republic · Germany and Central Europe
Canton of Schaffhausen
Origins
Schaffhausen grew around the Benedictine abbey of All Saints, founded in 1049, at the point where Rhine boats had to unload above the falls. Pledged to the Habsburgs in 1330, it regained imperial status in 1415, when Duke Frederick IV of Austria was outlawed during the Council of Constance, and afterwards bought out the remaining claims.
Rule and society
The guilds dominated the council from 1411. Schaffhausen lived from moving goods around the Rhine Falls, especially salt, wine and grain. It allied with the Confederates in 1454 and joined as the twelfth canton in 1501. It adopted the Reformed faith in 1529 and governed a rural territory north of the Rhine.
Decline and legacy
The old regime ended in 1798 with the Helvetic Republic, and the canton was restored in 1803. It remains a Swiss canton, the only one lying almost entirely north of the Rhine.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Canton of Schaffhausen was part of Holy Roman Empire1415 CE – 1648 CE
- Canton of Schaffhausen was part of Old Swiss Confederacy1501 CE – 1798 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Canton of Schaffhausen. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-schaffhausen
- MLA
- “Canton of Schaffhausen.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-schaffhausen. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Canton of Schaffhausen.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-schaffhausen.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Canton of Schaffhausen’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-schaffhausen (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻