SOLOTHURN (Fr. Soleure), the capital of the Swiss can ton of that name, an ancient little town, situated on the river Aar. In 1930 it had 13,484 inhabitants, almost all German-speak ing, with a small Catholic majority. A i6th-century rhyme claims for the town of Solothurn the fame of being the oldest place in "Celtic" save Trier. Certainly its name, "Salodurum," is found in Roman inscriptions and the remains of the Roman "castrum" still exist. Its position as commanding the approach to the Rhine from the south-west has led to its being more than once strongly fortified. The mediaeval town grew up round the house of secular canons founded in the loth century in honour of St. Ursus and St. Victor by Queen Bertha, the wife of Rudolph II., king of Burgundy. The prior and canons had many rights over the town; but in 1218 it became a free imperial city, and in 1252 shook off the jurisdiction of the canons and took them under its protection. In 1295 we find it allied with Bern, and this connection is the key to its later history. In the 14th century the government of the town fell into the hands of the gilds, whose members practically filled all the public offices. Through Bern, Solothurn was drawn into association with the Swiss Confederation. An attempt to surprise it in 1382, made by the Habsburgs, was foiled, and resulted in the admittance of Solothurn in 1385 into the Swabian League and in its sharing in the Sempach War. It was included in the Sempach ordinance of 1393 and in the great treaty of by which the Habsburgs renounced their claims to all territories within the Confederation. In 1411 Solothurn sought in vain to be admitted into the Confederation, a privilege only granted to it in 1481 at the diet of Stans. It was also in the 15th century that by purchase or conquest the town acquired the main part of the terri tories forming the present canton. In 1529 the majority of the "communes" went over to the reformed faith, and men were sent to fight on Zwingli's side at Kappel (1531), but in 1533 the old faith regained its sway, and in 1586 Solothurn was a member of the Golden, or Borromean, League. Solothurn was the usual
residence of the French ambassador from 1530 to 1797. From 1681 onwards, it had an aristocratic form of government ; but this was finally broken down in 1831, Solothurn in 1832 joining the league to guarantee the maintenance of the new cantonal constitu tions. Though distinctly a Roman Catholic canton, it did not join the "Sonderbund," and voted in favour of the federal constitu tions of 1848 and The position of Solothurn at the foot of the Jura and close to the navigable portion of the Aar has always made it a meeting point of various routes. Six railway lines now branch thence. Its chief building is the minster of SS. Ursus and Victor, which dates from the 18th century, though it stands on the site of a far older edifice. Since 1828 it has been the cathedral church of the bishop of Basel. The ancient clock tower and the older portions of the town-hall date still further back. The early 17th century arsenal contains the finest collection of armour and old weapons in Swit zerland, while the modern museum houses a splendid collection of fossils from the Jura, rocks collected by F. J. Hugi (1796— 1855), a native of Soleure, and a Madonna by the younger Holbein. The building now used as the cantonal school was the residence of the French ambassadors to the Swiss confederation from 1530 to 1797. There are some fine 16th century foun tains in the town, which in its older portions still keeps much of its mediaeval aspect, though in the modern suburbs and in the neighbouring villages there is a certain amount of industrial ac tivity (watch-making, motor manufactures, etc.). One mile N. of the town is the Hermitage of St. Verena, in a striking rock gorge, above which rises the Weissenstein ridge.
See K. Meisterhaus, Kurze Entwicklungsgeschichte der Stadt Solo thurn (1895).