The beginnings of the modern municipality system date back to the
Helvetic Republic. Under the
Old Swiss Confederacy, citizenship was granted by each town and village to only residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of the old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the "new citizens", who were generally poor. The compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created. The first, the so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the former local citizens who were gathered together into the
Bürgergemeinde/bourgeoisie. During the
Mediation era (1803–1814), and especially during the
Restoration era (1814–1830), many of the gains toward uniform citizenship were lost. Many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on the exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the
Bürgergemeinde. In the
Regeneration era (1830–1848), the liberal revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the
Bürgergemeinden were able to maintain power as political communities. In the city of
Zürich it was not until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the political municipality came back into existence. The relationship between the political municipality and the
Bürgergemeinde was often dominated by the latter's ownership of community property. Often the administration and profit from the property were totally held by the
Bürgergemeinden, leaving the political municipality dependent on the
Bürgergemeinde for money and use of the property. It was not until the political municipality acquired rights over property that served the public (such as schools, fire stations, etc.) and taxes, that they obtained full independence. For example, in the city of Bern, it was not until after the property division of 1852 that the political municipality had the right to levy taxes. It was not until the
Federal Constitution of 1874 that all Swiss citizens were granted equal political rights on local and Federal levels. This revised constitution finally removed all the political voting and electoral body rights from the
Bürgergemeinde. In the cities, the percentage of members in the
Bürgergemeinde in the population was reduced as a result of increasing emigration to the cities. This led to the
Bürgergemeinde losing its former importance to a large extent. However, the
Bürgergemeinde has remained, and it includes all individuals who are citizens of the
Bürgergemeinde, usually by having inherited the
Bürgerrecht (citizenship), regardless of where they were born or where they may currently live. Instead of the
place of birth, Swiss legal documents, e.g. passports, contain the
Bürgerort (place of citizenship, or
place of origin). The
Bürgergemeinde also often holds and administers the
common property in the village for the members of the community. ==Structure and responsibilities==