The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland that aims to take into account the results of modern historical research in a manner accessible to a broader audience. Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon, 1902 An encyclopedia, encyclopaedia or (traditionally) encyclopædia,[1] is a comprehensive written compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. ... Since 1848, the Swiss Confederation has been a federal state of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the worlds oldest surviving republics. ...

The encyclopedia is published by a foundation under the patronage of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW/ASSH) and the Swiss Historical Society (SGG-SHH) and is financed by national research grants. Besides a staff of 30 at the central offices, the contributors include 100 academic advisors, 2500 historians and 100 translators. Look up Foundation on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Foundation may refer to: A type of makeup. ...

Print edition

The encyclopedia is being edited simultaneously in three national languages of Switzerland: German (Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz - HLS), French (Dictionnaire Historique de la Suisse - DHS) and Italian (Dizionario Storico della Svizzera - DSS). The first of 12 volumes was published in 2002. An additional volume per year is planned. A single volume with a selection of articles will be published in Romansh (Lexicon Istoric Retic - LIR). Romansh (also spelled Rumantsch, Romansch or Romanche) is any of the various Rhaetian languages spoken in Switzerland. ...

The 40,000 headings are grouped in:

1. Biographies
2. Articles on families
3. Articles on places (municipalities, cantons, other nation states, fortresses, archeological sites)
4. Subject articles (historical phenomena and terms, institutions, events)

Online edition

The online edition is available since 1998. It makes accessible, for free, all articles ready for publication in print, but no illustrations. It also lists all 40,000 topics that are to be covered.

References

• Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS), Schwabe AG, Basel, ISBN 3-7965-1900-8 (2002-)
• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), Editions Gilles Attinger, Hauterive, ISBN 2-88256-133-4 (2002-)
• Dizionario storico della Svizzera (DSS), Armando Dadò editore, Locarno, ISBN 88-8281-100-X (2002-)

External links

• DHS/HLS/DSS online edition in German, French, Italian
• Lexicon Istoric Retic (LIR) online edition in Romansh