Table Of Content“Jung is an outstanding storyteller. Here he offers up an economic,
transport, tourism and emigration history of Switzerland, well embed-
ded in its context. The work is easy to read; Jung captivates the reader
with his tales of the successes and failures of his pioneers.”
Michael Kitzing, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Germany
“This book presents the brilliant transformation of Switzerland in the
19th century, in which this country and its political system surpassed
most other European nations in democratic progress.”
Holger Böhning, Jahrbuch für Kommunikationsgeschichte
“An excellent, carefully illustrated and excitingly written panorama of
an important chapter in Swiss history.”
Jürg Müller, Schweizer Revue
The Laboratory of Progress
The Laboratory of Progress: Switzerland in the 19th Century tells the
improbable story of how a small, backward, mountainous agricultural
country with almost no raw materials became an industrial powerhouse,
a hub of innovation, a touristic mecca and a pioneer in transportation –
all in the course of a single century.
That a tiny landlocked country should become a dominant steamship
builder for the rest of the world; that a country that had never seen a cot-
ton plant should become the world’s second-largest textile producer; that
a country with hardly any level terrain should come to boast the world’s
most highly developed railway network; and that a country whose main
export was impoverished emigrants should be transformed into one of
the world’s major financial centres – these astonishing developments,
among many others, are explored and explained, both through the spe-
cific stories of individual innovators and through a prescient analysis of
the political, economic, societal and cultural structures that formed the
context in which Switzerland’s astonishing transformation took place.
The book is a compelling read both for professional historians and for
general readers with an interest in Switzerland; it highlights the roles of
transport networks and individual pioneers in industrial and political
development.
Joseph Jung is Professor Emeritus at the University of Fribourg and the
author of bestselling biographies of the preeminent Swiss politician Al-
fred Escher and his daughter Lydia Welti-Escher, among many other
works. He has received numerous awards for his pioneering research
into 19th-century Swiss economic and cultural history.
Routledge Studies in Modern European History
89 The End of Ottoman Rule in Bosnia
Conflicting Agencies and Imperial Appropriations
Hannes Grandits
90 Rethinking the History of Italian Fascism
Edited by Giulia Albanese
91 Deciphering the European Investment Bank
History, Politics and Economics
Edited by Lucia Coppolaro and Helen Kavvadia
92 European Integration and Disintegration
Essays from the Next Generation of Europe’s Thinkers
Edited by Nick Cohen and Ayana Dootalieva
93 The Laboratory of Progress
Switzerland in the Nineteenth Century, Volume 1
Joseph Jung
94 Border Regimes in Twentieth Century Europe
Péter Bencsik
95 Catalonia: A New History
Andrew Dowling
96 The Laboratory of Progress
Switzerland in the Nineteenth Century, Volume 2
Joseph Jung
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.
routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Modern-European-History/
book-series/SE0246
The Laboratory of Progress
Switzerland in the Nineteenth Century,
Volume 2
Joseph Jung
Translated by Ashley Curtis
First published in English 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
English language translation © 2023 Ashley Curtis
The right of Joseph Jung to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The right of Ashley Curtis to be identified as translator of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
2nd, revised edition published in German by Schwabe Verlagsgruppe
AG 2020.
© 2019 NZZ Libro, Schwabe Verlagsgruppe AG, and Joseph
Jung, Walchwil/Zug.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jung, Joseph, 1955- author. | Curtis, Ashley, translator.
Title: The laboratory of progress : Switzerland in the nineteenth
century / Joseph Jung ; translated by Ashley Curtis.
Other titles: Laboratorium des Fortschritts. English
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Series: Routledge studies in modern European history ; 93 | Includes
bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022005671
(print) | LCCN 2022005672 (ebook) |
Subjects: LCSH: Switzerland—Economic conditions—19th century. |
Economic development—Switzerland—History—19th century.
Classification: LCC HC397 .J8613 2022 (print) | LCC HC397
(ebook) | DDC 330.9494—dc23/eng/20220330
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022005671
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022005672
ISBN: 978-1-032-15227-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-15228-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-24314-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003243144
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
For my son, Benedict Jung (1994–2020)
Contents
List of Figures xiii
List of Milestones xvii
Preface xix
Acknowledgements xxi
1 Lifelines: Interconnecting Systems 1
1.1 Starting Points and Foundations 1
1.1.1 The Tracks of Progress 1
1.1.2 Transport Systems on Waterways 4
1.1.3 Conflicting Interests on Lake Lucerne 7
1.2 The Interlinking of Transport Systems 11
1.2.1 It Was a Light-Hearted Journey:
Parliamentarians on Their Way Home, 1853 11
1.2.2 Connecting Railways and Waterways 12
1.2.2.1 Train Ferries 13
1.2.3 Connecting Boats and Stagecoaches, Through-
Trains and Mountain Railways: The Gotthard
Route and the Rigi 18
1.2.4 Alpine Roads and Stagecoaches 19
1.3 The Development of Railway Tourism 21
1.3.1 All Aboard! 21
1.3.2 A Complex Network, Climbing Ever Higher
into the Tributary Valleys 23
1.3.3 Mountain Railways 24
1.3.4 Railway Access and the Development of
Tourism: Cantonal and Regional Differences 26
1.3.5 Mass Tourism and Technological
Development: The Rigi 33
1.3.6 Transport Infrastructure and Industrialisation 35
1.4 The Swiss Railway Project 38
1.4.1 A Modest Track Record Before 1848 38
1.4.2 The Railway Project Finds Political Expression in 1849 42
