Altdorf, Uri in the context of "A2 motorway (Switzerland)"

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⭐ Core Definition: Altdorf, Uri

Altdorf (Swiss Standard German pronunciation: [ˈaltˌdɔrf] ) is a municipality in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri and retains historic town privileges. It is the place where, according to the legend, William Tell shot the apple from his son's head.

Altdorf is situated on the right (eastern) bank of the Reuss, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of where the river discharges into the Urnersee, an arm of Lake Lucerne. It is at the junction of two major Alpine passes—Saint Gotthard to the south and the Klausen Pass to the east—and is the last station on the Gotthard railway before the line enters the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest railway tunnel.

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👉 Altdorf, Uri in the context of A2 motorway (Switzerland)

The A2 (the Gotthard Motorway) is a motorway in Switzerland. It forms Switzerland's main north–south axis from Basel to Chiasso, meandering with a slight drift toward the east. It lies on the Gotthard axis and crosses the Alps. Opened in 1955 under the name "Road Lucerne-south", A2 is one of the busiest motorways in Switzerland.

The A2 motorway leaves Basel heading south toward Olten, Sursee, Luzern, Stans, Altdorf, Erstfeld, Göschenen, Airolo, Biasca, Bellinzona, Lugano and reaches Chiasso. It intersects with the A1, A8, A13 and A14 motorways.

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Altdorf, Uri in the context of William Tell

William Tell (German: Wilhelm Tell, pronounced [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈtɛl] ; French: Guillaume Tell; Italian: Guglielmo Tell; Romansh: Guglielm Tell) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head.

According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, a tyrannical reeve of the Austrian dukes of the House of Habsburg positioned in Altdorf, in the canton of Uri. Tell's defiance and tyrannicide encouraged the population to open rebellion and to make a pact against the foreign rulers with neighbouring Schwyz and Unterwalden, marking the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy, of which Tell is consequently considered the father.

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Altdorf, Uri in the context of Albrecht Gessler

Albrecht Gessler, also known as Hermann, was a legendary 14th-century Habsburg bailiff (German: Landvogt) at Altdorf, whose brutal rule led to the William Tell rebellion and the eventual independence of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

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Altdorf, Uri in the context of Klausen Pass

Klausen Pass (German: Klausenpass; elevation: 1,948 metres or 6,391 feet) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting Altdorf in the canton of Uri with Linthal in the canton of Glarus. Somewhat unusually, the boundary between the two cantons does not lie at the summit of the pass, but some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) down the slope towards Linthal, with the summit being in Uri.

The Klausen Pass is crossed by a paved road, which has a length, between Altdorf and Linthal, of 46 kilometres (29 mi). The road approaches the summit from Altdorf via the Schächen Valley communities of Bürglen, Spiringen and Unterschächen, and descends to Linthal via the Urnerboden. The road is normally closed between October and May, due to the high snowfall on the pass. During the open period, a PostBus Switzerland service crosses the pass several times a day, connecting Fluelen station, on the Gotthard railway and Lake Lucerne, with Linthal station, the terminus of the railway line through Glarus.

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Altdorf, Uri in the context of Andermatt

Andermatt (Romansh: Ursera) is a mountain village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. At an elevation of 1,437 meters (4,715 ft) above sea level, Andermatt is located at the center of the Saint-Gotthard Massif and the historical center cross of north-south and east-west traverses of Switzerland. It is some 28 km (17 mi) south of Altdorf, the capital of Uri.

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