Gelfingen

State :

Switzerland

Canton :

Lucerne (LU)

Constituency :

Hochdorf

Residential municipality :

Hitzkirch

Postal code :

6284

former BFS no. :

1027

Coordinates :

662 662 / 229609 coordinates: 47 ° 12 '52 " N , 8 ° 15' 57" O ; CH1903: six hundred sixty-two thousand six hundred and sixty-two / 229609

Height :

472 m above sea level M.

Area :

3.86 km²

Residents:

980 (January 1, 2016)

Population density :

254 inhabitants per km²

Website:

www.gelfingen.ch

Gelfingen and Heidegg Castle

map

Parish before the merger on January 1st, 2009

Gelfingen (Swiss German: Gäuflige) is a village in the municipality of Hitzkirch in the Hochdorf district of the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland .

Gelfingen was a political municipality until December 31, 2008 ; on January 1, 2009 the municipalities of Hitzkirch , Gelfingen, Hämikon , Mosen , Müswangen , Retschwil and Sulz merged to form the new municipality of Hitzkirch.

geography

Gelfingen is located at the northern end of the Baldeggersee in the Lucerne part of the Seetal . The area of the former municipality extends over an area of 740 hectares, almost half of which is part of the Baldeggersee and 386 land area. 64.8% of this is used for agriculture. 25.4% are covered by forest and wood, only 9.3% are settlement areas. Heidegg Castle is located above the village .

Neighboring communities were Hitzkirch , Hohenrain and Sulz .

population

Population development
year	Residents
1798	307
1850	497
1888	413
1900	443
1980	501
1990	515
2000	709
2004	762

The number of residents increased in the first half of the 19th century and fluctuated between 440 and 520 people from 1850 to 1990, mostly around 500 inhabitants. The lowest number was recorded in the 1888 census. The population has been increasing rapidly for 15 years (growth 1990–2004: 48.0%).

languages

The population speaks a highly Alemannic dialect. In the last census in 2000, 94.08% gave German, 1.41% English and 0.99% Portuguese as their main / everyday language.

Religions - denominations

In the past, the entire population consisted of members of the Roman Catholic Church. Today (as of 2000) the religious composition is as follows: 79.83% Roman Catholic, 8.18% Evangelical Reformed and 0.85% other Christians (supporters of free churches). There were also 4.65% non-religious, 0.85% Hindus and 0.71% Muslim. The Hindus are Tamils from Sri Lanka, the Muslims Albanians from Kosovo and Macedonia.

Origin and nationality

At the end of 2006, 738 of the 774 inhabitants were Swiss citizens and 36 (= 4.7%) were foreigners. At the last census, 89.56 (including 94.50% dual citizens) were Swiss. The largest groups of immigrants come from Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sri Lanka and Austria.

Municipal council

The residents with Swiss citizenship elected the municipal council, which then ran the municipality on its behalf. In the last municipal council elections in 2004, there was a campaign election. With a turnout of 64.3%, four out of five seats were taken in the first ballot. Since one of the two non-elected did not want to run for the second ballot, the fifth seat was awarded in a silent vote .

The last municipal council of Gelfingen was composed as follows:

Pius Jans ( CVP ), mayor
Luzia Ineichen-Fellmann (CVP), municipal clerk
Hansruedi Häfliger-Vonarburg (independent)
Verena Schnyder-Käser (CVP)
Sabine Trottmann-Dauben ( FDP )

Elections to the Grand Council

In the Grand Council elections in 2003, the CVP achieved an absolute majority with 50.35% of the vote. The SVP followed in second place with 20.70%, followed by the FDP with 17.11%. The three bourgeois parties together got almost 90% of the votes. The SP got 7.97%, the Green Alliance 2.22%.

traffic

Gelfingen has its own Seetalbahn stop , as the Lucerne-Lenzburg line is called. Gelfingen is on the main road Lucerne-Lenzburg. The closest motorway connection is Buchrain on the A14 , 15 km away.

history

Heidegg Castle above Gelfingen

The place Gelvingun is the first time in a letter of protection from King Heinrich III. mentioned to the Canons of Beromünster in 1045. He belonged to the rule of the Knights of Heidegg, who were first feudal lords of the Counts of Lenzburg , then the Habsburgs . Actually in 1386, nominally only under the rule of the city of Lucerne in 1415 . As early as 1425, the place came to the free offices until 1798, then until 1803 to the canton of Baden . Since then, the place has belonged to the then newly created Hochdorf Office . For a long time, the Kaiserspan was the only vineyard in the canton of Lucerne. The cultivation of the vineyard was maintained until 1957. In 1990, after a long break on the Sonnenhügel in Kaiserspan, which belongs to the municipality of Gelfingen, viticulture was planted again on 75 Aaren.

As part of the Hitzkirchertal merger project, all the municipalities involved approved the merger, which was implemented on January 1, 2009.

Aerial photo (1971)

Sons and daughters of the place

Johann Winkler (1805–1863), politician, member of the government and state president of Lucerne
Joseph Winkler (1809–1886), theologian and canon lawyer

Attractions

Web links

Commons : Gelfingen - Collection of images, videos and audio files