| Willisau | ||||||||||
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| Population | 7,235 (Dec 2010)[1] | |||||||||
| - Density | 174 /km2 (449 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 41.11 km2 (15.87 sq mi)[2] | |||||||||
| Elevation | 557 m (1,827 ft) | |||||||||
| Postal code | 6130 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 1151 | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Alberswil, Ettiswil, Gettnau, Grosswangen, Hergiswil bei Willisau, Luthern, Menznau, Ufhusen, Zell | |||||||||
| Website | www.willisau.ch Profile (German), SFSO statistics |
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Willisau
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Map of Willisau
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Willisau is a municipality in the district of Willisau in the Lucerne canton of Switzerland. It was formed on 1 January 2006 from the municipalities of Willisau Land (W. Country) and Willisau Stadt (W. Town).
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During the 12th century AD the von Hasenburg family acquired Asuel in the Willisau area. The patronage rights of the Willisau church and the use of a bailiwick within the grand parish of Willisau provided for a substantial income. As privileged vassals and tax-collectors for the House of Habsburg the Hasenburgs' sphere of influence expanded, although they never were granted the title of count.
From spring 1302 to summer 1303, Markward, Heimo and Walter von Hasenburg created the town of Willisau. The existing village was cleared, and the new town counted 150 inhabitants. Possessing a town was a status symbol for the Hasenburgs. The administrative seat of the Hasenburgs was an elevated medieval castle at the base of the mountain, which was later destroyed in the time of the Battle of Sempach. Newer archaeological findings indicate that Willisau already exhibited urban characteristics before its formal foundation.
The town of Willisau developed at the end of the Middle Ages. The town was surrounded by arable land and its inhabitants included many craftsmen. Willisau became a crafts centre and commercial city during the 16th century, although a devastating fire in 1704 decimated its prosperity. It took pride in its location on the most direct route from Lucerne to Berne and western Switzerland.
Willisau had received market rights already in 1330. In the first four decades after the founding of town, the Habsburgs kept a firm rule. Among the descendants (1367–1407), living outward, the urban district had substantial liberties, which led to the emergence of an administrative upper class. The new national rule in Lucerne allowed for citzens of a town to return certain privileges and administrative authority, even if the competencies were noticed by the bailiff. Thus Willisau became appended to a smaller feudal dominion and under the rule of Lucerne it developed to an administrative centre of a relatively large territorial district.
On maps older than 1 January 2006, Willisau appears as two separate political municipalities: Willisau Stadt (the city, 337 hectares) and Willisau Land (countryside, 3771 hectares).
During the 17th and 18th centuries poverty was a common plight. Taxation edicts were intended to allow the community to support these poor. Willisau taxes did howevernot serve this purpose because the citizens of the city could supply their needs with yields from a hospital and a nursing home, and were unwilling to aid those outside the city. Thus a special tax edict was developed in 1763 in addition to internal taxes in order to help support people outside the city. Subsequently there was discord because the privileged townspeople felt they owned the common land and restricted the usage of wood from surrounding forests.
In 1798, the municipalities' assessment areas were changed and in 1803 these two municipalities became autonomous. The city borders were redrawn in 1807 and 1876. For the inhabitants of outlying areas, the city remained a meeting center.
On 25 January 2004, the population of both municipalities voted for a reunification. So, on 1 January 2006 the formerly separate municipalities of Willisau Stadt and Willisau Land merged into the municipality of Willisau.[3]
The Willisau parish possessed a church prior to the town's founding. The late Roman church tower dates from the 13th century. Today's church has extensive classicist columns dating to 1805–10, and was designed by Josef Purtschert. It is the most important building within the old part of town. On the occasion of the church's renovation in 1929, a solid bell carrier was put onto the church roof, which experts today consider an architectural achievement in reinforced concrete construction. Apart from refurbishments and modernizations, the interior of the church was restored to its original state in 1996.
Originally a wooden chapel, the Holy Blood Church before the upper town's gate was turned into a stone building in 1497. In 1675 it was redesigned in a Renaissance style. The name is reminiscent of a legend of three sinful card players and the devil which dates back to a crimeon 7 July 1392.
As of 2006, Willisau has an area of 41.2 km2 (15.9 sq mi). Of this area, 64.2% is used for agricultural purposes while 27.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7.3% is populated (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.8%) is made up of non-productive rivers, glaciers or mountains.[4] In the 1997 land survey[update], 27.73% of the total municipality area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 61.32% is used for farming or pastures, while 2.97% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the populated areas, 3.46% is covered with buildings, 0.95% is industrial, 0.15% is classed as special developments, 0.29% is parks or green areas and 2.39% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.1% is still water (ponds or lakes), 0.46% is flowing water (rivers) and 0.19% is other unproductive land.[5]
As of 31 December 2010 Willisau had a population of 7,235.[1] As of 2007[update], 586 or about 8.1% of them were not Swiss citizens.[6] Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1.3%. Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (94.5%), with Albanian being the second-most common (2.3%) and Serbo-Croatian being third-most common ( 0.7%) languages.
As of 2008[update], the age distribution in Willisau was as follows: 1,625 people or 22.6% of the population were 0–19 years old, 1,984 people or 27.5% were 20–39 years old, and 2,433 people or 33.8% were 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution was 831 people, or 11.5%, were 65–79 years old, 277, or 3.8%, were 80–89 years old and 56 people or 0.8% of the population were 90+ years old.[5]
In Willisau, about 65.9% 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[update] there were 2,619 households of which 758 households (or about 28.9%) contained only a single individual. 333 or about 12.7% were large households, with at least five members.[5] As of 2000[update] there were 1,231 inhabited buildings in the municipality of which 800 were built only as housing, and 431 were mixed use buildings. There were 518 single family homes, 96 double family homes, and 186 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (410) or three (239) story structures. There were only 43 single story buildings and 108 four or more story buildings.[5]
In the 2000 census[update] the religious membership of Willisau was this: 5,749 (81.%) were Roman Catholic, and 631 (8.9%) were Protestant, with an additional 91 (1.28%) that were of any other Christian faith. There were 2 individuals (0.03% of the population) who were Jewish. 198 individuals (2.79% of the population) were Muslim. Of the rest, there were 35 (0.49%) individuals who belonged to another religion (not listed), 126 (1.77%) who did not belong to any organized religion, and 269 (3.79%) who did not answer the question.[5]
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP) which received 38.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (25.2%), the SVP (20.8%) and the SPS (7.3%).[4]
Willisau has an unemployment rate of 0.99%. As of 2005[update], there were 559 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 203 businesses involved in this sector. 1,356 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 95 businesses in this sector. 2,130 people were employed in the tertiary sector with 255 businesses in this sector.[4] As of 2000[update] 52.8% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 42.4% of the workforce.
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