Cantonal Arsenals

Under the traditional organisational structure of the Swiss Army, the bulk of manpower was in units delegated to the individual cantonal governments. The Federal Council retained overall command and responsibility for standardising equipment, but the job of actually issuing that equipment, and training soldiers, was left up to cantonal administrations. More specifically, matériel was the purview of the Cantonal Arsenals (Kantonale Zeughäuser in German), who would receive supplies from both a network of small-scale local workshops - producing equipment in line with federally-issued ordninances, or patterns (Ordonnanzen), in small quantities - and the various Federal factories - including the Federal Weapons Factory in Bern (W+F Bern), the Federal Ammunition Factories in Thun and Altdorf, and so on. Each canton had at least one central arsenal building, which would serve as both a warehouse and office, from which the distribution of equipment could be managed. Rifles, after being produced by W+F Bern, would be delivered to a given Cantonal Arsenal Office (Kantonales Zeugsamt), and from there be issued out to troops. 

Most, but not all, Cantonal Arsenals were located in the capital cities of the Cantons in which they were located. Over time, more and more of the army was centralised under federal control, with Cantonal Infantry Battalions finally being abolished under the Armee XXI reforms of 2003. Many of the former Cantonal Arsenals had already been closed by this point, with the old buildings being sold off to raise money, or repurposed. Nonetheless, all 26 cantonal governments still maintain Offices for Military and Civil Defence, some of which still refer to themselves as Cantonal Arsenals, even if no longer located on their historic sites.

Below is a list of the towns in which each Canton's Arsenal(s) were located in the 1890s, when W+F Bern were delivering Ig 89s. You can look up the serial number of a rifle with our search function here, which will tell you to whom it was originally delivered (and whether that was a cantonal or federal facility). 

• Aargau: Aarau

• Appenzell Ausserrhoden: Herisau and Teufen

• Appenzell Innerrhoden: Appenzell

• Basel-Landschaft: Liestal

• Basel-Stadt: Basel

• Bern: Bern

• Fribourg: Fribourg

• Geneva: Geneva

• Glarus: Glarus

• Grisons: Chur

• Lucerne: Lucerne

• Neuchâtel: Colombier

• Nidwald: Stans

• Obwald: Sarnen

• Schaffhausen: Schaffhausen

• Schwyz: Lachen and Schwyz

• Solothurn: Solothurn

• St. Gallen: St. Gallen

• Thurgau: Frauenfeld

• Ticino: Bellinzona

• Uri: Altdorf

• Valais: Sion

• Vaud: Morges

• Zug: Zug

• Zurich: Zurich

NB: Jura is not listed as it only seceded from the Canton of Bern in 1979, and thus did not have a distinct Cantonal Arsenal in 1890s. However, one was established in Alle, which later merged with the Federal Waffenplatz Bure.