Liberal, representative-democratic Constitution. |
1846 | Radical Constitution. |
1848 | Selection of Berne as Federal Capital. |
1852 | Beginning of the development of the railroad network, in parts as Bernese State Railroads. |
1848 | Completion of the Federal Parliament Building, first National Exhibition. |
1868 - 1891 | First Jura-waters correction. |
1874 | Civil marriage becomes mandatory. |
1877/78 | Governmental crisis, resignation of the Cantonal Government as consequence of a financial affair triggered by bad railroad investments. |
1881 | Berne receives the first national telephone system. |
1893 | New Constitution. |
1895 | National Library in Berne: the Helvetica Collection. |
1897 | Establishment of the National Farmer's Association (Bauernverband). |
1898 | Construction of the Hagneck power station, origin of "Bernische Kraftwerke AG (BKW)" (Bernese power plant corporation). Opening of the Swiss National Museum. |
1902 | Inauguration of the extension to the Federal Parliament Building. |
1907 | Swiss National Bank in Berne. |
1911 | Lötschbergtunnel breakthrough. |
1913 | Opening the Bernese Alpine Railroad (BLS) through the Lötschbergtunnel. |
1914 | 2nd Swiss National Exhibition in Berne. |
1918 | Establishment of the Farmers, Trade and Citizen’s Party (Bauern-, Gewerbe- und Bürgerpartei, BGB) by Rudolf Minger. |
1922 | First elections to the Canton Parliament according to the system of proportional representation. |
1925 | Start of construction for the Oberhasli power plants. |
1928 | 1st Swiss Exhibition for women workers in Berne. |
1947 | Moeckli Affair and beginning of the arguments between people faithful to Berne and separatists in the Bernese Jura. |
1959 | Scanty refusal of a people's initiative for a popular vote on the separation of the Bernese Jura - which was approved in the districts of Delemont, Franches-Montagnes and Porrentruy. |
1962 | Opening of the first highway section in the canton of Berne (Berne-Schönbühl). |
1962 - 1973 | Second Jura-water correctionn. |
1968 | Introduction of women’s voting rights at the district level. |
1970 | Jura receives the right for self-governement. |
1972 | Start-up of the nuclear power plant in Muehleberg. |
1974 - 1975 | Popular votes on Jura self-governement. |
1979 | Establishment of the Canton of Jura, consisting of the three northern districts Delemont, Franches-Montagnes and Porrentruy, which are detached from the Canton of Berne. |
1984 | Financial scandal, triggered by auditor Rudolf Hafner. |
1986 | Election of Leni Robert as the first female Governing Councilor of the Canton of Berne. |
1992 | Completion of the project to double the tracks for the entire Lötschberg railroad. |
1993 | Acceptance by the voters of the new Cantonal Constitution. Effective as of 1.1.1995. |
1994 | New law for the political cooperation of the Bernese Jura and the French speaking minority of Biel-Bienne; the Regional Council replaces the Association of Municipalities of the Bernese Jura. |
1994 | The district of Laufen transfers to the Canton of Basel-Country (BL). |
1996 | The municipality of Vellerat, previously part of the district of Moutier in the Bernese Jura, transfers to the Canton of Jura. |
1996/97 | Judicial reform and reorganisation of the district administration. |
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