Hergiswil is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.
History Hergiswil is first mentioned around 1303-09 as ze Hergenswile.
Geography
Hergiswil has an area, , of . Of this area, 29.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 44.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (16.6%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
The municipality is located between the foot of Mount Pilatus and Lake Lucerne.
Demographics Hergiswil has a population (as of ) of . , 14.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.Nidwalden Statistical Office-Population accessed 4 September 2009 Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 11.5%. Most of the population () speaks German (91.0%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.0%) and French being third ( 1.1%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 04-Sep-2009 the gender distribution of the population was 52.2% male and 47.8% female.
there are 2,216 households, of which 1,627 households (or about 73.4%) contain only one or two individuals. 91 or about 4.1% are large households, with at least five members.Nidwalden Statistical Office-Municipalities accessed 4 September 2009
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 89.1% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes went to local small right-wing parties (9.3%).
In Hergiswil about 77.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).
Hergiswil has an unemployment rate of 1.24%. , there were 89 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 35 businesses involved in this sector. 666 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 72 businesses in this sector. 2,091 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 382 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table: year population 1769 460 1850 804 1900 1,080 1950 2,904 1970 4,364 1990 4,625 2000 4,962 2005 5,396
Transport Hergiswil is served by Hergiswil station and Hergiswil Matt station on the Brünig railway line, and the linked Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line. The Lucerne S-Bahn services S4 and S5 combine to provide four trains per hour at each station. Hergiswil station is also served by hourly InterRegio trains between Lucerne and Interlaken, and between Lucerne and Engelberg.
Sights The main sights of Hergiswil are: an old clergy house, the church, the chapel Maria zum guten Rat, old mansion Thumigerhaus, and a glazier's workshop with museum. The workshop was established in 1817, burning down on one occasion, but is still working.
References
External links Official Homepage of Hergiswil Official Homepage of the Glasi in Hergiswil Glasi Ecuador site