Solothurn Switzerland Walking Tour | Discover the City in Details

Solothurn Switzerland Walking Tour | Discover the City in Details.

Solothurn is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains.

The town is the only municipality of the district of the same name.

The town got its name from Salodurum, a Roman-era settlement. From 1530 to 1792 it was the seat of the French ambassador to Switzerland. The pedestrian-only old town was built between 1530 and 1792 and shows an impressive array of Baroque architecture, combining Italian Grandezza, French style, and Swiss ideas. The town has eighteen structures listed as heritage sites.

The official language of Solothurn is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.

The oldest finds from Solothurn probably date from the Paleolithic era. The remains of a Mesolithic camp were discovered in 1986 during renovations of the former Kino Elite building. From the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age, only a few scattered items have been discovered.

The Roman settlement at Solothurn was probably built around AD 15-25 as a road station and bridge head on the road from Aventicum to Augusta Raurica or Vindonissa. A small vicus or settlement quickly developed around the castrum. Solothurn is first mentioned in 219 as vico salod[uro][4] on the so-called Eponastein. The name may indicate either that a Celtic settlement existed on the site before or just be a testimony to the mixed Gallo-Roman culture in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire.[5] It came to be known as Salodurum. Its strategical importance lay in the position at the approach to the Rhine from southeast. In the 2nd-3rd Century AD, the vicus expanded rapidly to fill almost all of what is now the old town of Solothurn, including a portion of today's suburb south of the Aare.[5]

The Roman bridge was probably somewhat above the current Wengibrücke. The Roman era river bed was 40–80 meters (130–260 ft) north of the present Aare. The main street of the Vicus was well below the present main street. In addition to the normal government of the settlement, there were two mayors (magistri), and a six-member college (seviri Augustales), which was entrusted with supporting the imperial cult. Salodurum was also home to a guard detachment of the XXII Legion, whose high command was stationed in Mainz in Germany. According to inscriptions, there was a temple of Jupiter, a temple of Apollo Augustus and an altar to the goddess of horses Epona, who was popular in the Roman military and of Celtic origin. However, the locations of those three temples is not known. There was bath house on the main street and a pottery district in the northwest of the town which have been documented archaeologically. A cemetery with urns and cremation burials on the eastern end of the Vicus was discovered in 1762–63 during the demolition of the old church of St. Ursus. In addition, two Roman tombs were discovered in the same area.

Following the capitulation of Solothurn on 2 March 1798, the French General Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg set up a provisional government on the following day. The new government met in April to set up the new constitution. The eleven old Vogtei (baillywicks) were replaced by five districts: Solothurn, Biberist, Balsthal, Olten, and Dornach. The municipal Bürgergemeinde laid claim to the assets of the defunct city-state and in 1801 it received the Sönderungsconvention, large estates and extensive forest land outside the town. In 1831 the cantonal parliament withdrew all political power from the eleven city guilds. Over the following years (1831–1842) all the guilds were dissolved. Due to the municipal law of 1859, the enforcement of the Federal Constitution of 1874 and the Cantonal Constitution of 1875, an Einwohnergemeinde was created. The Einwohnergemeinde included all residents of the town, as opposed to the more limited Bürgergemeinde.

In 1828 Solothurn became the seat of the Bishop of Basel.

Since 1897, the municipal council has been elected by proportional voting and consists of 30 members and 15 alternate members. As the executive body, it elects the council commission (seven members). Mayor and Vice-Mayor are elected by the people. The municipal assembly is the legislative body. The composition of the council remained remarkably stable between 1917 and 1973. The Liberals held an average of 60% of the seats, the Social Democrats and the Conservative People's Party (CVP today), about 20% each. In 1970, the municipality granted voting rights for women. With the emergence of new parties, the Liberals lost its dominant position. 2009, the FDP 30%, SP 23%, CVP 23%, the Greens 17% and 7% of the votes go to the SVP.

Rock band Krokus was formed in Solothurn in 1974.

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