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LUCERNE

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 98 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LUCERNE , the See also:

capital of the Swiss See also:canton of the same name. It is one of the See also:principal tourist centres of See also:Switzerland, being situated on the St Gotthard railway See also:line, by which it is 59 M. from See also:Basel and 18o m. from See also:Milan. Its prosperity has always been See also:bound up with the St Gotthard Pass, so that the successive improvements effected on that route (See also:mule path in the 13th See also:century, See also:carriage road 182o-183o, and railway See also:tunnel in 1882) have had much effect on its growth. It is beautifully situated on the See also:banks of the See also:river See also:Reuss, just as it issues from the See also:Lake of Lucerne, while to the See also:south-See also:west rises the rugged range of See also:Pilatus, balanced on the See also:east by the more smiling See also:ridge of the Rigi and the See also:calm See also:waters of the lake. The See also:town itself is very picturesque. On the rising ground to its See also:north still stand nine of the towers that defended the old town See also:wall on the Musegg slope. The Reuss is still crossed by two See also:quaint old wooden See also:bridges, the upper being the Kapellbriicke (adorned by many paintings illustrating the See also:history of Switzerland and the town and clinging to the massive Wasserthurm) and the See also:lower the Miihlenbriicke (also with paintings, this See also:time of the See also:Dance of See also:Death). The old Hofbriicke (on the site of the Schweizerhof See also:quay) was removed in 1852, when the See also:process of embanking the See also:shore of the lake began, the result being a splendid See also:series of quays, along which rise palatial hotels. The principal See also:building is the twin-towered Hofkirche (dedicated to St Leger or Leodegar) which, though in its See also:present See also:form it See also:dates only from 1633-1635, was the centre See also:round which the town gradually gathered; originally it formed See also:part of a See also:Benedictine monastery, but since 1455 has been held by a See also:college of See also:secular canons. It has a See also:fine 17th-century See also:organ. The 16th-century town-See also:hall (Rathhaus) now houses the cantonal museum of antiquities of all dates. Both the cantonal and the town See also:libraries are See also:rich in old books, the latter being now specially devoted to See also:works (MS. or printed) See also:relating to Swiss history before 1848.

The See also:

Lion See also:monument, designed by See also:Thorwaldsen, dedicated in 1821, and consisting of a dying lion hewn out of the living See also:sandstone, commemorates the See also:officers and men of the Swiss Guard (26 officers and about 76o men) who were slain while defending the Tuileries in See also:Paris in 1792, and is reflected in a clear See also:pool at its See also:foot. In the immediate neighbourhood is the See also:Glacier See also:Garden, a series of potholes worn in the sandstone See also:rock See also:bed of an See also:ancient glacier. Among See also:modern buildings are the railway station, the See also:post See also:office and the Museum of See also:War and See also:Peace, all in the new See also:quarter on the See also:left See also:bank of the Reuss. In the interior of the town are many quaint old private houses. In 1799 the See also:population numbered but 4337, but had doubled by 184o. Since then the rise has been rapid and continuous, being 29,255 in 1900. The vast See also:majority are See also:German-speaking (in 1900 there were 1242 See also:Italian-speaking and to the irregularity of its shape. It is, in fact, composed of four See also:main basins (with two See also:side basins), which represent four different valleys, orographically distinct, and connected only by narrow and tortuous channels. There is, first, the most easterly See also:basin, the See also:Bay of See also:Uri, extending from Fliielen on the south to Brunnen on the north. At Brunnen the See also:great See also:delta of the Muota forces the lake to the west, so that it forms the Bay of Gersau or the Gulf of Buochs, extending from the promontory of Seelisberg (E.) to that of the Burgenstock (W.). Another narrow strait between the two " Noses " (Nasen) leads westwards to the Basin of Weggis, enclosed between the Rigi (N.) and the Burgenstock promontory (S.). This last named bay forms the eastern See also:arm of what is called the See also:Cross of Lucerne, the western arm of which is formed by the Bay of Lucerne, while the See also:northern arm is the Bay of Kussnacht and the See also:southern that of Hergiswil, prolonged S.W. by the Bay of Alpnach, with which it is joined by a very narrow channel, spanned by the Acher See also:iron See also:bridge.

The Bay of Uri offers the sternest scenery, but is the most interesting, by See also:

reason of its connexion with See also:early Swiss history—at Brunnen the See also:Everlasting See also:League of 1315 was really made, while the legendary See also:place of See also:meeting of the founders of Swiss freedom was the meadow of the See also:Ruth on the west (See also:purchased by the See also:Confederation in 1859), and the site of Tell's leap is marked by the See also:Chapel of Tell (E.). Nearly opposite Brunnen, See also:close to the west shore, an isolated rock (the Schillerstein or Mythenstein) now bears an inscription in See also:honour of See also:Friedrich See also:Schiller, the author of the famous See also:play of See also:William Tell (1804). In the Bay of Gersau the most interesting spot is the See also:village of Gersau (N.), which formed an See also:independent See also:republic from 1390 to 1798, but in 1818 was finally See also:united to the canton of See also:Schwyz. In the next basin to the west is Weggis (N.), also for See also:long in the See also:middle ages a small independent See also:state; to the S.E. of Weggis, on the north shore of the lake, is Vitznau, whence a See also:rack railway (1871) leads up to the See also:top of the Rigi (41.M.), while S.W. of Weggis, on the south shore of the lake, is Kehrsiten, whence an electric railway leads up to the great hotels on the Burgenstock promontory (2854 ft.). The town of Lucerne is connected with Fluelen by the main line of the St Gotthard railway (32 m.), though only portions of this line (from Lucerne to Kussnacht, 102 m., and from Brunnen to Fluelen, 7 m.) run along the shore; Brunnen is also connected with Fluelen by the splendid carriage road known as the Axenstrasse (71 m.) and is the starting-point of an electric line (1905) up to Morschach (S.E.) and the great hotels of Axenstein and Axenfels near it. On the promontory between Lucerne and Kussnacht stands the See also:castle of New See also:Habsburg (modern), while from Kussnacht a carriage road leads through the remains of the " Hollow Way " (Hohle Gasse), the See also:scene of the legendary See also:murder of Gessler by William Tell. The west shore of the southern arm, or the basin of Hergiswil and the Bay of Alpnach, is traversed from Horw to Alpnachstad by the Briinig railway (51 m.), which continues towards See also:Sarnen (Obwalden) and the Bernese Oberland, S.W. from Alpnachstad, whence a rack railway leads N.W. up Pilatus (21 m.). Opposite Hergiswil, but on the east shore of the Basin of Hergiswil, is Stanstad, the See also:port of See also:Stans (Nidwalden), which is connected by an electric line with See also:Engelberg (14 M.). The first steamer was placed on the lake in 1835. Lucerne is the only town of importance, but several spots serve as ports for neighbouring towns or large villages (Brunnen for Schwyz, Fluelen for See also:Altdorf, Stanstad for Stans, Alpnachstad for Sarnen). Most of the villages on the shores are frequented in summer by visitors (Gersau also in See also:winter), especially Hertenstein, Weggis, Gersau, Brunnen, Beckenried and Hergiswil, while great hotels, commanding magnificent views, have been built on heights above it, such as the Burgenstock, Seelisberg, and near Morschach, above Brunnen, besides those on the Rigi, Pilatus and the Stanserhorn. The See also:area of the lake is about 441 sq.

•m., its length about 24 m., its greatest width only 2 M. and its greatest See also:

depth 702 ft., while the See also:surface of the See also:water is 1434 ft. above See also:sea-level. Of the See also:total area about 152 sq. m. are in the Canton of Lucerne, 13 sq. m. in that of Nidwalden, 71 sq. m. in that of Uri, 71 sq. m. in that of Schwyz, and about 1 sq. m. in that of Obwalden. (W. A. B.

End of Article: LUCERNE

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