Swiss Highlights

Lakeside village · Nidwalden

Kehrsiten

On the south shore of Lake Lucerne, 3 km east of Stansstad, Kehrsiten is listed in the federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS).

Derivative illustration produced by Swiss Highlights from a freely licensed photograph.

← Back to explore

Translated during an AI-assisted second-pass review — not yet validated by a native-speaking editor.

Kehrsiten is a village on the south shore of Lake Lucerne, 3 km east of Stansstad, of which it is administratively part, in the canton of Nidwalden; it has its own postal code, 6365. The village is listed in the federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS) under the name 'Kehrsiten (Stansstad)'.

One of the two Catholic churches of the commune of Stansstad outside the chief town stands in Kehrsiten, the other in Obbürgen. Aerial photographs by Werner Friedli from the ETH-Bibliothek, one of them dated 1954 and showing the SeeHotel Baumgarten, document several lakeside hotels in the 1950s: the Baumgarten, the Seeblick, the Wilhelm Tell, and the Hüttenort restaurant. One of these photographs, titled 'Kehrsiten, Station, Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock', shows an inclined track climbing the wooded slope toward the Bürgenstock.

Why this place is remarkable

Kehrsiten sits entirely on the narrow shore of Lake Lucerne, between the water and the wooded slope that climbs toward the Bürgenstock: a built core that 1950s aerial photographs show occupied almost exclusively by hotels and by an installation linking the shore to the heights above. The federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS) records the village under the name 'Kehrsiten (Stansstad)'.

What to do and see

  • Walk along the narrow shore of Lake Lucerne between the water and the wooded slope that climbs towards the Bürgenstock.
  • Spot the inclined track that climbs the slope towards the Bürgenstock, visible on aerial photographs from the 1950s.
  • Pass by one of the two Catholic churches of the municipality of Stansstad, located in Kehrsiten and in Obbürgen.

Coming with family: what to know

  • The village sits on a narrow shore between the lake and a wooded slope that climbs steeply.

As a couple

  • Walk along Lake Lucerne, between the water and the forest climbing towards the Bürgenstock.
  • Look for the traces of the former lakeside hotels, such as the SeeHotel Baumgarten.

Location

Loads an interactive Google Maps view on demand, from the place's verified coordinates.

Open in Google Maps

Related places

The Winkelriedhaus in Stans under snow: a pale plastered façade with three levels of arcaded loggias and a red tile roof, surrounded by snow-laden trees, with a snow-covered summit in the background under a blue sky.

Below the Stanserhorn · Nidwalden · 5 km as the crow flies

Stans

In September 1798, French troops killed 414 residents there, including about a hundred women and twenty-six children, in response to the canton's resistance. Today Stans also lives on aviation, with the Pilatus Aircraft plant.

View on the map (Nidwalden)

The Chapel Bridge and its octagonal water tower span the Reuss at dusk; the lights of Lucerne's old town, with its snow-covered roofs, reflect in the calm water under a blue winter sky.

Old town and covered bridge · Lucerne · 8 km as the crow flies

Lucerne, old town and Kapellbrücke

It joined the Confederation in 1332, before any other town; along the Reuss, Lucerne lines up a wooden bridge of 1333, an octagonal water tower older than the bridge, and 870 metres of curtain wall with nine towers.

View on the map (Lucerne)