The Wigger (formerly also called ''Wiggeren'')Article ''Wigger'', in: ''Geographisches Lexikon der Schweiz.'' Attinger, Neuchâtel 1910. Vol. 6, p. 632 is a river in the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internati ...
cantons of
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...
and
Aargau
Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capit ...
. It is an important tributary of the river
Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.
Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it desce ...
. The Wigger is around 41 kilometers long and flows from south to north for most of its length. The largest city in the Wigger valley is
Zofingen
Zofingen (french: Zofingue) is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home of an ancient monastic settlement.
History
In ancient times Zofingen was a settlem ...
.
The river rises from the north slope of the
Napf
The Napf is a mountain on the border between the Swiss cantons of Bern and Lucerne. With an altitude of , it is the summit of the Napfgebiet (Napf region), the hilly region lying between Bern and Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozä ...
in the canton of Lucerne near the border to the
canton of Berne
The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...
in a height of about 1300 meters. There it is called Enziwigger. It flows through a narrow valley towards Hergiswil bei Willisau where the valley widens and flattens. Shortly after the small city of
Willisau
Willisau is a municipality in the district of Willisau in the Lucerne canton of Switzerland. It was formed on 1 January 2006 from the municipalities of Willisau Land (W. Country) and Willisau Stadt (W. Town).Dagmersellen the Wigger is mostly restricted to a canal bed and flows partially parallel to the
A2 motorway
This is a list of roads designated A2. Roads entries are sorted alphabetically by country.
* A2 motorway (Albania), a road connecting Vlore with Fier
* A002 road (Argentina), a road connecting Avenida General Paz and Ministro Pistarini Internat ...
. Between
Reiden
Reiden is a municipality in the district of Willisau in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On January 1, 2006 the former municipalities of Langnau bei Reiden and Richenthal were united in the new municipality of Reiden.
Geography
Reiden has ...
and
Brittnau
Brittnau is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
History
Brittnau is first mentioned in 924 as ''Pritinouva''.
Geography
Brittnau has an area, , of . Of this area, or 52.8% is used for agricultu ...
it crosses the border to Aargau. It flows into the Aar between
Rothrist
Rothrist is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
History
Originally an Alamanni settlement, the modern village of Rothrist is first mentioned in 1263 as ''Routris''. The '' Herrschaft'' rights wer ...
and
Aarburg
Aarburg is a historic town and a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
The small town lies in the southwest Aargau, in a narrow section of the Aare valley, at the confluence with the Wigger. It lies i ...
at a height of 395 meters.
Tributaries of the Wigger are the Seewag, the Wanger-Rot, the Ron, the
Luthern
Luthern is a municipality in the district of Willisau in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.
History
Luthern is first mentioned in 1275 as ''Lutrun''.
Geography
Luthern has an area, , of . Of this area, 47.8% is used for agricultural purpos ...
and the Hürnbach.
In 1821 the Wigger's course was corrected (
channelized
Channelized in a telecommunications environment means that the line that communications have been transmitted over contains more than one message thread, separated in some fashion.
Typical channelization methods include packetizing, frequency-d ...
) by order of the government of the canton of Aargau. Until the second half of the 19th century the area of the Wigger's confluence with the Aar was a location of
placer mining
Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed ( alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment.
Placer mining is frequently used for ...
for gold, but this stopped due to dissatisfactory yield.