Weggis

Weggis is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It forms part of the northern shore of Lake Lucerne. The official language is German.

In about 800 the monastery of Pfäfers acquired the court of Wattawis. The municipality had been settled even earlier, however, because the name Weggis comes from the Celtic and meant Place of the Ferrymen. The freedom loving inhabitants were subordinates of rule of the Habsburgs at some times. For both the monks and the Habsburgs the Lords of Hertenstein exercised regency. By 1332 Weggis and Gersau were free republics and allies of the neighboring Old Swiss Confederacy. This was confirmed in a treaty between them in 1359. Thereafter, the Lords of Hertenstein sold their rights to Lucerne in 1380. They administered Weggis until 1798 as part of the Landvogtei of Weggis. The citizens of Weggis resisted the Lords of Lucerne through multiple rebellions before 1588. In the peasant war of 1653 they sided with the rule of Lucerne for once. The municipality belonged to the district of Lucerne from 1798 until 1803, and thereafter to the newly formed Lucerne Authority. In 1798 the community of Vitznau was separated from Weggis and formed into an independent municipality. In 2005, the project of combining the three municipalities around Mount Rigi in Canton Lucerne was delayed indefinitely.

It lies on a projection into Lake Lucerne at the southwest base of Rigi, a mountain; such projections are named Weggiserbuchts for the one on which Weggis lies. The town has a famously mild climate and is well known for the numerous southern plants (chestnut trees, palms, grapes and orchids) that thrive there. The town of Weggis lies on a south facing plain on the shore of Lake Lucerne. Formerly, the town consisted of only two communities, Unterdorf in the west and Oberdorf in the east. Because of development in the last decades, new communities have developed: Hinterdorf (east of Oberdorf), Rain and Laugneri (near Hinterdorf), Baumen and Dörfli near Unterdorf, as well as Tischital and Rigiblick on the slope above Oberdorf. The community of Hertenstein ( south west of the town, on the lake shore) lies in the extreme south west corner of the municipality, on a peninsula. On the municipal border with Vitznau, south east of the town, another quasi community has developed. From the lake shore at elevation to an elevation of , several hamlets have grown together. They are: Riedsort (on the lake shore), Bannholz (elev. ), Bodenberg (elev. ), and Sentiberg (elev. ). High up the slope, accessible by cog railway and aerial tramway, lies the community of Rigi Kaltbad ( north east of the town, elev. c. ). Many other neighborhoods and single farmsteads belong to the municipality. With the exception of the Herrenwald, north of Hertenstein, the western and central portions of the municipality are unforested. The slopes of Mount Rigi to the east of Hinterdorf look completed different, however. This part of the municipality is heavily forested. Large areas of forest include the Kirchenwald on the slope north east of Hinterdorf, through which the Kienbach river flows on its way to Lake Lucerne, and the Seeboden area, on the eastern border of the municipality. The municipal border runs north for 1000 meters of elevation gain from west Unterwilen (in Vitznau) on Lake Lucerne, up to Rigi First (in Canton Schwyz). And from there it runs north westerly to Rotstock (elev. 1659 m). Then it turns to the west and runs south of Greppen back to Lake Lucerne. Weggis has an area of Of this area, 46.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 38.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 14% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.1%) is non productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). In Weggis about 72.8% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). as of 2000 there are 1,412 households, of which 458 households (or about 32.4%) contain only a single individual. 90 or about 6.4% are large households, with at least five members. as of 2000 51.4% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 45.8% of the workforce.

After Lucerne, Weggis is the second biggest tourist destination in Canton Lucerne. With the aerial tramway one can arrive at Rigi Kaltbad, in the neighborhood of which is located Viewpoint Känzeli. From Rigi Kaltbad one can continue his climb up the mountain on the cog railway (Vitznau Rigi Bahn). Weggis is also designated the "Riviera of Central Switzerland" because of its "tropical" climate.

Weggis is easily reached by public transportation, although it is not on a train line. It is served by ships and buses belonging to the Lake Lucerne Navigation Company at the Weggis landing stage. The "Riviera" bus line Küssnacht (train station) Weggis Gersau Brunnen (train station) Schwyz connects the municipalities on the route with the surrounding area. The train station in Küssnacht is on the line from Lucerne to Goldau, and the train station in Brunnen is on the "Gotthard" line (Basel Chiasso). The ships to and from Lucerne operate mostly hourly. Weggis is on the road connecting between Küssnacht and Brunnen. The nearest Autobahn exit, for the A4, is away, in Küssnacht.

French pianist Hélène Grimaud currently resides in Weggis (as of 2020). In 1932, Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff purchased land on the lake at Hertenstein, near Weggis to construct a house, naming it Villa Senar based on his and his wife's names. He lived there until the outbreak of war in 1939. In the comfort of his own villa, Rachmaninoff completed his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in 1934 and Symphony No. 3 in 1936.