Josef Lang

Dr Josef Lang is a freelance historian in Bern and former national councillor in the canton of Zug.

Switzerland’s rocky road to religious freedom

Josef Lang 23.03.2023 The Federal Constitution only became secular in 1874 when it granted religious freedom to the Jewish minority. In the current version, there are still two exemption clauses concerning Muslims.

Extract from a commemorative plaque on the constitutional revision of 1874. It was during this revision that freedom of religion and conscience for all was enshrined in the Constitution – including for the Jewish minority.