Seelisberg is a

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 canton of

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

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 ...

History

The

Rütli meadow Rütli () or Grütli (; ) is a mountain meadow on Lake Lucerne, in the Seelisberg municipality of the Swiss canton of Uri. It is the site of the Rütlischwur in traditional Swiss historiography, the oath marking the foundation of the origi ...

, according to legend the site of the original

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...

foundational to the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ...

, is situated in the territory of the municipality. The

Seelisberg Conference The Seelisberg Conference, officially the International Emergency Conference on Anti-Semitism took place at Seelisberg in Central Switzerland from July 30 through August 5, 1947. The Conference was the Second Conference of the International Counci ...

against

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

was held in this locality in 1947. The global headquarters of the

Transcendental Meditation movement The Transcendental Meditation movement (TM) are programs and organizations that promote the Transcendental Meditation technique founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India in the 1950s. The organization was estimated to have 900,000 participants ...

headed by

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918

was situated in a converted hotel in Seelisberg from 1968 to 1992. Johann Heinrich Müller, 1825-1894 G11 Seelisberg.JPG, The "Grand Hôtel Sonnenberg" c. 1880. Postcard; etching by

Heinrich Müller Heinrich Müller may refer to: * Heinrich Müller (cyclist) (born 1926), Swiss cyclist * Heinrich Müller (footballer, born 1888) (1888–1957), Swiss football player and manager * Heinrich Müller (footballer, born 1909) (1909–2000), Austrian ...

Geography

Seelisberg has an area, , of . Of this area, 34.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 48.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (13.1%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). , 43.5% of the total land area was heavily forested, while 0.7% is covered in small trees and shrubbery. Of the agricultural land, 0.7% is used for farming or pastures, while 23.6% is used for orchards or vine crops and 10.0% is used for alpine pastures. Of the settled areas, 2.0% is covered with buildings, 0.5% is classed as special developments, 0.2% is listed as parks and greenbelts and 1.3% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 1.9% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), 0.2% is unproductive flowing water (rivers), 5.7% is too rocky for vegetation, and 5.3% is other unproductive land.Canton Uri - Ground use statistics
accessed 8 September 2009

Demographics

Seelisberg has a population (as of ) of . , 11.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4.2%. Most of the population () speaks German (97.1%), with French being second most common (0.8%) and English being third ( 0.5%).
accessed 09-Sep-2009 the gender distribution of the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female.Uri Population statistics
accessed 8 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election the FDP party received 93.4% of the vote. In Seelisberg about 67.8% 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 ...

''). Seelisberg has an unemployment rate of 0.88%. , there were 72 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 31 businesses involved in this sector. 18 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 constructi ...

and there are 7 businesses in this sector. 151 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 29 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:Uri in Numbers 2009/10 edition
accessed 8 September 2009

Transport

Regular passenger boats of the

Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees The ''Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees'' or Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to SGV) is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Lucerne. The company is based in the city of Lucerne ...

serve piers at

Treib Treib is a small lakeside community and landing stage on the shore of Lake Lucerne __NOTOC__ Lake Lucerne (german: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the four forested settlements" (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), ...

and

Rütli Rütli () or Grütli (; ) is a mountain meadow on Lake Lucerne, in the Seelisberg municipality of the Swiss canton of Uri. It is the site of the Rütlischwur in traditional Swiss historiography, the oath marking the foundation of the origi ...

on the

Lake Lucerne __NOTOC__ Lake Lucerne (german: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the four forested settlements" (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), french: lac des Quatre-Cantons, it, lago dei Quattro Cantoni) is a lake in central ...

shore of the municipality. Treib is linked to the centre of Seelisberg by the Treib–Seelisberg funicular.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Uri Populated places on Lake Lucerne