english

Luzern, the city in the center of Switzerland, actually has about 58'000 inhabitants and offers more than 40'000 workplaces. The population in the urban region of Luzern amounts to approximately 180'000 people.

Luzern is a town for tourists, discovered by them in the 19th century. Since then, they returned again and again - tourism is now an important economical factor. Famous are the covered Chapel Bridge with the Water Tower, the Musegg townwall, the Lion Monument by Thorwaldsen and the old Bourbaki Panorama, the lake surrounded by beautiful mountains, Mt. Pilatus, Mt. Rigi where even Mark Twain climbed up and then wrote a story about this adventure. Richard Wagner lived in Luzern, composed some of his great operas and married Cosima, Franz Liszt's daughter.

Luzern is also an educational and an administrative center; and the headquarters of many service industries are here, such as the SUVA Swiss Accident Insurance Company and a number of other large health insurance companies. Three vocational schools characterize Luzern as an educational center (Music Academy Luzern, Academy for Church Music, Jazz School Luzern), plus the Luzern College, the Institute of Technology Luzern/Horw and the HWV Business School (advanced technical college). Most of the offices of the administrative authorities of the canton of Luzern are here in town. The federal insurance court, district court and administrative court of the canton of Luzern also have their headquarters in the town of Luzern.

Luzern is a town for culture with three International Music Festivals: an Easter festival, a summer festival (August/September) and a piano festival (November). The IMF International Music Festival will be held in the new Cultural and Convention Center designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel; and Russell Johnson, the New York acoustics specialist, is responsible for developing the best concert hall. Inauguration will be on August 18, 1998.
Luzern also has a theater (with plays, operas, ballets) and a symphony orchestra. Among the various festivals is FUMETTO, the nationally leading non-commercial festival for comics. The town of Luzern has made available the needed rooms for young experimental artists: the cultural centers Sedel and BOA and the concert center Schüür. There are eight museums in Luzern, visited by more than 900'000 guests from Switzerland and abroad. The Transport Museum is famous the world over and is the most successful museum of its kind in Europe.

français

Luzern est sans doute la ville la plus connue et la plus appréciée des villes suisses. Des centaines de milliers de touristes provenant de tous les continents visitent chaque année cette ville au charme médiéval à l'emplacement idyllique au bord du lac des Quatres Cantons.

Luzern est aussi le centre culturel et social des environs. Le festival international de la musique attire les amateurs de musique et les artistes internationaux depuis plus de 60 ans. Les nouveaux festivals tels que le festival de la bande dessinée ou le festival international de la video ont fait connaître la ville de Luzern en Europe et à l'étranger. Beaucoup de musées, tel que le musée de Richard Wagner dans la maison natale du compositeur, au bord du lac des Quatres Cantons, le musée suisse des transports, ainsi que la collection des oeuvres de Picasso complètent l'offre culturelle de la ville. De nombreuses activités culturelles sont également organisées dans les trois centres culturels pour jeunes.

deutsch

Die Kapellbrücke und der Wasserturm sind die weltbekannten touristischen Symbole der Stadt Luzern. Der Tourismus hat sich innerhalb von zwei Jahrhunderten zum wichtigsten Volkswirtschaftsfaktor entwickelt. Die entscheidenden Vorzüge der Stadt, nämlich die Altstadt, die Fussgängerzonen, die Lage an See und Berge und eine stets sich nach den neuen Ansprüchen orientierende Hotellerie machten diese Entwicklung erst möglich. Zunehmend wird Luzern aufgrund der bevorzugten Lage mit den damit verbundenen vielfältigen Erlebnisangeboten wieder von Individualreisenden als Feriendestination entdeckt.

Noch wichtiger für die touristische Zukunft der Stadt Luzern aber ist die neu erstellte Kongressinfrastruktur im vom Pariser Stararchitekten Jean Nouvel neu erbauten Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern.