Karl von Deschwanden

In 1848–1849, Deschwanden edited the Nidwaldner Wochenblatt, a radical newspaper in which he advocated for the federal state, a full revision of the cantonal constitution, and the humanization of criminal law. He served as secretary of Stans (1854), member of the communal executive council (1860), and president of the municipality (1866). He sat in the Nidwalden Grand Council from 1862 to 1874 and was a member of the Constituent Assembly of 1877.^[1]

Deschwanden held successive judicial positions in Nidwalden: president of the police court (1866), president of the court of cassation (1881), and president of the cantonal court (1887).^[1]

He was a member of the legislative commission for the revision of Nidwalden civil law. His draft property law (Sachenrechtsentwurf) of 1863, though discussed, was never enacted. He published widely on Nidwalden legal history, with contributions appearing notably in the Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht and the Geschichtsfreund. He also edited several legal sources from Nidwalden as well as the federal diet recesses (Eidgenössische Abschiede) for the period 1533–1555.^[1]

He was a founding member and president of the Nidwalden Historical Society (1864), a major in the cantonal militia, and president of the Nidwalden officers' society. The University of Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate.^[1]

• Contributions to the Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht and Geschichtsfreund
• Edition of Nidwalden legal sources
• Edition of the Eidgenössische Abschiede, 1533–1555

• B. Zelger, Karl von Deschwanden und sein Sachenrechtsentwurf für Nidwalden, 1974

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY SA. Text taken from Karl von Deschwanden​, René Pahud de Mortanges, Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. Translated by Corinne Giroud Caspar.