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About Lucerne

'Lucerne' () is a city in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and seat of the district with the same name. With a population of 57,890^[1], Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland and focal point of the region. The city's agglomeration consists of 17 municipalities in three cantons with an overall population of nearly 200,000^[2].
Due to its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne (''Vierwaldstättersee'') within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi, Lucerne is traditionally considered first and foremost as a tourist destination. One of the city's famous landmarks is Chapel Bridge (''Kapellbrücke''), a wooden bridge from the 14th Century.

Contents

History

Origins

Lucerne today

Sights

Culture & Entertainment

Events

Sports

Transport

Sister cities

See also

References

External links

History

Origins

The city grew from a small fishing village of ancient origins on the shores of Lake Lucerne with the founding of the Benedictine monastery of St. Leodegar in around AD 700. The Latin name "'Luciaria'" appears in historical records from around AD 840.

Lucerne today

On June 17, 2007 voters of Lucerne and the adjacent municipality of Littau agreed on a merger in a simultaneously held referendum, becoming effective on January 1, 2010. The combined municipality will have a population of around 75,000, making it the seventh largest city in Switzerland, and keep the name and coat of arms of the city of Lucerne. The successful referendum is expected to pave the way for negotiations with other neighbouring municipalities in an effort to create a unified city-region, based on the results of a study^[3].

Sights

Since the city straddles the Reuss River where it drains the lake, it has a number of bridges. The most famous is the Chapel Bridge (''Kapellbrücke''), a 204 m (670 ft) long wooden bridge originally built in 1333, although much of it had to be replaced after a 1993 fire, allegedly caused by a group of smokers. Partway across, the bridge runs by the octagonal Water Tower (''Wasserturm''), a fortification from the 13th century. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Luzern's history. The Bridge with its Tower is the city's most famous landmark.
Downriver, between the Kasernenplatz and the Mühlenplatz, the ''Spreuerbrücke'' or Mill Bridge zigzags across the Reuss. Constructed in 1408, it is the oldest covered bridge in Europe and features a series of medieval-style 17th Century plague paintings by Kaspar Meglinger titled ''Dance of Death''. Meglinger's paintings portray various conditions of men and women, priests and warriors, princes and men of learning, the young bride, the devout nun, the lawmaker, the hunter, the miller, even the artist himself, are all depicted at the mercy of Death, with his mocking smile and his ever-changing garb. These paintings, suitable for a Benedictine abbey, are seen by every inhabitant of beautiful Lucerne who crosses the river via the ''Spreuerbrücke''. It has a small chapel in the middle that was added in 1568.

Old Town Lucerne is located just north of the Reuss River, and still has several fine half-timber structures with painted fronts. Remnants of the old town walls exist on the hill above Lucerne, complete with eight tall watch towers. An additional gated tower sits at the base of the hill on the banks of the Reuss River.
The twin needle towers of the cathedral of St. Leodegar sit on a small hill just above the lakefront. Originally built in 735, the present structure was erected in 1633 in the late Renaissance style. However, the towers are surviving remnants of an earlier structure. The interior is richly decorated. The cathedral is popularly called the ''Hofkirche'' (German) and is known locally as the ''Hofchile'' (Swiss-German).

Bertel Thorvaldsen's famous carving of a dying lion (the Lion Monument, or ''Löwendenkmal'') is found in a small park just off Lowenplatz. The carving commemorates the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when the mob stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
The Swiss Transport Museum is a large and comprehensive museum exhibiting all forms of transport, including locomotives, automobiles, ships, and aircraft.
The Culture and Convention Center Lucerne beside the lake in the center of the city was designed by Jean Nouvel. The center has one of the world's leading concert halls, with acoustics by Russell Johnson.

Culture & Entertainment

Events

The city hosts the Lucerne Festival for classical music each year in late summer. Its orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is hand-picked from some of the finest instrumentalists in the world. Lucerne has also hosted the Festival Rose d'Or in the spring since 2004. Each July Lucerne hosts the Blue Balls Festival, consisting of jazz, blues and funk music.

Sports

There are several football (soccer) clubs throughout the city. The most successful one is FC Luzern of the Swiss Super League. The club plays its home matches at Allmend stadium, an outdated 13.000-capacity field in the south of the city. There are plans for a modern football arena combined with an indoor swimming pool and public sports facilities. The complex is not expected to be ready before 2009.
In the past, Lucerne also produced national successes in men's handball and women's volleyball.
Having a long tradition of equestrian sports, Lucerne has co-hosted CSIO Switzerland, an international equestrian show jumping event, until it left entirely for St. Gallen in 2006. Since then, the Lucerne Equestrian Masters took its place. There is also an annual horse racing event, usually taking place in August.
Lucerne annually hosts the final leg of the Rowing World Cup on Rotsee Lake, and has hosted numerous World Rowing Championships, among others the first ever in 1962. Lucerne is also bidding for the 2011 issue.
The city also provides facilities for ice-hockey, figure-skating and swimming.

Transport

Luzern boasts a developed and well-run transport network, with the main operator being VBL which runs both buses and trolleybuses in the city. Other operators, such as Auto AG Rothenberg provide bus services to the neighbouring towns and villages. The city enjoys excellent links to the rest of Switzerland, with rail services operated by SBB and Zentralbahn.

Sister cities

Lucerne is twinned with the following towns:

★ Bournemouth, United Kingdom (1981)

★ Chicago, United States (1999)

★ Cieszyn, Poland (1994)

★ Guebwiller / Murbach, France (1978)

★ Olomouc, Czech Republic (1994)

★ Potsdam, Germany (2002)

See also

★ List of mayors of Lucerne

References

1. Annual Population Figures January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006 (Microsoft Excel) (German) Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.
2. List of agglomerations and isolated cities in Switzerland, 2000 (Microsoft Excel) (German) Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.
3. Grundlagenstudie 'Starke Stadtregion Luzern' January 4, 2007 (PDF) (German)