What is the official German name for Switzerland, and what does it mean?

Matthew_07

Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft http://www.all-about-switzerland.info/official-name-confoederatio-helvetica-ch.html Eidgenossenschaft is a German word meaning confederation. As a political term, it is used most often as a synonym for Switzerland, whose official German name is "Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Federation May 15 08, 10:01 PM

author

Sometimes the word is translated "confederation", and that is of course what Switzerland in fact is. I would still want a more precise definition of the word. For example, it should refer to the English meaning of the word "Eid". May 15 08, 10:09 PM

triviapaul

"The term literally translates as "oath fellowship". An Eidgenossenschaft is a confederacy of equal partners, which can be individuals or groups such as states, formed by a pact sealed by a solemn oath. Such an alliance could be either time-limited or unlimited (or "eternal"). An important characteristic is that the partners were always considered equal, in contrast to the oath of fealty in feudal societies with their strict hierarchies." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidgenossenschaft "The word Eid means oath, and Genosse means comrade. Eidgenosse literally means something like "comrade in oath". Its true meaning, a Swiss, comes from the 1291 foundation of the Swiss Confederation, where Cantonal representatives took an oath to come to each other's aid in case of attack." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidgenossen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%BCtlischwur May 16 08, 2:47 AM