Vitznau is a

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

in the district of

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

History

Vitznau was first mentioned in 998. In the 19th century, it became a popular destination for

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, especially from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; the imposing Park Hotel Vitznau west of the town dates from the 1900s.

Geography

The village occupies a narrow strip between the lake and the

Rigi The Rigi (or ''Mount Rigi''; also known as ''Queen of the Mountains'') is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne ...

looming behind; one of the

mountain railway A mountain railway is a railway that operates in a mountainous region. It may operate through the mountains by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes, or it may climb a mountain to provide transport to and from the su ...

s to the summit starts in Vitznau. Vitznau has an area of . Of this area, 32.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 56.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). , 56.28% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 30.38% is used for farming or pastures, while 1.79% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 4.71% is covered with buildings, 0.11% is industrial, 0.22% is classed as special developments, 0.56% is parks or greenbelts and 1.91% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.11% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), 0.11% is unproductive flowing water (rivers) and 3.81% is other unproductive land.

Demographics

Vitznau has a population (as of ) of . , 22.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 11.7%. Most of the population () speaks German (91.7%), with Albanian being second most common ( 3.1%) and Italian third ( 1.2%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 29.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (24.1%), the CVP (23.7%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

(10.9%). The age distribution in Vitznau is; 262 people or 20.3% of the population is 0–19 years old. 354 people or 27.5% are 20–39 years old, and 436 people or 33.8% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 176 people or 13.7% are 65–79 years old, 52 or 4% are 80–89 years old and 9 people or 0.7% of the population are 90+ years old.LUSTAT Lucerne Cantonal Statistics
accessed 12 August 2009 In Vitznau about 70.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

or additional higher education (either university or a ''

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

''). there are 433 households, of which 149 households (or about 34.4%) contain only a single individual. 34 or about 7.9% are large households, with at least five members. there were 239 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 174 were built only as housing, and 65 were

mixed use Mixed use is a type of Real estate development, urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple Land use, uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into ...

buildings. There were 88 single family homes, 32 double family homes, and 54 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (61) or three (79) story structures. There were only 4 single story buildings and 30 four or more story buildings. Vitznau has an unemployment rate of 1.96%. , there were 77 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 26 businesses involved in this sector. 52 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 14 businesses in this sector. 358 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 ...

, with 45 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 20-Aug-2009 51.6% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 42% of the workforce. the religious membership of Vitznau was; 771 (74.2%) were Roman Catholic, and 132 (12.7%) were Protestant, with an additional 8 (0.77%) that were of some other Christian faith. There are 23 individuals (2.21% of the population) who are Muslim. Of the rest; there were 4 (0.38%) individuals who belong to another religion, 71 (6.83%) who do not belong to any organized religion, 30 (2.89%) who did not answer the question.

Transport

The municipality has four railway stations: , , , and . All four are located on the Vitznau–Rigi line of

Rigi Railways Rigi Railways () is a railway company that operates a group of railways on the mountain Rigi, located between two of the arms of Lake Lucerne, in Switzerland. They include two standard gauge rack railways, the Vitznau–Rigi Bahn (VRB) and the ...

, which ascends from the shore of

Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne (, literally 'Lake of the four Waldstätte, forested settlements' (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), , ) is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country. Geography The lake has a compli ...

to the top of the

. Vitznau is also a ferry terminal with regular service by the

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

to various destinations on the lake.

References

External links

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