Greppen

Infobox Swiss town
subject_name = Greppen
municipality_name = Greppen
municipality_type = municipality
imagepath_coa = Pic_Greppen.png|pixel_coa=

languages = German
canton = Lucerne
iso-code-region = CH-LU
district = Lucerne
lat_d=47|lat_m=03|lat_NS=N|long_d=08|long_m=26|long_EW=E
postal_code = 6404
municipality_code = 1056
area = 5.25
elevation = 447|elevation_description=
population = 851|populationof = December 2004 | popofyear = 2004
website = www.greppen.ch
mayor = |mayor_asof=|mayor_party=
mayor_title = |list_of_mayors =
places =
demonym =
neighboring_municipalities= Küssnacht (SZ), Meggen, Weggis
twintowns = |

Greppen is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.

It lies at the base of huge Mount Rigi. The exclave is separated by Lake Lucerne from the rest of the district.

Geography

Greppen lies on the eastern shore of the Küssnacht arm of Lake Lucerne, at the base of Mount Rigi. Greppen stretches from Lake Lucerne up the west slope of Mount Rigi to just below Rigi-Staffel (elev. 1400m). The municipality has an area of only 330 hectares, the rest is lake area. Of its land, 50.9% is used for agriculture, 39.7% is forested, and only 9.4% is developed. The "Breitenacherreid" is a nature preserve.

Neighboring Municipalities

Greppen borders on Weggis and Küssnacht in Canton Schwyz. It also shares a water border with Meggen.

Population

Population Growth

In 1798 there were only 240 inhabitants. The population grew until 1860 (1798-1860: +23.8%) and then fell to only by 244 by 1900. In the next twenty years, tourism brought with it rapid population growth (1900-1920: +51.8%). The number of inhabitants then remained about the same until 1980. Since then, the population has grown (1980-2004: +143.8%) because of improved transportation, the municipality's mild climate, and its proximity to Lucerne and Küssnacht.

Languages

As of 2000, 94.03% of the population speaks German, 1.3% speak English, and 0.91% speak French.

Religions-Denominations

The population is traditionally Catholic. As of 2000, 65.97% were Roman Catholic, 19.87% were Protestant, 1.04% were Orthodox Christians, and 0.52% were Old Catholic. Nonchristian minorities included Atheists (8.44%) and Muslims (1.3%).

Origin and Nationality

In 2000, 90.39% of the population were Swiss citizens, of whom only 85.84% had passports. Immigrant groups included Germans (4.03%, or 4.68%, including those with dual citizenship), and Italians (0.65%, or 1.95%). Smaller immigrant groups were from France, Austria, Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia. Of the 851 inhabitants at the end of 2004, 763 were Swiss, and 88 (or about 10%) were foreign.

Municipal Council

The non-professional Municipal Council is formed of the following:
*Marc Schnyder (Municipal President; Culture, Leisure, Economy)
*Kurt Greter (Mayor; Real estate, Safety, Education, Traffic and Finance)
*Roswitha Jenni (Social welfare)

Elections

In the canton-level elections of 2003, the civil parties won the following portions of the votes: CVP 33.16%, FDP 27.59%, SVP 19.07%. The leftist and progressive parties (SP and Green Alliance) won large portions of the votes, 9.48% and 8.25%, respectively, considering that Greppen is a rural municipality in the Lucerne District. Among the smallest parties, the Aktiven Senioren (Active Seniors) did the best, with 1.27%.

"Fusion" Project

The three municipalities near Mount Rigi in the District of Lucerne are planning a gradual union, because they already work together on many issues.

Economy

The population of Greppen find their livelihood in many diverse fields. Although traditionally dominated by cattle and alpine dairy farming, and fishing, people also raised Chestnuts (in the mild climate) and mined Tuff. Today there are still 17 agricultural operations. Nevertheless, the number of people employed in agriculture and fishing is still far above average (32.9% in 2000). 32.4% are employed in industry and trade, and 34.7% are employed in the service industries. The widely used silk and linen weaving factories of the 19th century have disappeared. Major employers include culinary operations, (moderate) tourism, pharmaceuticals, and construction. The commuter balance paints a clear picture. 40 people commute to Greppen, whereas 280 (among a total of 421 employed) commute from Greppen (26.8% to Canton Schwyz, 20.7% to Canton Zug, 12.9% to Lucerne, and 11.4% to the neighboring municipality of Weggis).

Tourism

Because of such diverse projects as the alignment of the Zürichsee-Gotthard railroad track along Mount Rigi, and the failure to construct a railroad up Mount Rigi departing from Greppen, tourism is not as important in Greppen as it is in nearby municipalities. Two restaurants of renown in Greppen are the "Eidgenossen" and "St. Wendelin/Fische".

Transportation

Greppen has possessed a ship dock of the Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees (SGV or Ship company of Lake Lucerne) since 1869. This company also set up a bus line from Küssnacht to Brunnen via Weggis in 1932, which is important to local public transportation. The nearest train station is in Küssnacht, on the track from Lucerne to Goldau. There is also a train station in Brunnen, which is on the Gotthard line.

The nearest autobahn exchange, 5 km away in Küssnacht, has improved traffic and lead to a great increase in population.

History

Greppen shares the history of its neighboring community of Weggis. Mentioned for the first time, albeit indirectly, in 1259 as "Crepon", in a document of Heinrich von Heidegg, it belonged to the Habsburgs, and was sold to Lucerne in 1406 as part of the Vogti Neuhabsburg. In 1803 it was assigned to the District of Lucerne.

chools

There has been a village primary school in Greppen since 1809, which is attended by students in Kindergarten through grade 6. There are 8 students in Kindergarten and 84 students in the elementary grades. Students in grades 7 and above attend school in neighboring Weggis. The principal is Ruth Steiert-Hurschler.

Attractions

In the 14th century the holy order of St. Wendelin was established, and a village chapel of St. Wendelin was built between 1483-85. This church had to yield to the parish church of St. Wendelin in about 1645. There is an annual pilgrimage to Greppen on October 20. The relatively intact village quality of Greppen has put it on the Inventar schützenswerter Ortschaften, or the "Inventory of protected communities."

References

This article was translated from the German Wikipedia article of the same name.
*J. Muheim-Büeler, J. Studhalter: "Greppen". 1997.

External links

* [http://www.greppen.ch|Official Website of the municipality of Greppen (in German)]
*HDS|619|Greppen
* [http://www.seegemeinden.ch|"Fusion" Project Website (in German)]