Stans
Encyclopedia
Stans is the capital of the canton
of Nidwalden
(Nidwald) in Switzerland
.
era there is little evidence of a settlement except for some gallo-roman Ustrinum
or funeral pyre
s and the Latin root (stagnum meaning a pool or sump) of the name Stans.
During the 7th or 8th Century the Alamanni
settled in the region. The christian
Alamanni built the first church in Stans around 750 AD. This pre-Carolingian
church served as the parish
church for the entire Engelberg
Valley. The church was expanded numerous times until it was finally replaced in 1647 by the new church of St. Peter and Paul.
Stans was first mentioned in 1124. By 1291, when Unterwalden
joined Uri
and Schwyz
in what became the Swiss Confederation, Stans was already the capital of the section known as Unterwalden nid dem Kernwald which would become the half canton of Nidwalden.
In 1386, during the Battle of Sempach
, a soldier from Stans, Arnold von Winkelried
, is claimed to have thrown himself on the pikes of the Habsburg
army which led the Swiss to victory. However it is doubtful whether he existed or died in the battle as the first mention of his selfless act appears over 150 years after the battle and a man who may have been Arnold was party to a lawsuit in 1389. Regardless, the legend is firmly in place in Stans, with a monument and his house located in the town.
Following the Swiss victories in the Burgundian Wars
the Old Swiss Confederation was nearly torn apart by internal conflict when the city cantons insisted on having the lion's share of the proceeds since they had supplied the most troops. The country cantons resented this and the Tagsatzung
or leadership of each of the cantons met in Stans in 1481 to resolve the issues. However, they were unable to resolve the issues and war seemed inevitable. A local hermit, Niklaus von der Flüe, was consulted on the situation. He requested that a message be passed on to the members of the Tagsatzung on his behalf. The details of the message have remained unknown to this day, however it did calm the tempers and led to the drawing up of the Stanser Verkommnis
. As part of the Verkommnis Fribourg
and Solothurn
were admitted into the confederation.
During the Middle Age
s, Stans was protected with seven towers. However, the town never built a wall to connect the towers and encircle it.
In 1713 two-thirds of the town was destroyed in a fire. Following the fire, new regulations kept the village square (Dorfplatz) open and clear of construction. The large, open square surrounded by baroque
houses and the town council house (Rathaus) owe their appearance to the fire and subsequent reconstruction.
In 1798 Stans was stormed by French troops, following the decision of Nidwalden not to adopt the constitution of the Helvetic Republic
. Children orphaned by this event were gathered by the educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
for his first school. He converted the Convent
of St. Klara
(built in 1621-1625) into a school for the children. However, he only had the school until the following year when the French Army needed the building and the orphan's school came to a sudden end. In 1814, following the collapse of the Napoleonic Act of Mediation
, Nidwalden attempted to return to the Ancien Regime
government, with subject lands belonging to the canton. Stans and the rest of Nidwalden only gave up their subject lands when Federal troops marched into the city. Stans and the rest of Nidwalden joined the Sonderbund in 1845 and were involved in the 1847 Sonderbund War.
In the 20th Century, modern technology and transportation changed Stans. In 1893 Stans was connected to the rail network of Lucerne by steam ferry. In 1964 the Lucerne-Stans-Engelberg rail way was opened and in 1966 the A2 motorway (which is Switzerland's main north-south axis from Basel
to Chiasso
) was constructed.
The open-air assembly (Landsgemeinde
) was held in Stans annually until its abolition in 1997.
In the 2007 federal election
the most popular party was the FDP
which received 88% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes were given to local small right-wing parties (10.8%).
In Stans about 75.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
).
The historical population is given in the following table:
(1898 m (6,227 ft)) is also a tourist resort. It is accessible via one of the oldest mountain railways in Switzerland, the Stanserhornbahn (1893), and by cable car. The Stanserhornbahn was originally built as a rack and pinion
railway, with three separate sections. In 1970 the upper section was destroyed by a fire following a lightning strike. In 1975 the destroyed upper section and the middle section were replaced by an aerial cable car. At the peak of the Stanserhorn is the Rondorama, a revolving restaurant that was built in 2001. From the peak of the Stanserhorn, on a clear day the view stretchs nearly 100 km (62.1 mi) and includes 10 Swiss lakes and the Black Forest
of Germany. There is a short hiking trail around the peak of the Stanserhorn and a small population of Marmot
s are kept near the trail.
in marble
in Rome and then shipped by boat, rail and horse team to Stans in 1865. The monument is in a Gothic Revival
style and was carved by Ferdinand Schlöth. Death and the Maiden was done by Rudolf Brem.
structure. The three nave
Basilica was built south of the earlier church, though the older bell tower dates from this previous church. The interior is decorated in white, gold and black. The simple interior ornamentation comes from Lombardy
while there altar figures were done by Georg Allhelg. Next to the church is a two story chapel and ossuary
for the nearby Capucin monastery.
was established in Stans in 1583 by Melchior Lussy
, who had been sent to the Council of Trent
. Initially there was resistance to the poverty, simple habits and beards of this order of Counter-Reformation
monks. In 1777 the monks opened a Latin school, which was suppressed from 1798 until 1803 under the Helvetic Republic. The Kollegium St. Fidelis was built by the monks in 1895 and purchased by the canton in 1988. The monastery church was built in 1683 and renovated in 1980. In 1956 a memorial tablet to Melchoir Lussy was placed near the gate of the monastery.
by Johann Ritz and a mystical altar painting by Johannes Brandenburg. The church was renovated in 1980. From the convent cemetery a path leads to the nearby Capucin monastery.
building, which was known throughout much of central Switzerland. However, it was not owned by the Winkelrieds for very long; in 1541 the Lussy family purchased the house. Under Melchior Lussy the Gothic building was renovated over a period of 50 years into a much larger, Renaissance mansion. In 1766 the Landammann
(Chief Magistrate) Jost Remigi Trachsler bought the house. During much of the second half of the 18th Century he had the Winkelriedhaus renovated and added a number of rococo
fresco
s on the walls of the house. In 1815, the Kayser family bought the house, which they held until 1974 when it was given to the canton. It was restored from 1983 until 1991 and since then has been the home of the Museum für Kultur und Brauchtum.
(1811–1881) in the autumn of 1933. Deschwanden was one of the most influential and productive religious painters of his time, trained in the Nazarene-style in Munich, Germany, who sent paintings to hang in Roman Catholic churches as far as Annapolis, Maryland and Covington, Kentucky. Amongst his pupils were Adalbert Baggenstos (1863–1897) from Stans, and the Swiss-born American portrait painter Adolfo Müller-Ury
, in whose arms he died in February 1881.
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 Nidwalden
Nidwalden
Nidwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population is 40,287 of which 4,046 are foreigners. The capital is Stans.-History:...
(Nidwald) 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....
.
History
Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the 2nd Century BC. During the RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
era there is little evidence of a settlement except for some gallo-roman Ustrinum
Ustrinum
In ancient Rome, an ustrinum was the site of a historical funeral pyre. The ancient Greek equivalent word was καύστρα .-Ustrinum Domus Augustae:...
or funeral pyre
Funeral Pyre
"Funeral Pyre" is The Jam's thirteenth single released on 6 June 1981. Backed by the B-side "Disguises", a cover of a Who track, it reached #4 in the UK Singles chart....
s and the Latin root (stagnum meaning a pool or sump) of the name Stans.
During the 7th or 8th Century the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
settled in the region. The christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Alamanni built the first church in Stans around 750 AD. This pre-Carolingian
Carolingian architecture
Carolingian architecture is the style of north European Pre-Romanesque architecture belonging to the period of the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries, when the Carolingian family dominated west European politics...
church served as the parish
Parish (Catholic Church)
In the Roman Catholic Church, a parish is the lowest ecclesiastical geographical subdivision: from ecclesiastical province to diocese to deanery to parish.-Requirements:A parish needs two things under common law to become a parish...
church for the entire Engelberg
Engelberg
Engelberg is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Engelberg has a population of . , 21.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.It is the leading mountain resort in central Switzerland...
Valley. The church was expanded numerous times until it was finally replaced in 1647 by the new church of St. Peter and Paul.
Stans was first mentioned in 1124. By 1291, when Unterwalden
Unterwalden
Unterwalden is the old name of a forest-canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, consisting of two valleys or Talschaften, now organized as two half-cantons, an upper part, Obwalden, and a lower part, Nidwalden.Unterwalden was one of the three participants...
joined Uri
Canton of Uri
Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...
and Schwyz
Canton of Schwyz
Schwyz is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne in the east and Lake Zurich in the north, centered around and named after the town of Schwyz....
in what became the Swiss Confederation, Stans was already the capital of the section known as Unterwalden nid dem Kernwald which would become the half canton of Nidwalden.
In 1386, during 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....
, a soldier from Stans, Arnold von Winkelried
Arnold von Winkelried
Arnold von Winkelried or Arnold Winkelried is a legendary hero of Swiss history.According to 16th century Swiss historiography, Winkelried's sacrifice brought about the victory of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the Battle of Sempach against the army of the Habsburg Duke Leopold III of Austria.-The...
, is claimed to have thrown himself on the pikes of the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
army which led the Swiss to victory. However it is doubtful whether he existed or died in the battle as the first mention of his selfless act appears over 150 years after the battle and a man who may have been Arnold was party to a lawsuit in 1389. Regardless, the legend is firmly in place in Stans, with a monument and his house located in the town.
Following the Swiss victories in the Burgundian Wars
Burgundian Wars
The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a decisive role. Open war broke out in 1474, and in the following years the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the...
the Old Swiss Confederation was nearly torn apart by internal conflict when the city cantons insisted on having the lion's share of the proceeds since they had supplied the most troops. The country cantons resented this and the Tagsatzung
Tagsatzung
The Swiss Tagsatzung was the legislative and executive council of the Swiss confederacy from the beginnings until the formation of the Swiss federal state in 1848. It was a meeting of delegates of the individual cantons...
or leadership of each of the cantons met in Stans in 1481 to resolve the issues. However, they were unable to resolve the issues and war seemed inevitable. A local hermit, Niklaus von der Flüe, was consulted on the situation. He requested that a message be passed on to the members of the Tagsatzung on his behalf. The details of the message have remained unknown to this day, however it did calm the tempers and led to the drawing up of the Stanser Verkommnis
Stanser Verkommnis
In the Stanser Verkommnis of 1481 the Tagsatzung solved the latent conflict between the rural and urban cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy, averting the breaking of the Confederacy, and triggering its further expansion from 8 to 13 members until 1513.The tensions between the cantons had arisen...
. As part of the Verkommnis Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
and Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
were admitted into the confederation.
During the Middle Age
Middle age
Middle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings....
s, Stans was protected with seven towers. However, the town never built a wall to connect the towers and encircle it.
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
houses and the town council house (Rathaus) owe their appearance to the fire and subsequent reconstruction.
In 1798 Stans was stormed by French troops, following the decision of Nidwalden not to adopt the constitution of the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
. Children orphaned by this event were gathered by the educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach....
for his first school. He converted the Convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of St. Klara
Clare of Assisi
Clare of Assisi , born Chiara Offreduccio, is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi...
(built in 1621-1625) into a school for the children. However, he only had the school until the following year when the French Army needed the building and the orphan's school came to a sudden end. In 1814, following the collapse of the Napoleonic Act of Mediation
Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in 1798. After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802,...
, Nidwalden attempted to return to the Ancien Regime
Early Modern Switzerland
The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy , lasting from formal independence in 1648 to the French invasion of 1798 came to be referred as Ancien Régime retrospectively, in post-Napoleonic Switzerland.The early modern period was characterized by an increasingly...
government, with subject lands belonging to the canton. Stans and the rest of Nidwalden only gave up their subject lands when Federal troops marched into the city. Stans and the rest of Nidwalden joined the Sonderbund in 1845 and were involved in the 1847 Sonderbund War.
In the 20th Century, modern technology and transportation changed Stans. In 1893 Stans was connected to the rail network of Lucerne by steam ferry. In 1964 the Lucerne-Stans-Engelberg rail way was opened and in 1966 the A2 motorway (which is Switzerland's main north-south axis from Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
to Chiasso
Chiasso
Chiasso is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is located at the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso...
) was constructed.
The open-air assembly (Landsgemeinde
Landsgemeinde
The Landsgemeinde or "cantonal assembly" is one of the oldest forms of direct democracy. The first historically documented assembly took place in 1294...
) was held in Stans annually until its abolition in 1997.
Geography
The area of Stans is 11.08 km² (4.3 sq mi). Much of the land within the borders of Stans is agricultural (43.7%), while just over a third (36.5%) is forested. Of the remaining area, about 17% is settlements and less than 2.6% is unproductive (mountains, rivers or glaciers). The highest point within the borders of Stans is on the Stanserhorn and is 1819 m (5,967.8 ft) above sea level. The lowest point is at Fronhofen where the elevation is 438 m (1,437 ft). The village square (Dorfplatz) has an elevation of 452 m (1,482.9 ft).Climate
Stans has an average of 137.7 days of rain per year and on average receives 1224 mm (48.2 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is August when Stans receives an average of 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation on 13.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 14.2, but with only 156 mm (6.1 in) of precipitation. The driest month of the year is January with an average of 65 mm (2.6 in) of precipitation over 13.6 days.Demographics
Stans has a population (as of ) of . , 9.4% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 13.2%. Most of the population speaks German (91.6%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.0%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.2%). the gender distribution of the population was 48.6% male and 51.4% female. there are 2,816 households, of which 1,837 households (or about 65.2%) contain only one or two individuals. 202 or about 7.2% are large households, with at least five members.In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was 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....
which received 88% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes were given to local small right-wing parties (10.8%).
In Stans about 75.2% 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...
).
The historical population is given in the following table:
| Year | Inhabitants | Swiss | Foreign |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 5,445 | 5,022 | 423 |
| 1980 | 5,660 | 5,340 | 320 |
| 1990 | 6,171 | 5,697 | 474 |
| 1995 | 6,468 | 5,896 | 572 |
| 2000 | 6,914 | 6,349 | 665 |
| 2005 | 7,512 | 6,875 | 637 |
| 2006 | 7,556 | 6,936 | 620 |
| 2007 | 7,577 | 6,909 | 668 |
| 2008 | 7,784 | 7,050 | 734 |
Industry
Stans has an unemployment rate of 1.27%. , there were 89 people (1.2%) employed in the primary economic sector and about 32 businesses involved in this sector. 2,463 people (34%) are employed in the secondary sector and there are 113 businesses in this sector. 4,601 people (65%) are employed in the tertiary sector, with 496 businesses in this sector.Stanserhorn
The local mountain, the StanserhornStanserhorn
Stanserhorn is a mountain located in Switzerland, specifically, in the canton of Nidwalden, at 1898 meters above sea level. In 1893 a cable way was built to transport people from the base of the mountain to the summit. From the top, one can view as far as Elsass, France and The Black Forest in...
(1898 m (6,227 ft)) is also a tourist resort. It is accessible via one of the oldest mountain railways in Switzerland, the Stanserhornbahn (1893), and by cable car. The Stanserhornbahn was originally built as a rack and pinion
Rack railway
A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...
railway, with three separate sections. In 1970 the upper section was destroyed by a fire following a lightning strike. In 1975 the destroyed upper section and the middle section were replaced by an aerial cable car. At the peak of the Stanserhorn is the Rondorama, a revolving restaurant that was built in 2001. From the peak of the Stanserhorn, on a clear day the view stretchs nearly 100 km (62.1 mi) and includes 10 Swiss lakes and the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
of Germany. There is a short hiking trail around the peak of the Stanserhorn and a small population of Marmot
Marmot
The marmots are a genus, Marmota, of squirrels. There are 14 species in this genus.Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Apennines, Eurasian steppes, Carpathians, Tatras, and Pyrenees in...
s are kept near the trail.
Dorfplatz
Following the fire in 1713, the village square (Dorfplatz) was fully rebuilt, to its current unified appearance, in 1715 according to a plan by Josef Aebi and Ludwig Gassmann. The square now houses the Winkelried fountain and the sculpture Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden). The Winkelried monument was carved from CarraraCarrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
in marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
in Rome and then shipped by boat, rail and horse team to Stans in 1865. The monument is in a Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style and was carved by Ferdinand Schlöth. Death and the Maiden was done by Rudolf Brem.
Parish church
The Parish church, St. Peter und Paul was built from 1641 until 1647 by the architect Jakob Berger. The church was constructed in an early-Baroque style, while the bell tower is an older RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
structure. The three nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
Basilica was built south of the earlier church, though the older bell tower dates from this previous church. The interior is decorated in white, gold and black. The simple interior ornamentation comes from Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
while there altar figures were done by Georg Allhelg. Next to the church is a two story chapel and ossuary
Ossuary
An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...
for the nearby Capucin monastery.
Capucin monastery
A Capucin monasteryOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
was established in Stans in 1583 by Melchior Lussy
Melchior Lussy
Melchior Lussy was a Swiss Catholic statesman who represented the Catholic cantons of Switzerland in the Council of Trent....
, who had been sent to the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
. Initially there was resistance to the poverty, simple habits and beards of this order of Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
monks. In 1777 the monks opened a Latin school, which was suppressed from 1798 until 1803 under the Helvetic Republic. The Kollegium St. Fidelis was built by the monks in 1895 and purchased by the canton in 1988. The monastery church was built in 1683 and renovated in 1980. In 1956 a memorial tablet to Melchoir Lussy was placed near the gate of the monastery.
Convent St. Klara
The Convent St. Klara was founded by Katharina and Maria Gut in 1618. The buildings were built from 1621-25. In 1799 Heinrich Pestalozzi established his orphanage and school in the convent buildings. The convent church (built in 1723) is a simple structure with an ornate altarAltar (Catholicism)
In the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, the altar is where the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. Mass may sometimes be celebrated outside a sacred place, but never without an altar, or at least an altar stone.-Precedent:...
by Johann Ritz and a mystical altar painting by Johannes Brandenburg. The church was renovated in 1980. From the convent cemetery a path leads to the nearby Capucin monastery.
Winkelriedhaus
A portion of the Winkelriedhaus (Winkelried House) was once home to the Winkelried family, though Arnold von Winkelried (if he existed) did not live in it. The oldest part of the structure dates from the middle of the 15th Century. The early house was an unusually tall and large half timberedTimber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
building, which was known throughout much of central Switzerland. However, it was not owned by the Winkelrieds for very long; in 1541 the Lussy family purchased the house. Under Melchior Lussy the Gothic building was renovated over a period of 50 years into a much larger, Renaissance mansion. In 1766 the Landammann
Landammann
Landammann or Landaman, plural -männer, was the German title, meaning 'Amtmann of the land', used by the chief magistrate in certain Cantons of Switzerland and at times featured in the Head of state's style at the confederal level....
(Chief Magistrate) Jost Remigi Trachsler bought the house. During much of the second half of the 18th Century he had the Winkelriedhaus renovated and added a number of rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
s on the walls of the house. In 1815, the Kayser family bought the house, which they held until 1974 when it was given to the canton. It was restored from 1983 until 1991 and since then has been the home of the Museum für Kultur und Brauchtum.
Salzmagazin
The Salzmagazin (lit. Salt storage house) was originally built to store grain and salt for the community in 1700. It has had many other uses since then including; a theater, a secondary school and finally a museum. The coat of arms of the builder and Landammann Nicolaus Keiser as well as two lions with the Nidwalden shield and two-header eagle are visible on the north gable.Statue of Deschwanden
In the front garden of the former Nidwaldner Kantonalbank is a monument by the Swiss sculptor August Stanser Blaesi (1903–1979) that was erected in memory of the local artist Melchior Paul von DeschwandenMelchior Paul von Deschwanden
Melchior-Paul von Deschwanden was a Swiss religious painter.-Early Life in Switzerland:Deschwanden was born in Stans, in Canton Nidwalden, the son of Johann Baptist Deschwanden and Regina Luthiger...
(1811–1881) in the autumn of 1933. Deschwanden was one of the most influential and productive religious painters of his time, trained in the Nazarene-style in Munich, Germany, who sent paintings to hang in Roman Catholic churches as far as Annapolis, Maryland and Covington, Kentucky. Amongst his pupils were Adalbert Baggenstos (1863–1897) from Stans, and the Swiss-born American portrait painter Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Muller-Ury was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life.-Heritage and early life in Switzerland:...
, in whose arms he died in February 1881.