Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut district in the canton of Vaud, having a population of nearly 27,000 with about 85,000 in the Vevey-Montreux agglomeration as of 2019.
Located in the centre of a region named the Vaud or Swiss Riviera (), Montreux has been an important tourist destination since the 19th century due to its mild climate. The region includes numerous Belle Époque palaces and hotels near the shores of Lake Geneva. Montreux railway station is a stop on the Simplon Railway and is a mountain railway hub.
History
The earliest settlement was a Late Bronze Age village at Baugy. Montreux lies on the north east shore of Lake Geneva at the fork in the Roman road from Italy over the Simplon Pass, where the roads to the Roman capital of Aventicum and the road into Gaul through Besançon separated. This made it an important settlement in the Roman era. A Roman villa from the 2nd-4th centuries and a 6th–7th century cemetery have been discovered.
The name derives from a small monastery () on the site by the 11th century,. which subsequently developed as , (1215), (1228), , , and . Viniculture was introduced in the 12th century, and the sunny slopes of the lake from Lavaux to Montreux became an important winegrowing region. In 1295, the Bishop of Sion sold the parish of Montreux to Girard of Oron. In 1317, it was split between the Lords of Oron (Le Châtelard) and the Counts of Savoy (Les Planches). A Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit administered estates and a hospital in Montreux starting in about 1309.
The region was subject to various princes, most notably the princes of Savoy from the south side of the lake. They unified the territory which comprises the present canton of Vaud and were generally popular sovereigns.
After the Burgundian Wars in the 15th century, the Swiss in Bern occupied the region without resistance, an indication of the weakness of the princes of Savoy. Under Bernese rule (1536–1798) it belonged to the Bailiwick of Chillon (renamed in 1735 into the Bailiwick of Vevey).
The Reformation made the region around Montreux and Vevey an attractive haven for Huguenots from Italy, who brought their artisanal skills and set up workshops and businesses.
The abbey of Les Echarpes blanches was founded in 1626.
In 1798, the French captured the region from the Bernese. In the 19th century, the tourist industry became a major commercial outlet, with the grand hotels of Montreux attracting the rich and cultured from Europe and America.
Starting in the 19th century there were three independent municipalities that shared a central authority. This county council was made up of four deputies from Le Châtelard, two from Les Planches and one from Veytaux. The church, the market hall of La Rouvenaz, the secondary school (the building was from 1872 and 1897) and the slaughter-house (1912) were all owned by the county council. Each municipality had its own taxes and a mayor. In 1962, the municipalities of Le Châtelard and Les Planches merged, while Veytaux remained independent.
Geography
Montreux has an area, , of . Of this area, or 25.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 50.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 20.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and or 4.6% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2018 data accessed 26 July 2020
Of the built up area, housing and buildings make up 11.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.4%. Out of the forested land, 46.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 1.5% is used for growing crops and 9.9% is pastures, while 1.2% is used for orchards or vine crops and 13.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality was part of the Vevey District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Montreux became part of the new district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz accessed 4 April 2011
The municipality stretches from Lake Geneva to the foothills of the Swiss Alps (Rochers-de-Naye). It includes the former municipalities of Montreux-Les Planches (until 1952 Les Planches) and Montreux-Le Châtelard (until 1952 Le Châtelard). It was formed in 1962 with the merger of the two former municipalities.
Climate The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for Montreux's climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).Climate Summary for Montreux accessed 27 June 2013
Demographics
Montreux has a population () of . , 44.2% 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 14.7%. It has changed at a rate of 22.3% due to migration and at a rate of -0.8% due to births and deaths.Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 17-August-2011
Most of the population () speaks French (16,695 or 74.4%) as their first language, with German being second most common (1,398 or 6.2%) and Italian being third (897 or 4.0%). There are 9 people who speak Romansh.
The age distribution, , in Montreux is; 2,050 children or 8.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 3,021 teenagers or 12.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 4,216 people or 17.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 3,016 people or 12.2% are between 30 and 39, 3,552 people or 14.4% are between 40 and 49, and 3,048 people or 12.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 2,565 people or 10.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 1,795 people or 7.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 1,206 people or 4.9% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 263 people or 1.1% who are 90 and older.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office accessed 29 April 2011
, there were 9,380 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 9,758 married individuals, 1,631 widows or widowers and 1,685 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 9,823 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2 persons per household. There were 4,198 households that consist of only one person and 402 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 10,236 households that answered this question, 41.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 53 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 2,563 married couples without children, 2,245 married couples with children. There were 605 single parents with a child or children. There were 159 households that were made up of unrelated people and 413 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 1,375 single family homes (or 43.2% of the total) out of a total of 3,183 inhabited buildings. There were 1,024 multi-family buildings (32.2%), along with 530 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (16.7%) and 254 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.0%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen accessed 28 January 2011
, a total of 9,553 apartments (70.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 3,043 apartments (22.5%) were seasonally occupied and 916 apartments (6.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.6 new units per 1000 residents.
the average price to rent an average apartment in Montreux was 1067.93 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$850, £480, €680 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 567.76 CHF (US$450, £260, €360), a two-room apartment was about 787.77 CHF (US$630, £350, €500), a three-room apartment was about 1014.16 CHF (US$810, £460, €650) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1817.64 CHF (US$1450, £820, €1160). The average apartment price in Montreux was 95.7% of the national average of 1116 CHF.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Rental prices 2003 data accessed 26 May 2010 The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.55%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 accessed 29 January 2011
Heritage sites of national significance
The Swiss heritage site of national significance in Montreux includes: The Audiorama (also known as the Swiss National Audiovisual Museum), Crêtes Castle, Châtelard Castle, the Train Station, the Hôtel Montreux Palace, the Caux Palace Hotel, the Île and Villa Salagnon, the Marché couvert, the Grand-Hôtel/the Hôtel des Alpes (which served as the recording studio for Deep Purple's Machine Head album), and the Villa Karma.
The entire urban village of Territet / Veytaux as well as the Caux, Montreux and Villas Dubochet areas are all part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Twin towns Montreux is twinned with the towns of Menton, France Wiesbaden, Germany accessed 27 April 2011 Chiba, Japan
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 22.11% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (21.97%), the FDP (16.06%) and the Green Party (13.49%). In the federal election, a total of 4,473 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 39.7%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton accessed 28 May 2010
Economy
, Montreux had an unemployment rate of 6.9%. , there were 70 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 1,165 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 174 businesses in this sector. 9,290 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 999 businesses in this sector. There were 10,202 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 46.1% of the workforce.
the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 8,991. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 55, of which 31 were in agriculture, 17 were in forestry or lumber production and 6 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,118 of which 403 or (36.0%) were in manufacturing and 708 (63.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 7,818. In the tertiary sector; 1,296 or 16.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 439 or 5.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 1,311 or 16.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 70 or 0.9% were in the information industry, 564 or 7.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 458 or 5.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 943 or 12.1% were in education and 1,591 or 20.4% were in health care.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 accessed 28 January 2011
, there were 4,949 workers who commuted into the municipality and 4,964 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 2.3% of the workforce coming into Montreux are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 22.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.9% used a private car.
Religion