The first settlers and the Romans

The first settlements in the Geneva area of ​​Lake Geneva took place around 3000 BC, but it was not until around 1000 BC that the area of ​​today’s Old Town was inhabited. Celtic tribes came to the area and settled, and they stayed here until the Romans in the year 121 BC. conquered the city.

The Romans expanded the city with, among other things, port facilities, which emphasized the strategic location of the city. The name Geneva, like Italian Genoa, also refers to its proximity to the water.

In the year 52 BC Rome’s Caesar ordered the settlement bridge over the Rhône destroyed so that conquerors from the north could not reach the city. Over the years, the Roman Empire was weakened, and Geneva did not continue to be Roman despite a positive development for the citizens, which also included the new building of a mighty church that manifested Geneva as the ecclesiastical center of the late 300s.

Capital of Burgundy

In the 400s the Germanic Burgundians came to the city. They established themselves in 443 and made Geneva the capital of Burgundy. It was a status that increased Geneva’s political significance. However, it lasted only a few decades, for in 467 the Burgundian king moved to Lyon.

The Burgundians also did not stand military, for they were overcome by advancing Franks who conquered the area in 534. Geneva was then incorporated into the French Merovingian kingdom.

Geneva power switch

At the beginning of the 11th century, the Burgundians returned to Geneva as a result of the crushing of the Kingdom of Charlemagne. In 1032, Geneva became part of the German Kingdom of Burgundy and the German Empire, which was decided by the last ruler, Rudolf III, who had no heirs to the throne.

Formally, the emperor was ruler, but the local counties were the real leaders for a time. At the end of the 11th century, the counties revolted over the church’s land and property, which ended with Count Amadeus III interceding with Pope Calixtus II to sign the Seyssel Agreement in 1124. The agreement establishes a new distribution of power in which the bishops gained power in the city and at the same time recognized the Counties.

Medieval trading town

In the 13th century, the Savoy’s tombs intervened. They gained power over Vaud and wanted to make Geneva their capital. Their influence led to citizens with merchants and artisans at the forefront rebelling against the power of bishops and, not least, taxation and trade requirements. The Counts of the Savoy got through some sort of meeting their demands, but continued under the bishops’ rule.

The bishops had been forced to grant more commercial rights to the city’s merchants, which, among other things, erected a common market hall and magazine building that served as a regional trading center. The trading booth had also been established with a council that met several times a year to, for example, set trade prices. These actions were the first in the direction of a municipal mindset that the church had to accept.

Fortifications and market town

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, Geneva was a city that, according to Roman models, had developed low and wide. This was changed with the decision on fortifications around the city center, which happened similarly across much of Europe.

With the marked increase in trade from the 13th century, many travelers come to the city, whose population also continues to rise. Geneva’s economic importance was emphasized in 1424, when the Medici family in Florence established a bank here. With the new activity and the new citizens, new neighborhoods are being built such as towards Saint-Plain Palace. However, the expansions were relatively modest in area as they remained within the city’s fortifications.

Trade and growth increased significantly to 1462, when the French king forbade French merchants to go to Geneva. It happened to favor Lyon, who grew at the expense of Geneva; a development that continued with many Italians’ choice of Lyon as their preferred trading town.

Swiss agreements

For centuries the regime was relatively stable in Geneva, but by the end of the 1400s the power of the Swiss cantonments had increased, and in 1477 Bishop Jean-Louis of the Savoy had to enter into an agreement with the cities of Bern and Friborg. It was interpreted as a strategic alliance and was the first formal agreement between the city and other current Swiss regions.

In the decades that followed, relations developed and supporters of a union with Switzerland emerged victorious from the fighting. In 1526, the bishops’ power ceased with a new agreement ensuring Geneva’s independence, and at that event a council was established in the city.

The Reformation and Jean Calvin

From 1526, German merchants brought with them Protestant thoughts from Germany, where Martin Luther’s thoughts initiated the Reformation.

The Reformation was thus underway, and it came seriously to Geneva in the 1530s. It came to be led by French Jean Calvin, who has since named the Calvinist Christian faith. Calvin made his way through Geneva in 1536, where his plan was to stay a single night. Guillaume Farel persuaded Calvin to stay in the city and reform the church there.

Calvin’s sermons aroused such enthusiasm and attracted so many people that Geneva was called Protestant Rome and thus one of the centers of the Reformation in Europe.

The time after the Reformation became very strictly Protestant in the form of a series of Puritan rules that defined the way of life of the people. Calvin focused on a pronounced accuracy combined with a diligence that became the start of the city’s rising and continuing prosperity.

From the mid-1500s and throughout the 1600s, many French and Italian Protestants immigrated to Geneva. They contributed to the stable economic development of the city.

Renewed attack, freedom and Napoleon

In December 1602, the Savoy-Piedmont armies attacked Geneva with support from Spain and the pope. Geneva’s armies were relatively small compared to the opponent’s roughly 2,000 soldiers who made a major surprise attack at night. Geneva had to fight hard, and the city kept the attackers from opening the city gates. With pressure from France and some Swiss cantons, a peace treaty was signed in 1603, and this was the last time the Savoy-Piedmont threatened Geneva.

The 18th century was a century in which Geneva’s industries developed by leaps and bounds and the banking system flourished as a result. It was also during this period that the high intellectual level of the city developed and attracted great philosophers such as Rousseau, who was born here in 1712, and Voltaire, who lived in the city of 1775-1778.

1792 was the year when the city’s aristocratic power began to cease. The thoughts of the French Revolution reached Geneva, and after two years all citizens were made equal to a revolutionary constitution.

During Napoleon’s French expansion, Geneva was incorporated in France in 1798. One of the changes was that the diocesan seat of the city was added to the Diocese of Chambéry. The French era came to last until 1814, when the city with the result of the Vienna Congress 1814-1815 was expanded with parishes from France and the Savoy and also became part of the Swiss Confederation.

International organizations

The enlarged Geneva had, with its new parishes, gained a certain Catholic population who, according to international agreements, continued to enjoy religious freedom.

The 19th century was also the century when industrialization broke through in the Swiss cities. The same was true of the railways, and in 1858 the train station of Geneva, Gare de Cornavin, was inaugurated.

1846 was the year in which James Fazy led a small revolution that resulted in the adoption of the ever-existing constitution in the canton.

1859 became a landmark for Geneva’s recent history. Here, the humanist Henry Dunant led the foundations of the International Red Cross, which has since been instrumental in promoting the city’s status as the headquarters of many international humanitarian organizations. Among other things, the World Health Organization, WHO, has been established here.

The Geneva Convention on the Red Cross was adopted in 1864. In 1901, Henry Dunant became the one recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The 20th Century to Today

During and after World War I, Geneva, like the rest of Switzerland, experienced economic growth that jumped out of both the well-established financial sector and industry. Switzerland was neutral and thus stayed out of the war.

After the war, the International League of Nations was established in Geneva. The union was the forerunner of today’s United Nations, the UN, which now has a European headquarters in the city.

Geneva’s very beautiful scenery has attracted more and more tourists in recent years to enjoy the mountainous countryside and Calvin’s charming and successful city.