Morschach

Morschach is a municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. It was a world-famous resort from 1869 up to the Great Depression. The municipality is located on a glacier moraine above the Lake of Lucerne. It consists of the village of Morschach and includes the summer and winter resort at Stoos. Morschach has an area, , of . Of this area, 52.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 36.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (8.6%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Morschach is first mentioned in 1261 as Morsacho. From the 13th century until 1865, when the Axenstrasse was finished, the bridle path towards the Gotthard Pass led through the village. In 1869, the "Grand Hotel Axenstein" opened in a site which Queen Victoria had called "the most beautiful place on earth", because of its stunning view of Lake Lucerne far below and the mountains. Four years later, a second luxury hotel was built, the "Palace Hotel Axenfels". Among the celebrities who spent their holidays in Morschach were King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Winston Churchill. In 1905, a rack railway was built from Brunnen to Morschach and Axenstein. But the Great Depression and World War II led to a dramatic decline of international tourism, from which the old Morschach hotels never recovered. The "Axenfels" was demolished in 1947, the "Axenstein" in 1967. The rack railway was closed in 1969. Since the Swiss Holiday Park opened in 1982, Morschach has become a major resort again. Morschach has a population (as of ) of . , 14.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 9.3%. Most of the population () speaks German (89.0%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 2.0%) and Portuguese being third ( 1.7%). the gender distribution of the population was 54.4% male and 45.6% female. The age distribution, , in Morschach is; 274 people or 28.