Brissago Old Town

Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brissago_TIThe village was first mentioned in 1289 as Brixago. [6] The place name is probably derived from the Latin personal name Briccius.In the 13th century Brissago became an imperial municipality with its own village law, its own community leaders (consoli), its own administration and its own jurisdiction. The Podestà was initially appointed by the Milanese Visconti and from 1342 to 1798 provided by the Locarnes noble family Orelli. In 1520, Brissago declared itself an independent republic, but submitted to the rule of the twelve federal towns the following year, while maintaining a large degree of autonomy.At the end of the 16th century, the Brissager family of the Baciocchi formed a counterparty to the Rainaldi (Rinaldi) in Milan and Brissago. In the service of both families were numerous Milanese bandits who even made shipping on the Langensee unsafe. There were long and bloody fights, which led to an intervention by the Spanish envoy at the Baden meeting in November 1597. [7]In Helvetics, Brissago came to the newly created Canton of Lugano, which merged in 1803 in what is now the Canton of Ticino.A cigar factory has been in Brissago since 1856 (new building in 1888).The Grand-Hotel Brissago was built in 1907, closed again in 1971 and then fell into disrepair. In 1983 the roof structure burned down due to arson. The ruin was demolished in 1993. In 2003 the new apartment block "Villa Bianca" was built on this site.After the establishment of the fascist Italian social republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana) in September 1943, many refugees came to Switzerland through the Piaggio-Valmara border crossing south of Brissago. [8]