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Lucerne History
The historical finding of Luzerne has lost, but most probably the town derived its name from the Celtic word lozzeria having the meaning of “a settlement in the marshy ground”. Nothing concrete is known about Luzerne until 1178, when an abbot established a lay order at the Kapellkirche (now St Peter’s Chapel), indicating that quite a substantial settlement must have existed in the area. Around 1220, the opening of the Gotthard pass further south created new impetus for growth, with merchants and travellers setting sail from Luzerne for the long trans-Alpine journey (the first lakeside road was built only in 1865). At the northern side of the new pass, with an eye to the prosperity flowing between communities, Rudolf of Habsburg bought Luzerne outright from Murbach in 1291, intending to subdue it and channel its profits into the imperial coffers. At the same time, though, the peasant farmers of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden on the eastern shores of the lake had formed a pact of mutual defence at Rütli against the Austrian threat, and after some instability, Luzerne joined them in 1332, the first major city to do so. Until the late 18th centuries, like much of the country, Luzerne remain catholic throughout the Catholic. The early nineteenth-century quarrels in politics and religion led to civil war; with Luzerne at the heart of the Catholic rebel Sonderbund – an association which, after Confederate forces had reasserted their control in 1847, led to Luzerne being passed over for the choice of federal capital. By this time, though, tourism to Switzerland had already begun, and with the cessation of hostilities Luzerne became a focus for the increasing tide of foreign visitors, both for its own lakeside location, and as the gateway to the high Alps.
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