republic · Germany and Central Europe
Canton of Solothurn
Origins
Solothurn grew from the Roman settlement of Salodurum and the shrine of the martyrs Ursus and Victor. Under the Zähringen dukes it was a town of growing importance, and when their line died out in 1218 it became an imperial city. It built a rural territory and allied closely with neighbouring Bern.
Rule and society
Solothurn was ruled by patrician families through councils. It fought with the Swiss in the Burgundian Wars and was admitted to the Old Swiss Confederacy with Fribourg in 1481. After a brief period of division, it remained Catholic during the Reformation. From 1530 to 1792 it was the seat of the French ambassadors, whose presence brought money, French culture and baroque buildings, including St. Ursus Cathedral.
Decline and legacy
French troops occupied Solothurn in 1798 and it became part of the Helvetic Republic. Restored as a canton under the Act of Mediation in 1803, it remains a canton of Switzerland.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Canton of Solothurn was part of Old Swiss Confederacy1481 CE – 1798 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Canton of Solothurn. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-solothurn
- MLA
- “Canton of Solothurn.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-solothurn. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Canton of Solothurn.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-solothurn.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Canton of Solothurn’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/canton-of-solothurn (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻