Kaiserstuhl, Obwalden
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 Lungern
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Location of Lungern
 
Lungern
Lungern (Canton of Obwalden)
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| Coordinates: 46°47′N 8°09′E / 46.783°N 8.150°ECoordinates: 46°47′N 8°09′E / 46.783°N 8.150°E | ||
| Country | Switzerland | |
| Canton | Obwalden | |
| District | n.a. | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 46.47 km2 (17.94 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 715 m (2,346 ft) | |
| Population (Dec 2016) | ||
| • Total | 2,129 | |
| • Density | 46/km2 (120/sq mi) | |
| Postal code | 6078 | |
| SFOS number | 1405 | |
| Surrounded by | Brienzwiler (BE), Giswil, Hasliberg (BE), Hofstetten bei Brienz (BE), Kerns, Meiringen (BE), Sachseln | |
| Website |
www SFSO statistics |
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Lungern is a municipality in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Lake Lungern is located within the municipality. Besides Lungern itself, the municipality includes the settlements of Bürglen, Kaiserstuhl and Obsee.
The village of Lungern lies 750 metres (2,460 ft) above sea level in the highest part of the canton of Obwalden, on the eastern shore of the Lake of Lungern and at the foot of the Brünig Pass. It is the highest village of the Sarneraa-Valley, and is situated in a basin that is open only to the north and is surrounded on all other sides by steep and woody inclinations and rocks.
To the south-west the municipality extends to the Brünig Pass. On its north-western side, the municipal boundary is set by the Wilerhorn and Höch Gumme mountains, and includes the whole of the Lake of Lungern. To the east, the boundary reaches as far as the Hochstollen and Chingstuel mountains, and includes the Güpfi mountain and part of the Kleine Melchtal valley.
Besides the village of Lungern, the municipality includes the settlements of Kaiserstuhl and Bürglen that lie at the northern end of the lake, and Obsee on the south-western end of the lake. The hamlet of Obsee might be the best maintained part of the old village, where you will still find old houses in their original structure and style.
The municipal district of Lungern has an area of 46.33 square kilometres (11,450 acres), of which 6.48 square kilometres (1,600 acres) are meadow and tilled land, 19.2 square kilometres (4,700 acres) are pastureland, 15.97 square kilometres (3,950 acres) are wooded and the remaining 2.91 square kilometres (720 acres) are unproductive.
The first legal proof of Lungern's existence is contained in a tax register for the diocese of the bishop of Konstanz in Germany dating from the year 1275. It is mentioned as Lutigern and also as de Lungern.
In 1861 it became easier to reach the village with the construction of the old road over the Brünig pass. A quarter century later, in 1886, the first mail carriages came over the pass. However, this only lasted two years, in 1888 the railroad from Brienz to Alpnachstad (now part of Alpnach) opened. In 1887 the Eibach river flooded causing damage to the old village church. Six years later, in 1893, was the consecration of the neo-gothic style church. At the end of the 18th century the population of Lungern lowered the level of the lake, with great effort and over many years, in order to improve living conditions. The works created new land for agriculture, housing, and a sawmill. Within 80 years the hard-won land was lost to a new dam: in 1922 a company named CKW built and started running a power station located at the lake. Nowadays the local power station (EWO) produces electricity from the power of the water of the Lungerersee. In 1942 the railroad line over the Brünig pass was electrified.
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Wikipedia