Willisau city

State :

Switzerland

Canton :

Lucerne (LU)

Constituency :

Willisau

Residential municipality :

Willisau

Postal code :

6130

former BFS no. :

1149

Coordinates :

641 756 / 218987 coordinates: 47 ° 7 '14 " N , 7 ° 59' 20" O ; CH1903: six hundred and forty-one thousand seven hundred fifty-six / 218987

Height :

557 m above sea level M.

Area :

3.37 km²

Residents:

3087 (December 31, 2004)

Population density :

916 inhabitants per km²

Website:

www.willisau.ch

map

Parish before the merger on January 1, 2006

Until December 31, 2005, Willisau Stadt was a municipality in the Willisau district of the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland .

Since January 1, 2006, it has been united with Willisau Land to form the new municipality of Willisau .

geography

Willisau Stadt is located in the Lucerne hinterland on the edge of the northern foothills of the Napf, at the confluence of the Buch- and Enziwigger rivers. The former community was almost completely enclosed by Willisau Land. 60% of the former 3.37 km² area is covered with forest. The rest is heavily built over. The core of the municipality of Willisau-Stadt included the town, the surrounding area in the basin and on the southern hill (schools), the Willbergwald north of the core zone and the Hirseren.

The second largest part was formed by the Sänti, the Rossgassmoos industrial area and part of the St. Niklausen hill. The Staldenmoos on the road towards Gettnau also belonged to Willisau-Stadt. The demarcation was extremely complicated and was based on historical events.

Former neighboring communities

Willisau-Stadt bordered on Alberswil , Gettnau and Willisau Land .

population

Population development

Despite the medieval town charter, the number of residents remained small. Between 1798 and 1880 the population doubled (+ 105.4%). This was followed by a slight decline until 1900. Since then, the population has grown again significantly (1900–2004: +93.7%). The growth was particularly high between 1950 and 1960 (1950–1960: + 17.8%). There was only a small slump in growth in the 1970s (1970–1980: −3.3%).

Population development
year	Residents
1798	797
1850	1'231
1880	1,637
1900	1,594
1950	2,129
1960	2'508
1970	2,728
1980	2,639
1990	2,866
2000	2,996

languages

The population uses a highly Alemannic dialect as colloquial language. In the last census in 2000 , 91.15% said German, 3.64% Albanian and 1.30% Serbo-Croatian as their main language.

Religions - denominations

In earlier times the entire population was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. This has changed as a result of leaving the church and immigration from other regions in Switzerland and abroad. Today (as of 2000) there are 78.87% Roman Catholic, 9.35% Evangelical Reformed and 1.77% Orthodox Christians. In addition, there are 4.47% Muslims, 1.47% non-denominational and 0.70% members of other non-Christian religions. The Muslims are mostly of Albanian, Kurdish and Turkish origin; the minority of the members of other religions almost exclusively Hindus of Tamil descent from Sri Lanka.

Origin - nationality

Of the 3,087 inhabitants at the end of 2004, 2,684 were Swiss and 403 foreigners (= 13.1%). At the last census, 84.78% (including dual citizens 86.35%) were Swiss nationals. The largest groups of immigrants come from Serbia-Montenegro (mostly Albanians, but also Slavs), Macedonia (mostly Albanians), Italy, Portugal, Germany, Croatia, Turkey and Sri Lanka.

traffic

Willisau is on the Lucerne-Langenthal railway line. There are also the two bus routes Willisau-Ettiswil-Sursee and Willisau-Hergiswil-Hübeli. The nearest motorway connections are (on the A2) Dagmersellen 11 km away and Sursee 13 km away.

history

The place is mentioned for the first time in a deed of donation to the Allerheiligen monastery in Schaffhausen as Willineshouwo in 1101. The gentlemen of Hasenburg-Willisau were the owners for a long time. They acquired the city charter for Willisau around 1272. They were later subject to the Habsburgs . After the Hasenburgs died out, the Counts of Aarberg-Valangin inherited the town. When the Guglers invaded in 1375, the Habsburgs let the city burn down before they arrived. The owners demanded compensation from the Habsburgs. Duke Leopold of Austria had the city burned again in 1386 because it resisted him. This led to a high level of debt for the owner family and led to a dispute with the Habsburgs who were unwilling to pay until 1415. On January 15, 1407, the rights to the rule of Willisau went to the city of Lucerne for 8,000 guilders . Until 1798 it was the seat of the Bailiwick of Willisau, then until 1803 of the Willisau district and since then of the newly created Willisau Office .

Attractions

Merger with Willisau Land

Willisau city emerged with the Helvetic Republic when the city lost the rights to the land. This resulted in an adventurous demarcation and in many cases an impractical division. This has now been corrected after more than 200 years. On January 1, 2006, Willisau Stadt merged with the municipality of Willisau Land to form the new municipality of Willisau .

Web links

Commons : Willisau Stadt - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Official website of the municipalities of Willisau-Stadt and Willisau-Land
Waltraud Hörsch: Willisau city. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .