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 ...

in central

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 ...

is the capital of the

canton of Lucerne The canton of Lucerne (german: Kanton Luzern rm, Chantun Lucerna french: Canton de Lucerne it, Canton Lucerna) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the populati ...

and part of the

district of Lucerne Lucerne District (german: Luzern) is a former ''Amt'' (administrative district) of the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. It had a population of 176,710 (as of 2013) and consisted of 18 municipalities, of which the city of Lucerne is the largest and ...

. With a population of about 81,057 people (), it is the most populous town in Central Switzerland. Notable people associated with Lucerne include:

Politicians and others

* Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988), theologian *

Alphons Egli Alphons Egli (8 October 1924 – 5 August 2016) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1983–86). He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 8 December 1982 and handed over office on 31 December 1986. He wa ...

(1924-2016), politician *

Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness ( Morgan, 23 August 1904 – 29 January 1970), was a mistress of King Edward VIII while he was Prince of Wales. She was supplanted in his affections by Wallis Simpson, for whose sake Edward abdicated and becam ...

(1904-1970), American socialite * Felix Gmür (born 1966), theologian and bishop of Basel * Petermann von Gundoldingen (? -1386), Schultheiss, participant in the battle near Sempach *

Josef Martin Knüsel Melchior Josef Martin Knüsel (16 November 1813 – 14 January 1889) was a Swiss jurist and politician from the Liberal Radical Party (FDP) and member of the Federal Council of Switzerland over which he presided in 1861 and 1866. Before he was ...

(1813-1889), politician and jurist * Gloria Morgan-Vanderbilt (1904-1965), American socialite * Anton Muheim (1916-2016), Social Democrat politician, President of the National Council * Oswald Myconius (1488-1552), reformer. *

Franz Riedweg Franz Egbert Riedweg (10 April 1907, in Lucerne – 22 January 2005, in Munich) was a Swiss far right Activist in the National Front (Switzerland) who, during World War II, served in the Waffen-SS as well as becoming a close associate of Heinri ...

(1907-2005), doctor and SS Obersturmbannführer *

Melchior Russ Melchior Russ (c. 1450 – 20 July 1499) was born of an old noble family in Lucerne.Müller, p. 9. In 1473, after having studied for at least two years in Basle, Russ left the University of Basle for the University of Pavia with the intent ...

(c. 1450-1499), historian *

Anna Maria Rüttimann-Meyer von Schauensee Anna Maria Rüttimann-Meyer von Schauensee (6 October 1772 in Luzern – 19 August 1856) was a politically influential Swiss salonist during the Helvetian Republic. She was married to Vinzenz Rüttimann from 1794 and corresponded with Paul Uster ...

(1772-1856) a politically influential Swiss salonist * Judith Schmutz (born 1996), politician *

Josef Anton Schobinger Josef Anton Schobinger (30 January 1849, in Lucerne – 27 November 1911) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1908–1911). He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 17 June 1908, and died in office on ...

(1849-1911), politician and builder Portrait Siegfried Wagner 1896

Arts

Peter Bichsel Peter Bichsel (born 24 March 1935) is a popular Swiss writer and journalist representing modern German literature. He was a member of the Gruppe Olten. Bichsel was born 1935 in Lucerne, Switzerland, the son of manual labourers. Shortly after he ...

, (born 1935), writer *

Rolf Brem Rolf Brem (12 February 1926 – 11 April 2014) was a Swiss sculptor, illustrator and graphic artist. He worked in Meggen close to Lake Lucerne. Biography Childhood Rolf Brem grew up in a quarter in Lucerne where most people had conventional pro ...

(1926-2014), sculptor, draftsman and graphic artist *

Fritz Brun Fritz Brun (18 August 1878 – 29 November 1959) was a Swiss pianist, conductor and composer of classical music. Life Brun was born in Lucerne. He was a student of Franz Wüllner at the conservatory at Cologne, and studied piano and theory t ...

(1878-1959), composer and conductor *

Heidi Brunner Heidi Brunner (born 1966) is a Swiss opera singer. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano at the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau in 1993. After making appearances at the opera houses in Basel, Innsbruck, and Biel, she was a member of both the ...

(born 1961), opera singer * Caspar Diethelm (1926-1997), composer *

Rolf Dobelli Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. A ...

(born 1966), writer and entrepreneur * Jolanda Egger (born 1960), actress, beauty queen, model and racing driver *

Hans Erni Hans Erni (February 21, 1909 – March 21, 2015) was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor. Born in Lucerne, the third of eight siblings, to a cabin cruiser engineer, he studied art at the Académie Julian in Par ...

(1909-2015), painter, graphic artist and sculptor * Herbert Ernst Groh (1906-1982), tenor * Ernst Hodel junior (1881-1955), painter *

Thomas Imbach Thomas Imbach (born 1962) is an independent filmmaker based in Zürich, Switzerland. With his production company Bachim Films, Imbach produced his own work until 2007. He then founded Okofilm Productions together with director/producer Andrea St ...

(born 1962), filmmaker *

Armin Jordan Armin Jordan (9 April 1932 – 20 September 2006) was a Swiss conductor known for his interpretations of French music, Mozart and Wagner. Armin Jordan was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. "Mr. Jordan was a large man, with a slab of a face and a ful ...

(1932-2006), conductor *

Stephan Klapproth Stephan Klapproth (born 1958) is a Swiss journalist, television presenter and professor, who was from 1993 to 2015 the popular anchorman of the Swiss national evening news shows ''10vor10''. He also teaches journalism at the Universities of Fribo ...

, (born 1958), journalist and television presenter * Michael Koch (born 1982), film director and screenwriter *

Urs Leimgruber Urs Leimgruber (1 January 1952 in Lucerne) is a Swiss saxophonist. He lived in Paris from 1988 to 2005. Then he came back to his home town, Lucerne. His fields of activity are improvisation, Jazz and 20th-century classical music. Discography ...

(born 1952), saxophonist *

Edith Mathis Edith Mathis (born 11 February 1938) is a Swiss soprano and a leading exponent of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart worldwide. She is known for parts in Mozart operas, but also took part in premieres of operas such as Henze's ''Der junge Lord' ...

(born 1938), soprano and university professor * Max von Moos (1903-1979), painter and graphic artist * Mauro Peter (born 1987), opera singer * Robert Pilchowski (1909-1990), writer *

Carl Spitteler Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler (24 April 1845 – 29 December 1924) was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic, ''Olympian Spring''". His work includes both pessimistic and hero ...

(1845-1924), writer and Nobel laureate (died in Lucerne) *

Andrea Štaka Andrea Štaka is a Switzerland, Swiss film director and screenwriter, best known for winning the Golden Leopard at the 59th Locarno International Film Festival in 2006 for her film, ''Das Fräulein''. Štaka was born in Lucerne in 1973. She atten ...

(born 1973), director and screenwriter * Emil Steinberger (born 1933), cabaret artist, writer, director and actor *

Fredy Studer Fredy Studer (16 June 1948 – 22 August 2022) was a Swiss drummer and percussionist. Biography Fredy Studer was born in Lucerne, Switzerland on 16 June 1948. In 1972, he founded the jazz fusion quartet OM, with guitarist Christy Doran, sa ...

(born 1948), drummer *

André Thomkins André Thomkins (Lucerne, 11 August 1930 - Berlin, 8 November 1985) was a Swiss painter, illustrator, and poet. From 1952, he lived in Germany and taught at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf between 1971 and 1973. Thomkins painted and drew ironic and ...

(1930-1985), painter, draftsman and poet * Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930), German composer, librettist and conductor * Robert Wuellner (1885-1966), actor, director and filmproducer *

Luzia von Wyl Luzia von Wyl (born 1985) is a Swiss jazz pianist, composer, and music educator. She first studied classical piano before switching to jazz piano and music composition, earning degrees from University of the Arts Bern, Zurich University of the Ar ...

(born 1985), jazz pianist and composer *

Loredana Zefi Loredana Zefi (; born 1 September 1995), also known mononymously as Loredana, is a Swiss-born Kosovo Albanian rapper. Her debut single, "", was a commercial success in Albania and German-speaking Europe, and received two gold certifications in ...

(born 1995), rapper * Robert Zünd (1826-1909), painter

Science and business

Markus Breitschmid Markus Breitschmid (born 20 April 1966, Lucerne, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American architectural theoretician and the author of several books on contemporary architecture and philosophical aesthetics. His most highly regarded books are ''Der bauen ...

(born 1966), architectural theorist and architectural historian *

Johann Baptist Cysat Johann Baptist Cysat (Latinized as Cysatus; in French, Jean-Baptiste Cysat) (c. 1587 – March 17, 1657) was a Swiss Jesuit mathematician and astronomer, after whom the lunar crater Cysatus is named. He was born in Lucerne, as the eighth of 14 ...

(1585-1657), mathematician and astronomer * Edgar Gretener (1902-1958), electrical engineer *

Toni Hagen Toni Hagen (17 August 1917 in Luzern – 18 April 2003 in Lenzerheide) was a Swiss geologist and a pioneer of Swiss development assistance. Education After taking a diploma in engineering and geology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technol ...

(1917-2003), geologist *

Josef-Maria Jauch Josef Maria Jauch (September 20, 1914 in Lucerne – August 30, 1974 in Geneva) was a Swiss/American theoretical physicist, known for his work on quantum electrodynamics and on the foundations of quantum theory, and leader of the "Geneva School" ...

(1914-1974), theoretical physicist *

Peter von Matt Peter von Matt (born 20 May 1937) is a Swiss philologist and author. Life Born in Lucerne, Peter von Matt grew up in Stans in the canton of Nidwalden. He studied Art History as well as German and English studies in Zurich and received a docto ...

, (born 1937), philologist, specialist for German studies, author *

Stanislaus von Moos Stanislaus von Moos (born 23 July 1940) is a Swiss art historian and architectural theorist. Early life Stanislaus von Moos was born in Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw ...

(born 1940), art historian and architectural theorist *

Michael Pieper Michael Pieper (born 1946) is a Swiss billionaire businessman, the owner of the kitchen appliance manufacturer Franke, through his Artemis Group holding company. As of October 2021, his net worth was estimated at US$4.8 billion. Early life Piepe ...

(born 1946), billionaire businessman * Walter von Moos (1918-2016), industrialist

Sport

* Claudio Castagnoli (born 1980) also formerly known as ''Cesaro'', professional wrestler * Hippolyt Kempf (born 1965), Olympia gold medal winner (Nordic combined) * Kurt Müller (born 1948), footballer, 38 caps for

Karl Odermatt Karl Odermatt (born 17 December 1942 in Lucerne) is a Swiss former footballer who played for FC Basel and BSC Young Boys throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He played as a midfielder or striker and is generally regarded as one of the best playe ...

(born 1942), footballer, 50 caps for

* Lara Stalder (born 1994), ice hockey player

References

{{reflist, 30em Lists of people by city