Kriens
Encyclopedia
Kriens is a municipality
in the district of Lucerne
in the canton
of Lucerne in Switzerland
.
The municipality lies at the foot of Mount Pilatus, and is a western suburb of Lucerne
.
and the Lake of Lucerne. The monastery received the area as a present from two noble sisters. This document dates from about 840 AD. The Habsburgs acquired the municipality in 1291. It remained in their possession as part of the District of Rothenburg until the Battle of Sempach
. The city of Lucerne took over in 1392. Kriens, along with Horw and Eigenthal, belonged to the Vogtei of Horw-Kriens from 1421 until 1798. In 1653 the local peasants revolted under the leadership of Hans Spengler. It was a part of the District of Lucerne until 1803, and has belonged to the Authority of Lucerne ever since.
The town was started by a monk named Jacobous Kriens years ago. Many people used the name of the town as their last name when they left years ago.
The border in the east, with the neighboring community of Lucerne, goes across the property of a large brewery. From there it runs in a north-westerly direction through the Gigeliwald and runs to the west of the Lucerne district of Obergütsch and the Gütschwald to the Böschenhof farmstead. From there it runs to the south-west up the slopes of Mount Sonnenberg and Mount Blettenberg to the Gspan farmstead. It turns thence to the south-east, separating the hamlet of Holderchäppeli (elev. 935 m (3,067.6 ft)), running over Mount Würzenegg (elev. 1146 m (3,759.8 ft)), Mount Chraigütsch (elev. 1081 m (3,546.6 ft)) and Mount Höchberg (elev. 1162 m (3,812.3 ft)) on its way to Mount Lauelenegg (elev. 1442 m (4,731 ft)) northwest of Mount Pilatus. Thence the municipal border leads to the north-east over Mount Fräkmüntegg (elev. 1469 m (4,819.6 ft)), and Mount Biele (elev. 1373 m (4,504.6 ft)) to the Hochwald. From there the border leads to Steinibach and shortly thereafter, nearly to the train station in Horw
. From there it follows the train track toward Lucerne in a north-easterly direction back to the property of the brewery.
The eastern part of Kriens (the districts near the city and near Horw) lie in a valley. From Kupferhammer the land gently rises to the west, toward Obernau (elevation difference between Kupferhammer and Obernau less than 90 m (295.3 ft) ).
To the north of the town is the little-forested southern slope of Mount Sonnenberg. The slope to the south of town is the northern side of Mount Schattenberg.
Mount Schattenberg is the first rise of Mount Pilatus. The lower part is cleared and partially developed. The majority of the land west of Obernau and south of town is forest. West of the line connecting Krienseregg and Fräkmüntegg there is a large, flat swamp, from which begin many brooks (including Tschuggenbach, Weissbach, Rotbach, and Renggbach). The whole area forms part of the north slope of Mount Pilatus.
Of importance is the stream the Unterer Krienbach, which often caused floods before it was covered. It flows through the town and empties into the Reuss River
in Lucerne. The Schlundbach and the previously mentioned Steinibach flow in the direction of Horw and onward into Lake Lucerne
.
Kriens has an area of 27.3 km² (10.5 sq mi). Of this area, 31.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 50.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 16.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). , 50.51% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 29.63% is used for farming or pastures, while 1.98% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 8.81% is covered with buildings, 2.23% is industrial, 0.84% is classed as special developments, 1.1% is parks or greenbelts and 3.88% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.07% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), 0.33% is unproductive flowing water (rivers) and 0.62% is other unproductive land.
It consists of Kriens and since 1845 Hergiswald. The Eigental belonged to Kriens parish
until 1832. It was also part of Kriens during the Middle Ages and from 1814-45.
to the south, on Horw to the south and east, on the city of Lucerne to the east, the former municipality Littau
(now part of the City of Lucerne) to the north, on Malters
to the north-west, and on Schwarzenberg
to the west.
The age distribution in Kriens is: 5,438 people or 21% of the population is 0–19 years old. 6,412 people or 24.8% are 20–39 years old, and 9,199 people or 35.5% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 3,675 people or 14.2% are 65–79 years old, 997 or 3.9% are 80–89 years old and 167 people or 0.6% of the population are 90+ years old.
The historical population is given in the following table:
buildings. There were 1,341 single family homes, 275 double family homes, and 916 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (918) or three (906) story structures. There were only 114 single story buildings and 594 four or more story buildings.
German
. , 89.36% responded that their main language was German, 2.55% Italian, and 1.92% Serbian.
church, though today it is still the largest Christian denomination in Kriens, other have immigrated from other parts of Switzerland and abroad changing the demographics of the towns population.
, the religious demography is as follows.
The majority of the Muslims are from Albanian and Bosnian, along with some other nationalities. The Orthodox Christians are mostly Serbians and Montenegrins. The Jews are generally members of the (orthodox) Hasidic branch of Judaism, and Swiss in nationality.
Despite this, Kriens has an outstanding public transportation system. Line 1 of the VBL bus company goes from Lucerne to Kriens-Obernau via the town center. Lines 15 and 16 make other communities accessible by public transportation. In 2005, Line 16 was extended to the train station in Horw. Additionally, the new Line 31 goes from Lucerne to Horw via many communities in Kriens.
Kriens has its own exit on the Autobahn (the A2) near Grosshof, south of the Mount Sonnenberg tunnel
. However, the exit for Horw, in Schlund, also on the A2, is more convenient for inhabitants in some parts of Kriens.
which received 28.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
(20.2%), the FDP
(20%) and the SPS
(17.1%).
word Chrientes is mentioned.
In Kriens about 74.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
).
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Lucerne
Lucerne (district)
Lucerne District is an Amt of the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. It has a population of and consists of 18 municipalities, of which the city of Lucerne is the largest and the district capital:-Mergers:...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Lucerne in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
The municipality lies at the foot of Mount Pilatus, and is a western suburb of Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
.
History
In the oldest documents of the Benedictine Monastery of Lucerne, Chrientes is specified as one of their 16 properties. Chrientes specified an area between Mt. PilatusPilatus (mountain)
Pilatus is a mountain near Lucerne, Switzerland. Jurisdiction over the mountain is divided between the cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden, and Lucerne...
and the Lake of Lucerne. The monastery received the area as a present from two noble sisters. This document dates from about 840 AD. The Habsburgs acquired the municipality in 1291. It remained in their possession as part of the District of Rothenburg until the Battle of Sempach
Battle of Sempach
An armistice was agreed upon on 12 October, followed by a peace agreement valid for one year, beginning on 14 January 1387.The battle was a severe blow to Austrian interests in the region, and allowed for the further growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy....
. The city of Lucerne took over in 1392. Kriens, along with Horw and Eigenthal, belonged to the Vogtei of Horw-Kriens from 1421 until 1798. In 1653 the local peasants revolted under the leadership of Hans Spengler. It was a part of the District of Lucerne until 1803, and has belonged to the Authority of Lucerne ever since.
The town was started by a monk named Jacobous Kriens years ago. Many people used the name of the town as their last name when they left years ago.
Geography
Kriens consists of the ("citified") town of diverse districts, the community of Obernau to its west, the hamlet of Hergiswald, 5 km to the west of the town on the road to Eigenthal, and numerous independent farmsteads on the slopes of Mount Pilatus.The border in the east, with the neighboring community of Lucerne, goes across the property of a large brewery. From there it runs in a north-westerly direction through the Gigeliwald and runs to the west of the Lucerne district of Obergütsch and the Gütschwald to the Böschenhof farmstead. From there it runs to the south-west up the slopes of Mount Sonnenberg and Mount Blettenberg to the Gspan farmstead. It turns thence to the south-east, separating the hamlet of Holderchäppeli (elev. 935 m (3,067.6 ft)), running over Mount Würzenegg (elev. 1146 m (3,759.8 ft)), Mount Chraigütsch (elev. 1081 m (3,546.6 ft)) and Mount Höchberg (elev. 1162 m (3,812.3 ft)) on its way to Mount Lauelenegg (elev. 1442 m (4,731 ft)) northwest of Mount Pilatus. Thence the municipal border leads to the north-east over Mount Fräkmüntegg (elev. 1469 m (4,819.6 ft)), and Mount Biele (elev. 1373 m (4,504.6 ft)) to the Hochwald. From there the border leads to Steinibach and shortly thereafter, nearly to the train station in Horw
Horw
Horw is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.-History:Horw is first mentioned in 1231 as Horwe.-Geography:...
. From there it follows the train track toward Lucerne in a north-easterly direction back to the property of the brewery.
The eastern part of Kriens (the districts near the city and near Horw) lie in a valley. From Kupferhammer the land gently rises to the west, toward Obernau (elevation difference between Kupferhammer and Obernau less than 90 m (295.3 ft) ).
To the north of the town is the little-forested southern slope of Mount Sonnenberg. The slope to the south of town is the northern side of Mount Schattenberg.
Mount Schattenberg is the first rise of Mount Pilatus. The lower part is cleared and partially developed. The majority of the land west of Obernau and south of town is forest. West of the line connecting Krienseregg and Fräkmüntegg there is a large, flat swamp, from which begin many brooks (including Tschuggenbach, Weissbach, Rotbach, and Renggbach). The whole area forms part of the north slope of Mount Pilatus.
Of importance is the stream the Unterer Krienbach, which often caused floods before it was covered. It flows through the town and empties into the Reuss River
Reuss River
The Reuss is a river in Switzerland. With a length of and a drainage basin of , it is the fourth largest river in Switzerland...
in Lucerne. The Schlundbach and the previously mentioned Steinibach flow in the direction of Horw and onward into Lake Lucerne
Lake Lucerne
Lake Lucerne is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country.The lake has a complicated shape, with bends and arms reaching from the city of Lucerne into the mountains. It has a total area of 114 km² , an elevation of 434 m , and a maximum depth of 214 m . Its volume is 11.8...
.
Kriens has an area of 27.3 km² (10.5 sq mi). Of this area, 31.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 50.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 16.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). , 50.51% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 29.63% is used for farming or pastures, while 1.98% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 8.81% is covered with buildings, 2.23% is industrial, 0.84% is classed as special developments, 1.1% is parks or greenbelts and 3.88% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.07% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), 0.33% is unproductive flowing water (rivers) and 0.62% is other unproductive land.
It consists of Kriens and since 1845 Hergiswald. The Eigental belonged to Kriens parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
until 1832. It was also part of Kriens during the Middle Ages and from 1814-45.
Neighboring municipalities
Kriens borders on HergiswilHergiswil
Hergiswil is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-Geography:Hergiswil has an area, , of . Of this area, 29.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 44.4% is forested...
to the south, on Horw to the south and east, on the city of Lucerne to the east, the former municipality Littau
Littau
Littau is a former municipality, and now part of the city of Lucerne, in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipality of Littau merged into the municipality of Lucerne.-History:...
(now part of the City of Lucerne) to the north, on Malters
Malters
Malters is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.-History:Malters is first mentioned in second half of the 9th Century as in Maltrensi marcha. In 1238 it was mentioned as villa Malters.-Geography:...
to the north-west, and on Schwarzenberg
Schwarzenberg, Switzerland
Schwarzenberg is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.-Geography:Schwarzenberg has an area of . Of this area, 36.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 53.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.7% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
to the west.
Population
Kriens has a population (as of ) of . , 15.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.3%.The age distribution in Kriens is: 5,438 people or 21% of the population is 0–19 years old. 6,412 people or 24.8% are 20–39 years old, and 9,199 people or 35.5% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 3,675 people or 14.2% are 65–79 years old, 997 or 3.9% are 80–89 years old and 167 people or 0.6% of the population are 90+ years old.
Population growth
The population of Kriens has grown constantly since 1798. There were only three short periods of stagnation, the first from 1837–1850, the second 1910-1920 and the third 1970-1980. Particularly large increases occurred between 1888 and 1910 and between 1930 and 1970. Kriens celebrated a population of 10,000 in 1951; it reached 20,000 by 1970. Today Kriens is the third largest municipality in canton Lucerne, and one of the 25-biggest cities and municipalities in Switzerland.The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1456 | c. 400 |
| 1695 | c. 1,280 |
| 1798 | 1,956 |
| 1837 | 2,663 |
| 1850 | 2,693 |
| 1888 | 4,319 |
| 1900 | 5,951 |
| 1910 | 7,157 |
| 1920 | 7,247 |
| 1930 | 7,424 |
| 1950 | 9,821 |
| 1960 | 14,029 |
| 1970 | 20,409 |
| 1980 | 21,097 |
| 1990 | 23,079 |
| 2000 | 24,742 |
| 2004 | 25,190 |
Housing
there are 10,830 households, of which 3,760 households (or about 34.7%) contain only a single individual. 573 or about 5.3% are large households, with at least five members. there were 2,941 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 2,532 were built only as housing, and 409 were mixed useMixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
buildings. There were 1,341 single family homes, 275 double family homes, and 916 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (918) or three (906) story structures. There were only 114 single story buildings and 594 four or more story buildings.
Languages
The population speaks a dialect of High AlemannicHigh Alemannic German
High Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic German and is often considered to be part of the German language, even though it is only partly intelligible to non-Alemannic speakers....
German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. , 89.36% responded that their main language was German, 2.55% Italian, and 1.92% Serbian.
Religions-denominations
The population was formerly dominated by the CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church, though today it is still the largest Christian denomination in Kriens, other have immigrated from other parts of Switzerland and abroad changing the demographics of the towns population.
, the religious demography is as follows.
| Population by nationality (Census) | |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Percentage |
| Roman Catholic | 66.79% |
| Protestant | 15.82% |
| Atheist | 7.44% |
| Muslim Muslim A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable... |
3.28% |
| Orthodox Christians | 2.22% |
| Believers of other non-Christian faiths |
0.76% |
| Jewish | 0.57% |
| Old Catholic | 0.19% |
| No Answer | 2.78% |
The majority of the Muslims are from Albanian and Bosnian, along with some other nationalities. The Orthodox Christians are mostly Serbians and Montenegrins. The Jews are generally members of the (orthodox) Hasidic branch of Judaism, and Swiss in nationality.
Origin-nationality
Of the 25,190 inhabitants at the end of 2004, 21,409 were Swiss, and 3,781 (or about 15%) were foreigners. At the time of the last census, in 2000, 80.46% were Swiss citizens (85.30% including dual citizens). In contrast to the other large municipalities in Lucerne, there are no communities with a foreign immigrant majority in Kriens.| Population by nationality (Census) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Number not including dual citizens |
Number including dual citizens |
| Switzerland | 19'907 | 21'105 |
| Italy | 724 | 1'158 |
| Serbia-Montenegro | 928 | 994 |
| Germany | 293 | 403 |
| Sri Lanka | 228 | 264 |
| Spain | 197 | 244 |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 221 | 234 |
| Macedonia | 161 | 171 |
| Portugal | 148 | 158 |
| Croatia | 135 | 146 |
| Austria | 93 | 134 |
| Turkey | 86 | 103 |
Economy
Two-thirds of the jobs are in the service sector. Kriens offers 12,120 jobs in 958 work places. Kriens has an unemployment rate of 2.53%. , there were 155 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 59 businesses involved in this sector. 2051 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 200 businesses in this sector. 6629 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 657 businesses in this sector. 51.2% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 45% of the workforce.Transportation
Kriens was formerly accessible by train. The Kriens-Lucerne Train handled passenger traffic for decades. The tracks were removed from town in 2004, during a reorganisation of downtown. In the same year, rail service was restored to Kriens. The Kriens-Mattenhof station opened on the rail line between Lucerne and Interlaken in December 2004. It is, however, closer to Horw than to the town of Kriens.Despite this, Kriens has an outstanding public transportation system. Line 1 of the VBL bus company goes from Lucerne to Kriens-Obernau via the town center. Lines 15 and 16 make other communities accessible by public transportation. In 2005, Line 16 was extended to the train station in Horw. Additionally, the new Line 31 goes from Lucerne to Horw via many communities in Kriens.
Kriens has its own exit on the Autobahn (the A2) near Grosshof, south of the Mount Sonnenberg tunnel
Sonnenberg Tunnel
The Sonnenberg Tunnel is a 1,550m long motorway tunnel, constructed between 1971 and 1976 and located near Lucerne, Switzerland. At its completion it was also the world's largest civilian nuclear fallout shelter, designed to protect 20,000 civilians in the eventuality of war or disaster.-Motorway...
. However, the exit for Horw, in Schlund, also on the A2, is more convenient for inhabitants in some parts of Kriens.
Politics
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVPSwiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
which received 28.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
(20.2%), the FDP
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
(20%) and the SPS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(17.1%).
Community name
Neither the origin nor the meaning of Kriens is clearly ascertainable. It probably comes from the Indo-Germanic word (s)keri, that meant something like "separate" (4th century AD). It was then probably transferred into the Celtic Crientas. In a 9th-century document the AlemannicAlemannic German
Alemannic is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France and Italy...
word Chrientes is mentioned.
Schools
There are twelve primary and three secondary schools in Kriens.In Kriens about 74.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
).