Brightly coloured flags or banners displaying the arms and emblems of the Swiss cantons are strung across the traffic-free streets of the Altstadt or old town of Schaffhausen, beside the High Rhine in northern Switzerland. The ancient city retains many fine Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque guild or merchant houses with oriel windows and frescoed facades.
Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen canton, northern Switzerland: colourful flags or banners displaying the arms and emblems of the Swiss cantons are strung across the traffic-free streets of the Altstadt or old town, seen here from the battlements of the 16th century circular Munot fortress. The two flags hanging across the pedestrianised Vordergasse in this view, represent the central Swiss canton of Zug (blue horizontal stripe on white background) and the mainly German-speaking canton of Glarus (haloed pilgrim holding a staff and bible). Lining the Vordergasse are typical old Swiss town houses with long tiled roofs, attic windows and occasional stepped gables. The Altstadt also features remains of ancient city walls, fountain statues and fine Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque guild and merchant houses with oriel windows and external frescoes. Schaffhausen is one of four Swiss towns on the north side of the High Rhine. It was a city state in the Middle Ages, striking its own coins from 1045. Five years later, the counts of Nellenburg founded the monastery of All Saints and the town grew around it. It was an Imperial free city from about 1200 AD and in 1277, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf I gave it a charter of liberties. In 1330, Emperor Louis of Bavaria pledged Schaffhausen to the Hapsburgs, but their power waned and it eventually bought its independence. Schaffhausen then allied itself with some Swiss confederate states, becoming a full member of the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1501. The town was badly damaged by Swedish and Bavarian troops during the Thirty Years’ War of the early 1600s and its ancient Rhine bridge was destroyed by fire.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen canton, Switzerland
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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