Schaffhausen, whose history is often mixed up with the history of the city of Schaffhausen, coined its own money in 1045, when it still was a city-state. 

After the command of the Habsburger, it became independent again in 1415 by buying its freedom from the Austrian emperor. Schaffhausen became a member of the confederation in 1501 and thus it was the 12th canton. 

Before it shared its industry with the canton of Zurich, it was a prestigious site of the Swiss industry due to its establishment of mechanical cotton-spinning mills. It was bombed 1944 by mistake, since the US troops took it for the adjoining Germany. 

The canton of the North attracts numerous tourists with its sights, which belong to the most visited in Switzerland, one amongst them is the Rhinefall, one of the biggest falls in Europe.