In French-speaking Switzerland 35% pick 1848 and 29% choose 1291; in Italian-speaking Switzerland the figures are 40% and 30%. William Tell occupies a central place in the country’s founding stories, but most Swiss do not regard him primarily as a historical freedom fighter. Some 37% of Swiss describe Tell as a legendary figure and another 28% as a character from Friedrich Schiller’s drama. In French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland, 31% regard Tell as a freedom fighter, compared with 25% in the German-speaking part of the country. But for most Swiss, 1848 is a more meaningful founding date—and William Tell belongs more comfortably to legend and literature than to the historical record.