Bold, defiant, self-determined - Nidwalden's path into modernity

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Nidwalden repeatedly resisted the pressure to adapt that the rest of Switzerland exerted on the mountain canton in the first half of the 19th century. Each time, Nidwalden rejected all national constitutions and in 1798 was even forced to join by military force. Stubborn Nidwaldeners? The reality is more complex. Alongside a fair amount of self-assertion, there was always also a struggle over the privileges of the ruling class. Backwater canton? Not at all. The small canton, which until better access to the railway and national road network in 1964 was geographically very isolated, also produced remarkable works thanks to progressive personalities: in 1860, for example, the first Acheregg bridge or, in 1965, a modern, nationally recognised constitution. And sometimes the Nidwaldeners seemed to decide against their own good sense: in 1954, for example, when they voted for connection to the national road network despite losing municipal autonomy and agricultural land. The permanent historical exhibition follows such events and offers an overview of the last 750 years in seven «Nidwaldner Geschichten».