Escholzmatt 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

Entlebuch Entlebuch is a municipality in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district of Entlebuch. The area has been designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2001. History Entlebuch is first mentioned in 1157, as ''Entilibuoch' ...

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 ...

. Escholzmatt was the Canton's second largest municipality in terms of area. It is part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Entlebuch Biosphere Reserve since 2001. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Escholzmatt and Marbach merged to form the new municipality of

Escholzmatt-Marbach Escholzmatt-Marbach is a municipality in the district of Entlebuch in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Escholzmatt and Marbach merged to form the new municipality of Escholzmatt-Marbach.

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013

History

Escholzmatt is first mentioned in 1160 as ''Askolvismatte''. In 1240 it was mentioned as ''Askoltispach'' and ''Asholtismate'', in 1275 it was mentioned as ''Aeschelsmat''.

Geography

Escholzmatt had an area of . Of this area, 50% is used for agricultural purposes, while 44.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). , 44.24% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 49.67% is used for farming or pastures, while 0.26% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 1.4% is covered with buildings, 0.13% is industrial, 0.15% is classed as special developments, 0.07% is parks or greenbelts and 1.38% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.63% is unproductive flowing water (rivers) and 2.07% is other unproductive land. The former municipality is located on the watershed between the Grosse and

Kleine Emme The Kleine Emme is a river of the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, a left tributary of the Reuss extending for 58 km, draining a basin of 477 km². It is not to be confused with the Emme of the canton of Berne. The Kleine Emme rises as th ...

rivers. The lowest elevation in the municipality is while the highest is on the Schrattenfluh by Hengst. It consists of the village of Escholzmatt and the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Lehn, Feldmoos, Wiggen, and Dürrenbach.

Demographics

Escholzmatt has a population (as of 2011) of 3138.Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB
''Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter'' accessed 3 October 2012 , 5.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -6.2%. Most of the population () speaks German (95.0%), with Albanian being second most common ( 1.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.0%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the CVP which received 46.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (33.7%), the FDP (14.2%) 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 ...

(2.7%). The age distribution in Escholzmatt is; 823 people or 26.2% of the population is 0–19 years old. 793 people or 25.2% are 20–39 years old, and 991 people or 31.6% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 369 people or 11.7% are 65–79 years old, 147 or 4.7% are 80–89 years old and 18 people or 0.6% of the population are 90+ years old.LUSTAT Lucerne Cantonal Statistics
accessed 12 August 2009 The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Escholzmatt about 53.8% 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 ...

''). there are 1,133 households, of which 342 households (or about 30.2%) contain only a single individual. 200 or about 17.7% are large households, with at least five members. there were 667 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 311 were built only as housing, and 356 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 183 single family homes, 75 double family homes, and 53 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (173) or three (98) story structures. There were only 14 single story buildings and 26 four or more story buildings. Escholzmatt has an unemployment rate of 1.07%. , there were 564 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 230 businesses involved in this sector. 566 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 33 businesses in this sector. 410 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 71 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 17-Aug-2009 46.6% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 38.8% of the workforce. the religious membership of Escholzmatt was; 2,532 (78.4%) were Roman Catholic, and 354 (11.%) were Protestant, with an additional 49 (1.52%) that were of some other Christian faith. There are 79 individuals (2.45% of the population) who are Muslim. Of the rest; there were 37 (1.15%) individuals who belong to another religion, 53 (1.64%) who do not belong to any organized religion, 125 (3.87%) who did not answer the question. The historical population is given in the following table:

Weather

Escholzmatt has an average of 153 days of rain per year and on average receives of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. The wettest month is June during which time Escholzmatt receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 15.1 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 15.5, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 15.1 days., the weather station elevation is 910 meters above sea level.

References

External links