"LEGEND'S WERE MADE AT ALTDORF" Altdorf by balhannah

THIS IS WILHEM TELL COUNTRY.

Do you know the story?

I will tell you about the legend...............

William Tell was born at nearby Burglen, and was known as an expert shot with the crossbow.

During this time, the Habsburg emperors of Austria were seeking to dominate the Canton of Uri and Altdorf.

Albrecht Gessler, the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf, raised a pole in the village's central square, hung his hat on top of it, and demanded that all the citizens bow before the hat.

When Tell passed by the hat without bowing to it, he was arrested.

His punishment was to shoot an apple off the head of his son, Walter, otherwise, both would be executed.

Tell was promised freedom if he successfully made the shot.

Old building @ Altdorf

On November 18, 1307, Tell split an apple on his son's head with a bolt from his crossbow.

Gessler noticed that, before the shot, Tell had removed two crossbow bolts from his quiver, not one, and after the shot, asked him why.

Tell replied that if he had killed his son, he would have turned the crossbow on Gessler himself.

Gessler was angered, had Tell bound, and then had Tell brought to his ship to be taken to his castle at Kussnacht.

A storm broke on Lake Lucerne, and Tell managed to escape.

He went by land to Kussnacht, and when Gessler arrived, William Tell shot him.

William Tell's defiance sparked a rebellion, in which he played a leading part.

The struggle eventually led to the formation of the Swiss Confederation.

Tell is said to have fought again against Austria, in the 1315 Battle of Morgarten.

Wilhelm Tell died in 1354, while trying to rescue a drowning child from a river in Uri.

Altdorf

Nobody know's whether he is fact or fiction, but the story is known Worldwide.

He is the symbol of Swiss pride, courage, and the Swiss national hero of liberty.

William Tell will ALWAYS be a real-life hero, and he will live on, in the hearts and minds of Swiss people, forever

After reading this page, if you wish to follow my journey through Switzerland, please click on the town link below.

ANDERMATT