Eidgenossenschaft

Eidgenossenschaft (German pronunciation: [ˈaɪdɡəˌnɔsənʃaft]) is a German word meaning confederation. 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.

As a political term, it is used most often as a synonym for Switzerland, whose official German name is "Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft", usually translated as Swiss Confederation. The oath referred to is the Rütlischwur, the three men recorded as taking the oath on August 1, 1291 historiographic tradition are the Three Confederates (Drei Eidgenossen).

An Eidgenosse (literally: comrade by oath) is a member of an Eidgenossenschaft, and is an expression for "Swiss citizen".

The related adjective, eidgenössisch, officially translated as Swiss federal, is used in the name of organisations, for example the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

In a historical context, Eidgenossenschaft typically refers to the medieval Swiss Confederacy, which grew from the 13th to the 16th century in central Europe, persisted until 1798 and then evolved into a federal state in the 19th century. When used in this sense, the eternal nature of the pact is necessary—the members of the Dreizehn Orte (Thirteen Lieus), as they called themselves, frequently made time-limited alliances sworn by oath with other partners, but such pacts were not considered an Eidgenossenschaft.

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