Luzern, canton, central Switzerland. Luzern is located in the central part of Switzerland.
Luzern is one of Switzerland's most charming medieval cities.The
Old Town has many interesting sites, which you can easily see on foot.
The economy of Luzern is focused on certain sectors including aerospace,
medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The local
administration works to create a trading environment which fits well with
existing investors including Computerized Medical Systems Inc, Merck, Amgen,
Braun Medical, Takeda and Estee Lauder.The Luzern workforce is multi-lingual and highly skilled. The mother tongue
in the region is German, but English is used in most commercial settings.
The River Reuss splits the town, flowing rapidly out of the
northwestern end of the lake. River banks on both sides are clustered with medieval
squares, frescoed houses, ancient guildhalls, churches and chapels, and
filled with a liveliness that belies the city’s age. Aside from using Luzern
as a base from which to explore the region, it would be easy to spend at least a
couple of days taking in some of its quality museums – a Picasso
gallery, the impressive Verkehrshaus
(Transport Museum) – in between walking on the medieval battlements, and
exploring cobbled alleys and hidden garden courtyards.
Luzern is mainly an agricultural and pastoral region, with orchards and large forested
areas. It contains the Lake of Sempach and borders on the Lake of Luzern.
There are several resort areas, notably along the northwest shores of the
Lake of Luzern.
Manufactures of the canton include machinery, textiles,
metallurgic goods, electrical equipment, paper, and wood products.
Boatbuilding and automobile assembly are also important.
More recent attractions include the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum , Sammlung Rosengart
and the Picasso Museum.Luzern hosts an annual music
festival, which moved into a striking lakeside cultural centre in 1997.
Opera fans will want to visit the Richard Wagner Museum.
The Gletschergarten has an eclectic display of petrified mussels and palm leaves
from the Ice Age, the oldest relief maps of Switzerland and a scale model of the
city of Luzern. For armchair rock climbers, the Alpineum is a good choice. It
has large-scale, three-dimensional paintings of Switzerland's most famous
mountain areas. The Bourbaki Panorama has one of the oldest and largest round
paintings in the world.
Also be sure to take the trip via cable car from Kriens to Mount
Pilatus, a huge mountain adjacent to the city, for lunch and a great view. To
get back, take what's locally claimed to be the steepest cogwheel railway in the
world to the town of Alpnachstad and board a steamer for Luzern (this is
really an all-day event). A half-day trip can be taken to
the town of Altdorf, where the mythical figure of William Tell was
supposed to have lived.