Small Towns, Wisconsin Southwest Region Fall 2015 | Page 29

The Legend of

Wilhelm Tell
You’ve probably heard of William Tell – the expert marksman who shot an apple
off his son’s head. But have you heard the full story?
Our tale begins some seven hundred years ago. At the time, the cantons of the
Swiss Confederacy were under the direct authority of the Holy Roman Emperor,
and thus were largely autonomous. However, in the early 14th century, the
Austrian Habsburgs attempted to bring this region under their rule. The founding
cantons of the Swiss Confederacy – Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden – were able
to fight off the Hapsburgs to retain their independence.
As the legend goes, Tell - known as a strong man and an expert shot with the
crossbow - becomes one of the conspirators who vow to resist Hapsburg rule.
The newly appointed governor has his hat raised up on a pole in the center of
the village, and demands that all townsfolk bow before the hat as before the
governor himself. Tell refuses and the governor sentences him and his son to be
executed, with only one way out - they will be freed if Tell can shoot an apple
off his son’s head in a single shot. Tell succeeds, and the two are freed.
However, the governor notices that Tell has removed two bolts from his quiver,
rather than one; when requested, Tell admits that if he had killed his son, he
would have used the second bolt on the governor. For this, Tell is imprisoned,
but escapes. He then assassinates the governor, igniting the rebellion that leads
to the formation of the Swiss Confederation.
The earliest printed version of the Tell story dates to the year 1507; in 1804,
Friedrich von Schiller wrote the very popular play Wilhelm Tell (Wilhelm being
the German version of the name). New Glarus has put on its own version of the
play every Labor Day weekend since 1938. Much has changed since then –
for one, the play was in German only for the first three years, and at another
location – while much has remained the same – several actors in this year’s
performance were also in the original 1938 performance!
The Wilhelm Tell festival is put on entirely by volunteers and includes bell ringers,
Swiss Miss dancers, alphorn players, and yodelers. Performers also included
horses, goats, and some very stubborn cows.

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New Glarus

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