Editing Solothurn (section)

==History==

===Pre-Roman settlement===
The oldest finds from Solothurn probably date from the [[Paleolithic]] era. The remains of a [[Mesolithic]] camp were discovered in 1986 during renovations of the former ''Kino Elite'' building. From the [[Neolithic]], [[Bronze Age|Bronze]] and [[Iron Age]], only a few scattered items have been discovered.<ref>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-1-->|Solothurn – Prehistoric Solothurn}}</ref>

===Roman settlement===
[[File:Picswiss SO-19-21.jpg|thumb|left|Modern Wengi bridge; the Roman bridge was north of this point.]]

The [[Switzerland in the Roman era|Roman]] settlement at Solothurn was probably built around AD 15–25 as a road station and bridge head on the road from [[Aventicum]] to [[Augusta Raurica]] or [[Vindonissa]]. A small [[vicus]] or settlement quickly developed around the [[castrum]]. Solothurn is first mentioned in 219 as ''vico salod[uro]''<ref name=HDS/> on the so-called Eponastein. The name may indicate either that a [[Celts|Celtic]] settlement existed on the site before or just be a testimony to the mixed [[Gallo-Roman culture]] in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire.<ref name=HDS_Roman>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-2-->|Solothurn – Roman Empire}}</ref> It came to be known as ''Salodurum'', this name believed to derive from a Celtic language, possibly meaning "Salo's fort," from the personal name Salo + Proto-Celtic *''dūnom'', meaning "fort" or "stronghold," likely influenced by the Latin ''durus'', meaning "hard" or "strong," as in other place names. Its strategical importance lay in the position at the approach to the Rhine from southeast. In the 2nd–3rd century AD, the vicus expanded rapidly to fill almost all of what is now the old town of Solothurn, including a portion of today's suburb south of the [[Aare]].<ref name=HDS_Roman/>

The Roman bridge was probably somewhat above the current Wengibrücke. The Roman era river bed was {{convert|40|-|80|m|ft|sp=us}} north of the present Aare. The main street of the Vicus was well below the present main street. In addition to the normal government of the settlement, there were two mayors (magistri), and a six-member college (seviri Augustales), which was entrusted with supporting the [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|imperial cult]]. Salodurum was also home to a guard detachment of the [[Legio XXII Primigenia|XXII Legion]], whose high command was stationed in [[Mainz]] in Germany. According to inscriptions, there was a temple of Jupiter, a temple of Apollo Augustus and an altar to the goddess of horses [[Epona]], who was popular in the Roman military and of Celtic origin. However, the locations of those three temples is not known. There was bath house on the main street and a pottery district in the northwest of the town which have been documented archaeologically. A cemetery with urns and cremation burials on the eastern end of the Vicus was discovered in 1762–63 during the demolition of the old church of St. Ursus. In addition, two Roman tombs were discovered in the same area.<ref name=HDS_Roman/>

Around 325–350, the unfortified settlement along the road was transformed into a fortified camp or castrum, which covered only half of the former settlement area. A {{convert|2|-|3|m|ft|sp=us}} thick and {{convert|9|m|ft|abbr=on}} high wall was built around the settlement. The new, fortified town was bell-shaped, and is still visible in the [[cadastral]] map of the town. At various points in the town, large and small pieces of the old Roman wall are still visible in the houses of the old town. The location of a gate in the north and a tower in the south-east corner are known and it is likely that there were additional gates and towers. Almost nothing is known about the buildings inside the walls.<ref name=HDS_Early_MA>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-3-->|Solothurn – Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages}}</ref>

===Early Middle Ages===
[[File:Hl Victor von Solothurn.jpg|thumb|left|upright|St. Victor of Solothurn]]
In the [[Early Middle Ages]] there were two settlement centres, a secular settlement in the former castrum and a religious settlement on the grounds of the late-Roman cemeteries outside the walls. Both the religious histories and archeological discoveries indicate that both areas remained inhabited continuously into the Early Middle Ages. The former chapel of St. Stephen inside the castrum was built on the foundation of an earlier, late-Roman building. A burial memorial in the cemetery of the nearby St. Peter's Chapel dates to around the collapse of the Roman Empire. By the middle of the 5th century, St. [[Eucherius of Lyon]] mentions the martyrdom of St. [[Ursus of Solothurn|Ursus]] and St. [[Victor of Solothurn|Victor]] and a cult of saints in Solothurn. About 500 AD, the [[Burgundians|Burgundian]] Princess Sedeleuba took the bones of St. Victor to [[Geneva]], while the bones of St. Ursus remained in Solothurn. The church dedicated to the veneration of Saint Ursus is first mentioned in 870.<ref name=HDS_Early_MA/>

===Medieval city===
[[File:Solothurn Stumpf.jpg|thumb|Solothurn in 1548]]
During the Early Middle Ages, Solothurn was part of the Kingdom of [[Lotharingia]] (Lorraine). After the collapse of Lotharingia, it became part of the [[Second Kingdom of Burgundy]]. In 1033, the Kingdom of Burgundy became part of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and Solothurn gained some independence. In 1038, [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]] held court at Solothurn and there crowned his son, [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]] King of Burgundy. The royal court resided in Solothurn on several occasions until 1052, however, there is no evidence of a permanent royal palace. In 1127, it was acquired by the dukes of [[House of Zähringen|Zähringen]]. Under the rule of the Zähringens, in 1146, Solothurn's coins are first mentioned. In 1182, ''causidicus'' or Zähringen appointed judges first appeared in Solothurn. After the extinction of the Zähringer line in 1218 it became a [[free imperial city]] under the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1252, the town council and [[Schultheiss]] or mayor became mostly independent and had their own town seals.<ref name=HDS_independent>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-4-->|Solothurn – The city becomes independent}}</ref> In 1251 it was mentioned as ''saluerre'' and in 1275 as ''Solotren''.<ref name=HDS/> Starting around 1200, there was a council of nobles in the town.

In 1252, a group of nobles that could witness and support deeds, known as ''consuls et cives Solodorenses'', first appears in the town. Initially the nobles exercised power over the entire town. However, the [[guild]] movement of the 14th century resulted in a reduction in the power of the nobles and also a restricted guild system in Solothurn. By around 1350, an eleven-member ''Altrat'' (Council of Elders) and a 22-member ''Jungrat'' (Younger Council) existed in the city. Each of the eleven guilds were represented by a member of the ''Altrat'' and two members of the ''Jungrat''. These 33 councillors exercised, together with the mayor, the power of government and helped appoint lawmakers. The members of the two councils were elected each year by the citizens of the city, after which the councils and mayor appointed many of the government officials. The noble families retained some power as the guilds became part of the town council. However, in 1459 the last noble family died out and positions on the council fell to wealthy farmers, butchers and millers.<ref name=HDS_government>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-5-->|Solothurn – City Government}}</ref>

Until the [[pogrom]] on 1348 during an outbreak of the [[Plague (disease)|plague]], there was a small Jewish community in Solothurn.<ref name=HDS_Economy>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-8-->|Solothurn – Economy}}</ref>

Over the 13th to 15th centuries, the citizens of the city slowly emancipated themselves from the higher nobility. In 1276 and 1280 Emperor [[Rudolph I of Germany|Rudolf I]] codified the previously poorly defined rights of the city and granted it the privilege ''de non Evocando'' or the right that their citizens were protected from trial in foreign courts. In 1344 Solothurn acquired the right to appoint their own Schultheiss from the Count of Buchegg, which was confirmed by Emperor [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] in 1360. In 1409, Emperor [[Rupert, King of Germany|Ruprecht]] extended the ''de non Evocando'' privilege to include the royal High Court as well.<ref name=HDS_independent/>

As the city grew in power, it bound the Monastery of St. Ursus more closely to the city. In 1251 the city defeated claims made by the Monastery on the right to appoint the Schultheiss. Shortly after the acquisition of the right to the Schultheiss office in 1344, the city came into possession of the [[vogt]] right over the Monastery by granting citizenship rights to the former vogt (bailiff), Burkhard Senn the Elder. In 1512–20 the city received the right to appoint [[Canon (priest)|canons]] and [[Provost (religion)|provosts]] from the [[Pope]].<ref name=HDS_independent/>

After the alliance with [[Bern]] in 1295, it became part of the [[Swiss Confederation]]. In 1382 the [[Habsburg]]s attacked the city, involving Solothurn in the [[Battle of Sempach]]. By the treaty of two years later, the Habsburgs renounced all claims to the territory of the city. The latter was expanded by acquisition of neighbouring lands in the 15th century, roughly up to the today's canton area.

In 1481, it obtained full membership in the Swiss Confederation.

===Buildings in the medieval city===
[[File:Zentralbibliothek Solothurn - Armoiries de Soleure Die Statt Solothurn 1606 - aa0257.tif|thumbnail|left|17th-century coat of arms of the city.]]
Before 1200 there was a Zähringer fortified tower north of the Monastery of St. Ursus. In the first half of the 13th century, a city wall was built around the area of the former castrum as well as the adjoining industrial area to the east and the churches of St. Peter and St. Urs. Near the Monastery of St. Ursus, a [[Franciscan]] monastery was built, and after 1280 it formed the northern city wall on the eastern part of the city. In 1532, the French embassy with a church and stately home was built in the eastern half of the city. In the western part of Solothurn, the town hall was built. First it was along the main street and in 1476 it moved south of the Franciscan monastery. A main market place grew up along the main street, and in the first half of the 17th century it moved to the northern banks of the Aare. The town hall, market place and clock tower formed the political and economic centre of city life.<ref name=HDS_Construction>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 3-6-->|Solothurn – Public and private buildings in the city}}</ref>

===Early modern Solothurn===
[[File:Solothurn Baseltor.JPG|thumb|upright|The Basel gate was added in the 16th century]]
[[File:Herrliberger Solothurn.jpg|thumb|Solothurn in 1757]]
The medieval cooperative election of the mayor and councillors led to the creation of a nearly hereditary [[oligarchy]] by the 15th century. By the second half of the 16th century, the political voice of citizens was nearly totally suppressed. By the second half of the 17th century, the government was run by a small group of [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|patrician]]s. The oligarchs were weakened in the 18th century, when in 1718–21 the city council managed to regain some powers. However, in 1682, a new citizenship law prevented wealthy families who had moved into Solothurn from becoming members of the council. While this law reduced the number of people who could be on the city council, the introduction of a secret ballot procedure in 1764 and measures against vote-buying in 1774 allowed more and more non-patrician [[:wikt:burgher|burgher]]s to join the council.<ref name=HDS_government/>

During the heyday of the patricians in the 17th and 18th centuries, a number of elegant town houses (Reinert House 1692–93, [[Palais Besenval]] 1703–06) and summer residences outside the city (Sommerhaus Vigier 1648–50, [[Waldegg Castle]] 1682–86 (now in nearby [[Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus]]), [[Steinbrugg Castle]] 1665–68 and [[Blumenstein Castle]] 1725–28) were built. A number of new public buildings were also added including; the Arsenal (1610–19), the town hall with its north staircase tower (1632–34) and its eastern façade (Archive tower 1624, completed 1703–14), the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] church (1680–89), the new Ambassadorenhof (1717–24), the Holy Spirit Hospital in a suburb (1735–1800) and the new [[Classicism|classicist]] Church of St. Ursus (1763–90). In the 16th century the town walls were reinforced with the Basel gate and three round towers.<ref name=HDS_Construction/>

Between 1667 and 1727, following plans by Francesco Polatta, Jacques Le Prestre Tarade and Sébastien de Vauban, the city built fortifications with eleven full and half [[bastion]]s. The new city wall increased the size of the city by including the eastern suburb of Kreuzacker. Until the 18th century, prisoners were housed in the towers of the medieval and early modern fortifications store. Between 1753 and 1761 a new prison was built outside the city walls, which remained in use into the 20th century. A gallows was first mentioned in 1460 and was located northeast of the city near Feldbrunnen. A second gallows was located to the southwest of the city.<ref name=HDS_Construction/>

From 1530 to 1792 it was the seat of the [[France|French]] [[ambassador (diplomacy)|ambassador]] to Switzerland.

The early modern period in Solothurn ended, as in the rest of Switzerland, with the [[Switzerland in the Napoleonic era|French invasion]] in 1798.

===Modern Solothurn===
[[File:Solothurn um 1900.jpg|thumb|Solothurn in 1900]]
Following the capitulation of Solothurn on 2 March 1798, the French General [[Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg]] set up a provisional government on the following day. The new government met in April to set up the new constitution. The eleven old ''Vogtei'' (baillywicks) were replaced by five districts: Solothurn, Biberist, Balsthal, Olten, and Dornach. The municipal [[Bürgergemeinde]] laid claim to the assets of the defunct city-state and in 1801 it received the ''Sönderungsconvention'', large estates and extensive forest land outside the town. In 1831 the cantonal parliament withdrew all political power from the eleven city guilds. Over the following years (1831–1842) all the guilds were dissolved. Due to the municipal law of 1859, the enforcement of the [[Swiss Federal Constitution|Federal Constitution]] of 1874 and the Cantonal Constitution of 1875, an ''Einwohnergemeinde'' was created. The ''Einwohnergemeinde'' included all residents of the town, as opposed to the more limited ''Bürgergemeinde''. The division of property between residents and the Bürgergemeinde proved to be lengthy and could not be completed until 1978 and then only with the help of the Executive Council.<ref name=HDS_19_20>{{HDS|1174<!--Section 1-1-->|Political developments in the 19th and 20th Centuries}}</ref>

In 1828 Solothurn became the seat of the [[Bishop of Basel]].

Since 1897, the municipal council has been elected by proportional voting and consists of 30 members and 15 alternate members. As the executive body, it elects the council commission (seven members). Mayor and Vice-Mayor are elected by the people. The municipal assembly is the legislative body. The composition of the council remained remarkably stable between 1917 and 1973. The [[Free Democratic Party of Switzerland|Liberals]] held an average of 60% of the seats, the [[Social Democratic Party of Switzerland|Social Democrats]] and the [[Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland|Conservative People's Party]] (CVP today), about 20% each. In 1970, the municipality granted voting rights for women. With the emergence of new parties, the Liberals lost its dominant position. 2009, the FDP 30%, SP 23%, CVP 23%, the Greens 17% and 7% of the votes go to the SVP.<ref name=HDS_19_20/>

Rock band [[Krokus (band)|Krokus]] was formed in Solothurn in 1974.