Lucens () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Broye-Vully district Broye-Vully District () is a district in Vaud Cantons of Switzerland, Canton in Switzerland. Geography Broye-Vully has an area, , of . Of this area, or 65.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 21.5% is forested. Of the rest of the la ...

in the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In 2017 the former municipalities of

Brenles Brenles is a former municipality in the district Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. In 2017 the former municipalities of Brenles, Chesalles-sur-Moudon, Cremin, Forel-sur-Lucens and Sarzens merged into the municipality of Luc ...

, Chesalles-sur-Moudon, Cremin,

Forel-sur-Lucens Forel-sur-Lucens is a former municipality in the district Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. In 2017, the former municipalities of Forel-sur-Lucens, Brenles, Chesalles-sur-Moudon, Cremin, and Sarzens merged into the municipa ...

and

Sarzens Sarzens is a former municipality in the district Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. In 2017 the former municipalities of Sarzens, Brenles, Chesalles-sur-Moudon, Cremin, Forel-sur-Lucens merged into the municipality of Lucens. ...

merged into the municipality of Lucens.

History

Lucens is first mentioned in 964 as ''in villa Losingus''. It was formerly known by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

name ''Losingen''. In 1969 the Lucens reactor, an underground

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

, began operations. It was a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

project to test a heavy-water moderated,

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

gas-cooled reactor. Soon after the initial start up, an undetected blockage in one of the cooling pipes led to a partial fuel meltdown and massive

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...

of the underground site. Following the accident, the reactor was decommissioned and the cavern was then sealed. No humans were irradiated in the accident.

Geography

After the 2017 merger Lucens had an area of . Before the merger Lucens had an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 42.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 36.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 18.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and 2.3% is unproductive land. In the 2013/18 survey a total of or about 12.0% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1981 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality decreased by and is now about 0.38% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is used for orchards and vineyards, is fields and grasslands. Since 1981 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by . Over the same time period the amount of forested land has decreased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Regional portraits
accessed 27 October 2016 The municipality was part of the

Moudon District Moudon was a district in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The seat of the district was the town of Moudon. The district consisted of 32 municipalities and had an area of 119.61 km2 with a population of 12273 inhabitants (End of 2003). Mergers ...

until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Lucens became part of the new district of Broye-Vully.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 4 April 2011 The municipality is located along the left bank of the

Broye The Broye (; ''Dictionnaire-Dikchenéro: Français-Patois/Patê-Franché''. Société cantonale des patoisans fribourgeois. Fribourg: 2013. p. 87 ) is a 68 km long river, in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud, in Switzerland. It has a watershe ...

. The municipality of

Oulens-sur-Lucens Oulens-sur-Lucens is a former municipality in the district of Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. On July 1, 2011 it was merged into Lucens.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 17 February 2011

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

is ''Per bend Argent and Gules, overall a Sun in his splendour Or.''

Demographics

Lucens has a population () of . , 31.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 12.2%. It has changed at a rate of 10.8% due to migration and at a rate of 1.5% due to births and deaths.
accessed 11-May-2011 Most of the population () speaks French (1,822 or 82.0%), with

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

being second most common (111 or 5.0%) and

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

being third (77 or 3.5%). There are 44 people who speak German and 4 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality 575 or about 25.9% were born in Lucens and lived there in 2000. There were 565 or 25.4% who were born in the same canton, while 354 or 15.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 644 or 29.0% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 19 live births to Swiss citizens and 10 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 21 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 2 while the foreign population increased by 9. There were 3 Swiss men and 10 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 22 non-Swiss men and 25 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 69 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 8 people. This represents a

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

of 2.7%. The age distribution, , in Lucens is; 256 children or 11.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 284 teenagers or 12.3% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 284 people or 12.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 334 people or 14.4% are between 30 and 39, 371 people or 16.0% are between 40 and 49, and 275 people or 11.9% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 252 people or 10.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 158 people or 6.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 83 people or 3.6% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 19 people or 0.8% who are 90 and older.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office
accessed 29 April 2011 , there were 880 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,073 married individuals, 148 widows or widowers and 120 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 913 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 312 households that consist of only one person and 69 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 939 households that answered this question, 33.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 7 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 244 married couples without children, 301 married couples with children. There were 37 single parents with a child or children. There were 12 households that were made up of unrelated people and 26 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 217 single family homes (or 50.2% of the total) out of a total of 432 inhabited buildings. There were 109 multi-family buildings (25.2%), along with 58 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (13.4%) and 48 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (11.1%). Of the single family homes 46 were built before 1919, while 12 were built between 1990 and 2000. The most multi-family homes (42) were built before 1919 and the next most (18) were built between 1961 and 1970. There was 1 multi-family house built between 1996 and 2000.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 there were 1,078 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 328. There were 94 single room apartments and 198 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 886 apartments (82.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 124 apartments (11.5%) were seasonally occupied and 68 apartments (6.3%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.3 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:960 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:2400 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from:start till:892 text:"892" bar:1860 from:start till:832 text:"832" bar:1870 from:start till:862 text:"862" bar:1880 from:start till:1005 text:"1,005" bar:1888 from:start till:1465 text:"1,465" bar:1900 from:start till:1517 text:"1,517" bar:1910 from:start till:1644 text:"1,644" bar:1920 from:start till:1508 text:"1,508" bar:1930 from:start till:1430 text:"1,430" bar:1941 from:start till:1510 text:"1,510" bar:1950 from:start till:1621 text:"1,621" bar:1960 from:start till:1620 text:"1,620" bar:1970 from:start till:2144 text:"2,144" bar:1980 from:start till:2006 text:"2,006" bar:1990 from:start till:2320 text:"2,320" bar:2000 from:start till:2221 text:"2,221"

Heritage sites of national significance

Lucens Castle is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire town of Lucens is part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

Politics

In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP with 29.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (25.6%), the FDP (22.4%) and the

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

(9.5%). In the federal election, a total of 542 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was 34.6%. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 29.38% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (26.59%), the FDP (20.05%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

(8.56%). In the federal election, a total of 494 votes were cast, and the

was 41.2%.

Economy

Lucens is an industrial community, or a municipality where manufacturing provides over a quarter of all jobs. , there were a total of 1,176 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 23 people worked in 10 businesses in the primary economic sector. The

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

employed 620 workers in 47 separate businesses. A minority (19.5%) of the secondary sector employees worked in very small businesses. There were 7 small businesses with a total of 185 employees and 3 mid sized businesses with a total of 314 employees. Finally, the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

provided 533 jobs in 123 businesses. There were 4 small businesses with a total of 142 employees and one mid sized business with a total of 92 employees. In 2014 a total of 10.7% of the population received social assistance. the total number of

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often use ...

jobs was 791. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 7, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 530 of which 361 or (68.1%) were in manufacturing and 153 (28.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 254. In the tertiary sector; 70 or 27.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 24 or 9.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 32 or 12.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 2.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 16 or 6.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 35 or 13.8% were in education and 48 or 18.9% were in health care. , there were 464 workers who commuted into the municipality and 609 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 7.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 64.8% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 859 or 38.7% were

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, while 802 or 36.1% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 8 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.36% of the population), there were 9 individuals (or about 0.41% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 61 individuals (or about 2.75% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and 199 (or about 8.96% of the population) who were

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic. There were 2 individuals who were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 126 (or about 5.67% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 152 individuals (or about 6.84% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Lucens about 705 or (31.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 148 or (6.7%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). Of the 148 who completed tertiary schooling, 57.4% were Swiss men, 21.6% were Swiss women, 13.5% were non-Swiss men and 7.4% were non-Swiss women. In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 278 students in the Lucens school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 155 children of which 83 children (53.5%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

program requires students to attend for four years. There were 129 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 139 students in those schools. There were also 10 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Scol. obligatoire/filières de transition
accessed 2 May 2011 Lucens is home to 1 museum, the ''Musée Sherlock Holmes''. In 2009 the ''Musée Sherlock Holmes'' was visited by 1,359 visitors (the average in previous years was 1,373).Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Fréquentation de quelques musées et fondations, Vaud, 2001-2009
accessed 2 May 2011 , there were 134 students in Lucens who came from another municipality, while 61 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Transportation

The municipality has a railway station, , on the Palézieux–Lyss railway line. It has regular service to , , , and .

Crime

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the

Swiss Criminal Code The Swiss Criminal Code (SR/RS 311, , , , ) is a portion of the third part (SR/RS 3) of the Swiss law, internal Swiss law ("Private law - Administration of civil justice - Enforcement") that regulates the criminal code in Switzerland. The orig ...

(running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Lucens was 58.8 per thousand residents. This rate is only 61.3% of the cantonal rate and about the same as the national rate (64.6). During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 2.5 per thousand residents. This rate is only 25.3% of the national rate. The rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 1.3 per thousand residents. This rate is only 26.5% of the rate for the entire country.Statistical Atlas of Switzerland
accessed 5 April 2016

References

External links

* * * * * {{Authority control Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Vaud