Altwis is a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of Hochdorf in the canton of

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of Altwis merged into the municipality of

Hitzkirch Hitzkirch is a municipality in the district of Hochdorf in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, Gelfingen, Hämikon, Mosen, Müswangen, Retschwil and Sulz joined Hitzkirch. On 1 January 2021, Altwis merged into Hitzkirch. ...

History

Altwis is first mentioned in 1113 as ''Altwise''.

Geography

Altwis is located in the Seetal valley, at the western foot of the Lindenberg mountain, between

Lake Hallwil __NOTOC__ Lake Hallwil (German: ''Hallwilersee'') is a lake largely in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, located at . It is the largest lake in Aargau and lies mostly in the districts of Lenzburg and Kulm on the southern edge of the canton. The s ...

and

Lake Baldegg __NOTOC__ Lake Baldegg (german: Baldeggersee) is a lake in the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Its area is about 5.2 km2 and its maximum depth is 69 m. See also *List of lakes of Switzerland This article contains a sortable table listin ...

. The former municipality consists of the village of Altwis. It had an area of . Of this area, 63.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 29% is forested. The rest of the land, (7.2%) is settled. , 28.97% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 48.97% is used for farming or pastures, while 14.83% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 4.14% is covered with buildings, 0.69% is industrial, 0.34% is classed as special developments, and 2.07% is transportation infrastructure.

Demographics

Altwis had a population (as of 2019) of 430. , 10.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6%. Most of the population () speaks German (89.8%), with Albanian being second most common ( 8.2%) and Spanish being third ( 0.6%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the CVP which received 29.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (28.9%), the SVP (28.7%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

(7%). The age distribution in Altwis is; 101 people or 27.3% of the population is 0–19 years old. 104 people or 28.1% are 20–39 years old, and 135 people or 36.5% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 18 people or 4.9% are 65–79 years old, 8 or 2.2% are 80–89 years old and 4 people or 1.1% of the population are 90+ years old.LUSTAT Lucerne Cantonal Statistics
accessed 12 August 2009 In Altwis about 73.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). there are 132 households, of which 41 households (or about 31.1%) contain only a single individual. 22 or about 16.7% are large households, with at least five members. there were 93 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 61 were built only as housing, and 32 were

mixed use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

buildings. There were 51 single family homes, 8 double family homes, and 2 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (41) or three (14) story structures. There were only 4 single story buildings and 2 four or more story buildings. Altwis has an unemployment rate of 0.79%. , there were 56 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 18 businesses involved in this sector. 11 people are employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...

and there are 4 businesses in this sector. 72 people are employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, with 12 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 18-Aug-2009 58.5% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 40.6% of the workforce. the religious membership of Altwis was; 266 (75.1%) were Roman Catholic, and 23 (6.5%) were Protestant, with an additional 1 (0.28%) who was of some other Christian faith. There are 33 individuals (9.32% of the population) who are Muslim. Of the rest; there were 16 (4.52%) who do not belong to any organized religion, 15 (4.24%) who did not answer the question. The historical population is given in the following table:

References

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Former municipalities of the canton of Lucerne