Place:Zug, Switzerland

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The canton of Zug, also Zoug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: , ,) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. It is located in central Switzerland and its capital is Zug. At the canton is one of the smallest of the Swiss cantons in terms of area. It is not subdivided into districts, but eleven municipalities.

History

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The first trace of a settlement in the canton dates from approximately 14,000 BC, with additional finds from the Paleolithic (12,400-9250 BC) and the Mesolithic (9250-5500 BC). During the Neolithic (5500-2200 BC) and the Bronze Age (2200-850 BC) about 50 different stilt house villages were built in 33 locations around Lake Zug. Some of these sites are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. Prehistoric sites around the lake and throughout the canton include examples from the Neolithic Egolzwiler, Cortaillod, Pfyn and Horgen cultures. Traces of the later Neolithic Bell Beaker and Corded Ware cultures as well as the early Bronze Age are less common. There were several large later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements. On the Baarburg the ruins of an Iron Age celtic prince's castle from about 500 BC contained Greek ceramics and etruscan metal vessels. Some of the names around the canton are possibly celtic in origin including Baar, Cham, Lorze, Sihl and possibly Reuss.^[1]

After the Roman conquest the area was home to as many as ten Villa rustica. In addition to a number of coin hoards, graves and ruins, a collection of 23 terracotta religious statues were discovered in Cham. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the area was incorporated into the Frankish Empire in 536/37. During the Early Middle Ages a number of parish churches were founded in the canton as the population grew. A settlement existed near the present location of Zug Castle and Cham by the 9th or 10th century. The city of Zug was founded in the first half of the 13th century.^[1]

Near the southern shore of the lake of Ägeri is the site of the Battle of Morgarten, won by the Swiss in 1315.^[2] In this battle the powerful Habsburgs were defeated. The hamlet of Morgarten (Municipality of Oberägeri) borders the canton of Schwyz and is home to the Morgarten Battle Monument. The actual battlefield is just across the border in the hamlet of Schornen (Municipality of Sattel) in the canton of Schwyz.

During the 1798 French Invasion its inhabitants opposed the invading army until the collapse of the Ancien Regime. The canton formed part of the Tellgau and was later a district of the large canton of the Waldstätten in the French supported Helvetic Republic.^[2] The canton of Waldstätten also included what are today the cantons of Schwyz, Lucerne, Unterwalden and Uri.

In 1803, under the Act of Mediation, the canton of Zug regained its independence as a separate canton. The constitution of 1814 abolished public assemblies (Landsgemeinde), which had existed in the canton since 1376. In 1845 the canton of Zug became a member of the Sonderbund and participated in the war of 1847 which was lost to the Swiss Confederation. In 1848 the remaining functions of the Landsgemeinde were abolished. Both in 1848 and in 1874 the canton voted against the federal constitutions. The constitution of 1876 was amended in 1881, and replaced by a new one in 1894.

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