Lucerne
Lucerne (German: [Luzern] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), Swiss German: Lozärn, French: Lucerne, Italian: Lucerna, Romansh: Lucerna) is a city in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and seat of the district with the same name. The city has a population of about 60,000. Lucerne is the biggest and most important city in Central Switzerland. The city's metropolitan area consists of 17 municipalities in three cantons. It has an overall population of nearly 200,000 people.
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Coat of arms of Coat of arms | |
Location of Lucerne
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| Coordinates: 47°3′N 8°18′E / 47.050°N 8.300°ECoordinates: 47°3′N 8°18′E / 47.050°N 8.300°E | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Lucerne |
| District | Lucerne |
| Government | |
| • Executive | Stadtrat with 5 members |
| • Mayor | Stadtpräsident (list) Beat Züsli SP/PS (as of 2019) |
| • Parliament | Grosser Stadtrat with 48 members |
| Area | |
| • Total | 37.4 km2 (14.4 sq mi) |
| Elevation (Lake shore) | 435 m (1,427 ft) |
| Highest elevation (Sonnenberg) | 800 m (2,600 ft) |
| Lowest elevation (Rotsee) | 422 m (1,385 ft) |
| Population (December 2020) | |
| • Total | 82,620 |
| • Density | 2,209.1/km2 (5,722/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (Central European Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time) |
| Postal code(s) | 6000 |
| Localities | Luzern, Littau |
| Surrounded by | Adligenswil, Ebikon, Emmen, Horw, Kriens, Malters, Meggen, Neuenkirch |
| Website | www Profile (in German), SFSO statistics |
Geography
Lucerne is located in central Switzerland on the northern end of Lake Lucerne. The river Reuss flows from the lake through the city. The city is surrounded by hills and mountains, for example the mountains Pilatus and Rigi.
History
Lucerne joined the old Swiss confederation in 1332.
Since 2010, Littau is part of the city.
Economy
Due to its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) within sight of the mountains Pilatus and Rigi, Lucerne is mainly a tourist destination. One of the city's famous landmarks is Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge from the 14th century. Many tourists choose Lucerne as their place to stay because the city is close to the Alps in the center of the country.
Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees is the shipping company founded in 1870 that runs ships on Lake Lucerne.
Lucerne railway station is the main station of central Switzerland.
Culture
Lucerne has a traditional Fasnacht (carneval) celebration which takes place every spring.
Gallery
View of the city and the lake.
Lucerne with mount Pilatus in the background.
A marching band celebrating Fasnacht in Lucerne.
Jesuit Church in the old town.
Lion Mounument
Lucerne Media
Aerial view of Lake Lucerne
Lucerne in 1642, by Matthäus Merian
- CH-NB - Luzern, von Nordwesten - Collection Gugelmann - GS-GUGE-ANONYM-B-2.tif
Lucerne and Rigi, c. 1820
- Johann Heinrich Müller, 1825-1894 G01 Luzern.JPG
Lucerne and Pilatus, c. 1870. Etching by Heinrich Müller
- ETH-BIB-Luzern, Übersicht-Inlandflüge-LBS MH01-000491.tif
Aerial view by Walter Mittelholzer (1919)
Logo of the municipality of Lucerne
- Lucerne, Switzerland.jpg
The Chapel Bridge and Jesuit Church St. Francis Xavier on the Reuss
- Männliturm Museggmauer 02 (cropped).jpg
View of the old town centre and Lake Lucerne from one of the watch towers ("Männliturm")
The Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre at night
References
Other websites
16x16px Media related to Lucerne at Wikimedia Commons
- City of Lucerne official website
- Luzern Tourismus AG - tourist office Archived 2008-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
