IntroductionIn this essay we present our research into the legend of William Tell and the conclusions of our research. In short, the question we asked ourselves is: does the legend of William Tell contain truth or lies? Is this fact or fiction? Before telling the legend, we will describe the general historical context. Next we will try to make a distinction between fact and fiction in the legend. Finally, we want to show the impact that William Tell had on Swiss society. General historical context In the period up to the Middle Ages, Switzerland was conquered by various dynasties and kingdoms. In the early Middle Ages it belonged to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty. The Habsburg emperor assigned reeves to Switzerland. The local population was absolutely not happy with these events. And it is precisely in this period that the legend of William Tell originates. The forest cantons of Uri and Schwyz wrote a letter of freedom to the emperor. They have gained such freedom. In 1273 Rudolph I of Habsburg became emperor. He granted his son the county of Zwaben which included those regions. Freedom has definitively disappeared. This event led to a rebellion. After the death of Rudolf I, three cantons, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden founded the Swiss Confederation on 1 August 1291. And all the reeves were driven out of Switzerland. In the Battle of Mortgarten the Swiss defeated the Habsburg army and Swiss independence was thus established. The legendThe legend of William Tell dates back to 1307. William was originally from Bürgen, but lived in the canton of Uri. William Tell was an excellent crossbowman. In his time, a reeve of the Habsburg emperor named Gessler lived in Uri. Like... half of the paper... Rossini, for example, created an opera by the Tell. Several films were also based on the legend of Tell. William Tell is still strongAlthough there is much debate about his real existence, 60% of Swiss people still believe that William Tell was a real and existing person. Conclusion The legend of Tell consists mostly of fiction, although we cannot deny that it must contain some facts. In the introduction we asked whether the legend of William Tell contains truth or lies. Our response must be that it contains neither truth nor just lies. It's a combination of both. Many things were probably invented, but there had to be some truth in the legend. It is clear that in the past many Swiss considered the story to be true. The fact that many Swiss today consider Tell as a person demonstrates the great impact he had on Swiss society.