The invention of the federal state in 1848 was a stroke of genius. How could this unique achievement succeed across Europe? What was negotiated and debated, and how? With what ideas, tricks, intentions, and intrigues? This book is based on previously unknown and here published for the first time secret reports and private protocols of the commission members at that time. Only these new sources allow for an unobstructed view into the workshop of 1848. Rolf Holenstein, author of the highly regarded biography "Ochsenbein," has taken a look inside and rewritten the "zero hour" of the Confederation.