**Louis-Napoleon, who was later to become Emperor Napoleon III, grew up in Thurgau and spoke fluent Swiss-German. Illustration by Marco Heer.**

The emperor who spoke Swiss-German

Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (1808–1873) grew up in Salenstein in the canton of Thurgau, which is why he spoke the local Swiss German dialect. Although he was French, the people of Thurgau awarded him honorary citizenship. When Switzerland refused to expel him, it almost resulted in war with France.

Michael van Orsouw

Michael van Orsouw has a PhD in history and is a performance poet and author. He regularly publishes historical books.

Website: geschichte-texte.ch

Who was the French emperor who spoke Thurgau dialect like a native? It was Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (1808–1873) who grew up in Thurgau. He was the first President of the Second Republic from 1848 and became Napoleon III, Emperor of the French in 1852. Thirteen years later, he returned to the haunts of his youth in Thurgau. He travelled incognito as ‘Graf von Pierrefonds’ to bypass any official receptions. The Thurgauer Zeitung sent a reporter to the station in Konstanz: “He turned up slightly stooped but looking very healthy and fresh, almost blooming in fact.” The “blooming” Emperor of the French stayed at Arenenberg castle from 18 to 21 August 1865. When he had left Thurgau 27 years earlier, he said: “It’s painful for me to leave you; but when I return, it will be in joy.” Napoleon III was pleased to see the area near Lake Constance again, saying it reminded him of “the good old days of his youth”.

**Arenenberg castle overlooking the lake.** Napoleonmuseum Thurgau

The emperor who arrived by carriage and stayed in a monastery

The Emperor of the French grew up in Arenenberg castle in Salenstein. He had emigrated to Switzerland in 1815 with his mother, Hortense de Beauharnais, former Queen of Holland. As relatives of the great Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, their fate was directly intertwined with his. After Napoleon fell, Hortense and her son had to leave France. Their first stop was in Pregny near Geneva; however, the Geneva authorities did not grant them leave to remain, under pressure from the French ambassador. Without a clear plan, they wandered aimlessly with three carriages – one for Louis-Napoleon, one for the servants and one for his luggage. They found lodgings in Einsiedeln monastery for a few days, something they were to remember with gratitude for the rest of their lives.

**Hortense de Beauharnais who fled to Switzerland. Painting by Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, circa 1805.** Rijksmuseum

The authorities finally granted the noble asylum seekers leave to stay in the east of Switzerland, far enough away from the border with France. Hortense first rented Seeheim estate in Konstanz. Her son Louis-Napoleon attended the local school. The former queen who answered to the innocuous title ‘Duchess of Saint-Leu’ felt unwelcome in Konstanz, which prompted her to move to Switzerland. She purchased Arenenberg castle in Salenstein with its wonderful view over the lake and surrounding landscape. She then proceeded to renovate the outwardly modest looking castle in a luxurious French style and filled it with the finest furniture, exclusive wall decorations, colourful wallpaper and thick carpets. Hortense made sure her son did not forget his Napoleonic roots when they were in Thurgau and raised him as a potential successor to the throne. She had a wall-sized picture of Napoleon hanging over Louis-Napoleon’s bed. Even the youngster’s highchair had an embroidered Napoleon hat.

**Louis-Napoleon as a young child with his mother.** Wikimedia

**A painting of his famous relative Napoleon I hung in Louis-Napoleon’s bedroom.** Museum Boijmans van Beuningen

A sportsman and viveur

Louis-Napoleon had private tuition in French, Latin and arithmetic, while his mother taught him drawing and dancing. However, the young man gradually began to display a more impetuous side. The prince enjoyed hunting and balls, he rowed his boat far into the lake, went to the theatre, met friends and rode around the area just for the sake of it. He was caught smoking on the wooden Rhine bridge near Konstanz and was punished. Louis-Napoleon became something of a wild child. Although only 1.60 metres (5’3”) tall, he was sporty and in good physical shape. He performed stunts when riding, was a skilled skater, loved fencing and pistol shooting and was able to swim across Lake Constance all the way to Reichenau Island – at a time when most people couldn’t swim at all. Louis-Napoleon also galloped on his Arabian stallion from Arenenberg to Konstanz. The 10-kilometre distance only took him 15 minutes, so he was going at forty kilometres an hour. Customs officers detained him and demanded a coin known as a ‘Kreuzer’. The young man put his hand in his pocket and gave them two coins: “That’s for when I come back.”

**An accomplished rider: Louis-Napoleon, painted by Felix Cottreau.** Napoleonmuseum Thurgau

The prince knew all the nightspots between Schaffhausen and Konstanz. He never missed a carnival ball or summer party. Concerned mothers hid their daughters when the prince was in the area as Louis-Napoleon was a notorious womaniser and heartbreaker. In 1832, the commune of Salenstein wanted to bestow honorary citizenship on its royal inhabitant in recognition of his “many good deeds”. However, that was contingent on the canton of Thurgau granting him citizenship, which would have meant Louis-Napoleon renouncing his French nationality. That was out of the question for the young Frenchman. The people of Thurgau came up with a creative solution: instead of honorary communal citizenship, the Thurgau authorities bypassed the cantonal citizenship stage and issued a special document ‘prächtige Urkunde’. This was the first and only honorary citizenship to have been awarded by the canton of Thurgau.

**Thurgau certificate of honorary citizenship for Louis-Napoleon, 1832.** Staatsarchiv Thurgau

In the meantime, Louis-Napoleon completed his officer training in Thun and developed an interest in all things military. He constructed new cannons and fired them with abandon over the Seerhein river towards Reichenau Island. Given his interest in shooting, it was not surprising that Louis-Napoleon and likeminded people founded Thurgauer Schützenverein in Ermatingen in 1835.

**Louis-Napoleon captain of the Bernese Artillery. Watercolour by Felix Cottreau, circa 1834.** Napoleonmuseum Thurgau

Despite his involvement in local life, he continued to keep a close eye on the political situation in France. Following a failed coup attempt, Citizen King Louis-Philippe banished him to America. He only stayed there three-and-a-half months before receiving word that his mother Hortense was terminally ill: he immediately returned to Switzerland and after her passing Louis-Napoleon had no interest in returning to overseas exile. France then demanded the immediate return of the seditious putschist Louis-Napoleon. Switzerland was not prepared to expel the prince, as he had honorary citizenship of Thurgau. This prompted France to start preparing for an invasion. On the Swiss side, Aargau, Geneva and Vaud called their militias to arms. France and the Confederation were ready to go to war – until Louis-Napoleon left Switzerland, thereby defusing the situation.

**Louis-Napoleon informs the canton of Thurgau by letter of his decision to leave Switzerland, 28 September 1838.** Swiss National Museum

A return fit for a king with an unfortunate ending

Salenstein male choir serenaded him, hastily erected triumphal arches decorated the streets, big firework displays lit up the night sky. A trip on the steamboat Arenenberg took the distinguished visitor to Schaffhausen, where he alighted in ‘Kronenhof’ with a cadet corps waiting to receive him. He personally filled his guests’ glasses with champagne on the castle terrace. A man of the people, he shook hands with the crowd, spoke to the guests in his best Thurgau dialect and distributed awards.

**Louis-Napoleon as Emperor Napoleon III: he was celebrated in his former homeland. Painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.** Château de Versailles

Heady with the joy of the occasion, they travelled on to Einsiedeln monastery, where the young Louis-Napoleon and his mother had once found refuge. The emperor donated a golden chandelier to the monastery with an estimated value of CHF 40,000 and weighing in at an enormous two-and-a-half tonnes. Napoleon III then proceeded to Thun via Lucerne-Brünig, where he had completed his military training and visited the new barracks in Thun. The emperor had said that his return to Switzerland would be a joyous occasion. And it was, that is until the unfortunate ending: a locomotive whistled at Neuchâtel station, startling one of the emperor’s horses and making it bolt, resulting in leg and arm fractures to three of the ladies-in-waiting.

Visiting Royals – From Sisi to Queen Elizabeth

13.06.2025 09.11.2025 / National Museum Zurich

Although Switzerland has no royal tradition, royal families have long held a certain fascination for the Swiss. All royal visits, whether by an emperor, empress, king, queen, prince or princess, and for whatever reason, whether politics, business or personal, had one thing in common: they triggered – both then and now – immense excitement and fascination among the Swiss public. The exhibition demonstrates this through many pictures and exclusive possessions of these bluebloods.

More of: Royals Modern Age Politics Language

Further posts

King Albert I: the mountaineering monarch

Michael van Orsouw 10.04.2025 King Albert I of Belgium was a keen and experienced mountain climber. He scaled many Swiss peaks and even completed a first ascent in 1907. Tragically, despite his mountaineering skills, a climbing accident ended his life.

King Albert I enjoyed climbing in the Swiss Alps, where he went almost every year. The picture was coloured using AI by the National Museum.

When Napoleon III went to school in Thun

Medea Vögeli 25.07.2024 The Swiss town of Thun was a magnet for tourists in the 19th century. The future Emperor Napoleon III also came to the Bernese Oberland, though not for leisure, but to attend the military academy there.

Louis-Napoleon, the future Emperor of the French, earned his military stripes at the military academy in Thun.

Jerusalem in Rothenturm

Michael van Orsouw 02.06.2021 This is the story of a political refugee in Switzerland who went on to become Emperor of France. Along the way, Napoleon III left behind traces that still shine brightly today.

The chandelier in the parish church at Rothenthurm, where it has brightened up the interior since 1995.