Burgenstock

The Bürgenstock is a mountain in Switzerland that rises to an altitude of 1,115 metres (3,658 feet). It sits on the lakeshore of Lucerne, though not quite at its centre. There is a resort on the same mountain called Bürgenstock, and it sits at an altitude of 874 metres above sea level. The Hammetschwand is a vantage point on top of Bürgenstock Mountain. Nearly all sides of the mountain are covered by Lake Lucerne.

From the boat landing dock in Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock on Lake Lucerne, visitors can take the road or the Bürgenstock Funicular to the little resort of Bürgenstock. From the resort, hikers can access the Bürgenstock’s highest peak by a cliffside trail and the Hammetschwand Elevator.

The Bürgenstock, as seen from Lucerne, has the classic form of a Stock mountain. Several mountains in German-speaking Switzerland are collectively referred to as “Stock” because of the distinctive shape of their peaks in relation to the surrounding mass. The company Stockhütte is illustrative.

Since the middle of the 19th century, the characteristic peak on the “Bürgen” peninsula as seen from Lucerne has been known as Bürgenstock, a compound of the descriptive phrases “Bürgen” and “Stock.”

The mountain on this peninsula has been known as Bürgenberg since the Middle Ages; the name first appears in a 1378 arbitral settlement between the Lucerne and Nidwalden estates that resolved a 38-year dispute over who owned the land between Kehrsiten and Mattgrat.(Citation required)

The Stadtwald am Bürgenberg (forest on the Bürgenberg) or Bürgenbergwald (Bürgen mountain forest) is what the disputed forest is known as on old maps and frontier documents of the Corporation of Lucerne.