Küssnacht

Küssnacht am Rigi (official name since 2004: Küssnacht) is a village and a district and a municipality in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The municipality consists of three villages Küssnacht, Immensee, and Merlischachen, the hamlet Haltikon, the industrial area Fänn, and the alp Seeboden. It is situated at the north shore of Lake Lucerne and at the south shore of Lake Zug below mount Rigi (). Küssnacht is first mentioned around 840 as in Chussenacho though this is from an 11th Century copy of the original document. In 1179 it was mentioned as Chussenacho. In 1424 Küssnacht became a district of the Canton of Schwyz. Its etymology comes from the German words Küss and Nacht, meaning Kiss and Night respectively. According to the legend of Wilhelm Tell, the hero shot the Austrian bailiff Gessler at the Hohle Gasse near the Gesslerburg with his crossbow: "Here through this deep defile he needs must pass; there leads no other road to Küssnacht." On August 29, 1935, Queen Astrid of the Belgians was killed here in a road accident. A memorial chapel ("Königin-Astrid-Kapelle") was built at the accident scene. On March 4, 1989, the chapel was demolished by youths, to be restored later that year. The well known Klausjagen ("Nicholas chase") festival takes place in Küssnacht every year on the eve of St. Nicholas Day (December 5). The festival, attended by about 20,000 people, consists of a parade of around 1,000 participants, and lasts far into the night. Küssnacht has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 55.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 26.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 16.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 1.3% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of or about 9.2% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1982 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by and is now about 2.07% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is used for orchards and vineyards, is fields and grasslands and consists of alpine grazing areas.