Vevey

Not to be confused withVevay.

Vevey
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Vevey
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Vaud
District	Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut
Government
•Executive	Municipalité with 5 members
•Mayor	syndic(list) Laurent Ballif (as of 2014)
•Parliament	Conseil communal with 100 members
Area
• Total	2.4 km2(0.9 sq mi)
Elevation	383 m (1,257 ft)
Population (31 December 2018)
• Total	19,891
• Density	8,300/km2(21,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	1800
SFOS number	5890
ISO 3166 code	CH-VD
Surrounded by	Corseaux,Corsier-sur-Vevey,La Tour-de-Peilz,Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz
Website	www.vevey.ch Profile(in French),SFSO statistics

Vevey(French pronunciation:[vəvɛ]) is a town inSwitzerlandin the cantonVaud,on the north shore ofLake Geneva,nearLausanne.

It was the seat of thedistrict of the same nameuntil 2006, and is now part of theRiviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District.It is part of theFrench-speaking area of Switzerland.

Vevey is noted for being the final home of comedy legendCharlie Chaplinand his family from 1952 to 1977.

Vevey is home to the world headquarters of the food giantNestlé,founded here in 1867.Milk chocolatewas invented in Vevey byDaniel Peterin 1875.

History

Vevey during the Middle Ages

Apilotisettlement existed here as early as the 2nd millennium BC.

UnderRome,it was known asViviscusorVibiscum.It was mentioned for the first time by the ancient Greek astronomer and philosopherPtolemy,who gave it the nameOuikos.In theMiddle Agesit was a station on theVia Francigena.It was then ruled by thebishopric of Lausanne,and later under theBlonayfamily.

Vevey lived through a period of prosperity after theVaud Revolutionof 1798. In the 19th century industrial activities included mechanical engineering at theAteliers de Constructions Mécaniques de Vevey,food (Nestlé) and tobacco (Rinsoz & Ormond).

Geography

Vevey has an area, as of 2009,of 2.4 square kilometers (0.93 sq mi). Of this area, 0.07 km²(0.027 sq mi) or 2.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.11 km²(0.042 sq mi) or 4.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.13 km²(0.82 sq mi) or 89.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km²(9.9 acres) or 1.7% is either rivers or lakes.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 51.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 26.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 6.7%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 0.4% is used for growing crops and 1.7% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality was the capital of theVevey Districtuntil it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Vevey became the capital of the new district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut.

Coat of arms

Theblazonof the municipalcoat of armsisPer pale Or and Azure, two Letters V interlaced counterchanged.

Demographics

Vevey lakefront

Vevey has a population (as of December 2020) of 19,752.As of 2008,43.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 16.2%. It has changed at a rate of 14.2% due to migration and at a rate of 3.4% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaksFrench(12,526 or 77.3%) as their first language, withItalianbeing second most common (854 or 5.3%) andPortuguesebeing third (601 or 3.7%). There are 599 people who speakGermanand 7 people who speakRomansh.

The age distribution, as of 2009,in Vevey is; 1,945 children or 10.8% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,928 teenagers or 10.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 2,543 people or 14.1% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 3,059 people or 17.0% are between 30 and 39, 2,852 people or 15.9% are between 40 and 49, and 2,059 people or 11.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 1,516 people or 8.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 1,131 people or 6.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 806 people or 4.5% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 138 people or 0.8% who are 90 and older.

As of 2000,there were 6,936 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 6,966 married individuals, 1,065 widows or widowers and 1,235 individuals who are divorced.

As of 2000,there were 7,830 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2. persons per household.There were 3,667 households that consist of only one person and 334 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 8,012 households that answered this question, 45.8% were households made up of just one person and there were 39 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 1,694 married couples without children, 1,754 married couples with children There were 527 single parents with a child or children. There were 149 households that were made up of unrelated people and 182 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.

In 2000there were 264 single family homes (or 20.5% of the total) out of a total of 1,286 inhabited buildings. There were 565 multi-family buildings (43.9%), along with 329 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (25.6%) and 128 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (10.0%).

In 2000,a total of 7,752 apartments (83.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,117 apartments (12.0%) were seasonally occupied and 430 apartments (4.6%) were empty.As of 2009,the construction rate of new housing units was 6.8 new units per 1000 residents.

As of 2003the average price to rent an average apartment in Vevey was 1067.93Swiss 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 Vevey was 95.7% of the national average of 1116 CHF.The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010,was 0.45%.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Heritage sites of national significance

There are 14 structures in Vevey that are listed as Swissheritage site of national significance.The four museums on the list are; theAlimentarium(Museum of Food), the Museum de la Confrérie des Vignerons, the Museum Jenisch and the Museum suisse de l’appareil photographique. There are three churches; theRoman CatholicChurch of Notre-Dame, theOrthodox Churchand theSwiss ReformedChurch of Saint-Martin. The other seven buildings are; the Administration Building and Historical Archives ofNestléSA,Aile Castle,the Cour au Chantre, theCity Hall,the Hôtel des Trois-Couronnes, the La Grenette and Place du Marché and the Saint-Jean Tower and Fountain.

• 
  Alimentarium
• 
  Museum suisse de l’appareil photographique (Photography museum)
• 
  Administration Building Nestlé
• 
  Aile Castle
• 
  Catholic Church
• 
  Orthodox Church
• 
  Swiss ReformedChurch of Saint-Martin
• 
  City Hall
• 
  Hôtel des Trois-Couronnes
• 
  La Grenette and Place du Marché
• 
  Saint-Jean Tower and Fountain

Main sights

The Grande Place is dominated by a granary known asLa Grenette,built in 1803 in the Neo-Classical "rustic" style. BehindLa Grenetteis the restaurantLa Clef,in which Jean-Jacques Rousseau used to eat. The table at which he sat is still to be seen in the restaurant.

St Martin's Church, a few minutes' walk away from the Grande Place, contains the bodies of a number of those who condemnedKing Charles I of Englandto death - especially that of Edmund Ludlow who escaped to Vevey after the death ofOliver Cromwell.

Additionally, there is a large fork just off the shore of the lake. The fork was originally installed in 1995 as a temporary exhibit. Removed in 1996 and replaced in 2007, it finally got authorization to remain in the lake in 2008 and has become an emblem for the townspeople.

Festivals

Poster for the Fête des Vignerons from 1905

The Confrérie des Vignerons (Brotherhood of Winegrowers) organises the Winegrowers' Festival (Fête des Vignerons) four or five times each century (one per generation) to celebrate its wine-growing traditions and culture. On those occasions an arena for 16,000 spectators is built in the marketplace — the Grande Place, which is the second-biggest marketplace inEurope,afterLisbon,Portugal. The festivals date from the 18th century; the last five were in 1905, 1927, 1955, 1977 and 1999.

Market

The town is also known for its large market on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. The Vevey folk markets,known locally as the Marchés Folkloriques, normally has up to 2000 visitors each Saturday over a period of two months. (Second week of July to end August). Visitors can buy a wine-glass and drink to their heart's content while listening tobrass bands,Swiss folk music,and watching traditionalcraftsmenat work. These Folk Markets are organised by the Société de développement de Vevey.

Politics

In the 2007federal election,the most popular party was theSP,which received 27.21% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were theSVP(17.86%), theGreen Party(16.21%) and theFDP(10.83%). In the federal election, a total of 3,217 votes were cast, and thevoter turnoutwas 40.0%.

Many of theUnion Cycliste Internationaledefamation lawsuits against its critics have occurred under the Est Vaudois district court of Vevey.

Economy

The headquarters ofNestlé.

As of 2010,Vevey had an unemployment rate of 8.1%. As of 2008,there were 9 people employed in theprimary economic sectorand about 6 businesses involved in this sector. 1,320 people were employed in thesecondary sectorand there were 134 businesses in this sector. 10,014 people were employed in thetertiary sector,with 985 businesses in this sector.There were 7,741 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 46.4% of the workforce.

In 2008the total number offull-time equivalentjobs was 9,458. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 6, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,246 of which 433 or (34.8%) were in manufacturing and 688 (55.2%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 8,206. In the tertiary sector; 1,749 or 21.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 228 or 2.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 614 or 7.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 218 or 2.7% were in the information industry, 382 or 4.7% were the insurance or financial industry, 2,150 or 26.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 432 or 5.3% were in education and 1,437 or 17.5% were in health care.

In 2000,there were 8,153 workers who commuted into the municipality and 4,049 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.0 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 1.2% of the workforce coming into Vevey are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work.Of the working population, 25.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 42.2% used a private car.

Religion

From the 2000 census,6,676 or 41.2% wereRoman Catholic,while 4,224 or 26.1% belonged to theSwiss Reformed Church.Of the rest of the population, there were 427members of an Orthodox church(or about 2.64% of the population), there were 8 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belonged to theChristian Catholic Church,and there were 685 individuals (or about 4.23% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 43 individuals (or about 0.27% of the population) who wereJewish,and 1,083 (or about 6.68% of the population) who wereIslamic.There were 52 individuals who wereBuddhist,47 individuals who wereHinduand 38 individuals who belonged to another church. 2,189 (or about 13.51% of the population) belonged to no church, areagnosticoratheist,and 1,050 individuals (or about 6.48% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather

Vevey has an average of 124.1 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1,234 mm (48.6 in) ofprecipitation.The wettest month is August during which time Vevey receives an average of 138 mm (5.4 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 10.7 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.7, but with only 112 mm (4.4 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 78 mm (3.1 in) of precipitation over 9.4 days.

Education

In Vevey about 5,104 or (31.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatoryupper secondary education,and 2,069 or (12.8%) have completed additional higher education (eitheruniversityor aFachhochschule). Of the 2,069 who completed tertiary schooling, 43.5% were Swiss men, 29.2% were Swiss women, 15.4% were non-Swiss men and 11.9% were non-Swiss women.

In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 1,968 students in the Vevey 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 817 children of which 456 children (55.8%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton'sprimary schoolprogram requires students to attend for four years. There were 1,024 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 852 students in those schools. There were also 92 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.

As of 2000,there were 712 students in Vevey who came from another municipality, while 537 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Vevey is home to theAlimentarium,theMusée Jenishand theMusée suisse de l'appareil photomuseums.In 2009 theAlimentariumwas visited by 61,358 visitors (the average in previous years was 57,530). In the same year theMusée Jenishwas closed for renovations but the average in previous years was 17,286, and theMusée suisse de l'appareil photowas visited by 10,989 visitors (the average in previous years was 11,874).

Vevey is home to theBibliothèque médiathèque municipalelibrary. The library has (as of 2008) 64,994 books or other media, and loaned out 153,629 items in the same year. It was open a total of 273 days with average of 34 hours per week during that year.

Literary references

The action ofRousseau'sJulie, or the New Heloiseis set in and around Vevey.

Vevey is one of two locations that comprise the setting ofHenry James' novellaDaisy Miller.

It is also mentioned inLittle Women,the classic American novel byLouisa May Alcott,as the location of the young Theodore "Laurie" Laurence's early studies at boarding school as well as a stop on Amy March's European trip. It is in Vevey where she hears of her sister's death and becomes engaged to Laurie. Vevey was also the place where, in real life, Alcott met Ladislas Wiesniewski, who served as one of the models for Laurie.

Vevey is also the lakeside town used as the setting for Anita Brookner's Booker Prize-winning novelHotel du Lac.

Prix Clara Haskil

TheClara Haskil International Piano Competitionis held biennially in her memory. The brochure reads: "The Clara Haskil Competition was founded in 1963 to honour and perpetuate the memory of the incomparable Swiss pianist, ofRomanianorigin, who was born inBucharestin 1895. It takes place every two years in Vevey,Switzerland,whereClara Haskilresided from 1942 until her death in Brussels in 1960.

In modern music

Rick Wakeman,keyboardist for the progressive-rock bandYes,recorded the final organ portion of the song"Awaken",and the organ part in the song "Parallels", both on the Yes albumGoing for the One,on the pipe organ in St. Martin's Cathedral in Vevey.

Vevey, along with the Vineyards ofLavauxare mentioned in the songLavauxon singerPrince's album20Ten.

Photo gallery

• 
  Santa Barbara Orthodox church
• 
  Old Town
• 
  Tourism Office in Vevey
• 
  Vevey and surrounding mountains
• 
  Alimentarium Museum
• 
  Hungry Charlie Chaplin
• 
  One of the biggest open Market Squares in the world

Notable births

• François-Louis Cailler,chocolatier 1796 - 1852
• Ernest Ansermet,orchestral conductor 1883 - 1969

Notable residents past and present

• Olga Baclanova,Russian-born actress.
• Mirjam Bruck -Cohen, Israeli Fiberartist
• Charlie Chaplin,British comedian, director, actor, and writer. (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
• Peter Cowie,film historian Romantic movement
• Fyodor Dostoevsky,Russian novelist
• Dionizije Dvornić,Croatian football player
• Nikolai Gogol,Russian novelist
• Graham Greene,British writer (Corseaux)
• Clara Haskil,Swiss Romanian classical pianist
• Bruno Hoffmann,German glass harp player
• Victor Hugo,French poet and writer
• Edouard JeanneretLe Corbusier,Swiss architect
• Paul Juon,Germanised Russian composer
• Oskar Kokoschka,Austrian painter
• Edmund Ludlow,general and politician in Oliver Cromwell's government and enemy of King Charles I
• John Pentland Mahaffy,Irish academic
• Nikita Magaloff,Georgian-Russian pianist
• Jules Massenet,French composer (while composingEsclarmonde)
• James Mason,actor, (Corsier-sur-Vevey)
• Thomas Medwin,Writer and biographer of Percy Byssche Shelley
• Claude Nicollier,first Swissastronaut
• Daniel Peter,inventor ofmilk chocolateand chocolate bar
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Swiss writer and philosopher. Arguably the father of the European Romantic movement
• Françoise-Louise de Warens,benefactress and mistress of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• Percy Scholes,English musician and writer
• Robert John "Mutt" Lange,Record producer and songwriter
• Shania Twain,Canadian country singer-songwriter
• Thabo Sefolosha,basketball player for theOklahoma City Thunder
• Henryk Sienkiewicz,Polish writer (Quo Vadis) Statue in the garden of the Grand Hôtel du Lac.
• August Socin,surgeon. native of Vevey
• Henry Philip Tappan,firstPresidentof theuniversity of Michigan
• Duncan Jones,film director and his fatherDavid Bowie,musician

Infrastructure

Vevey railway station,the first station to be "automated" in 1956, is served by several routes of theLéman RERcommuter railsystem. It has frequent trains toBlonay,Lausanne,Geneva,MontreuxandVilleneuve,among others.

TheVevey–Chardonne–Mont Pèlerin funicularlinks Vevey with the summit ofMont Pèlerin.

TheVevey–Villeneuve trolleybus lineis the last remaining of the five interurbantrolleybuslines that have existed in Switzerland. It largely follows Swiss main road no. 9, passes through the municipalities of Vevey,La Tour-de-Peilz,Montreux,VeytauxandVilleneuve,and serves a total of 41stops. Also known as line 201, it operates every 10 minutes during the day between termini at the base station of the funicular and Villeneuve.

The number 213 bus line, operated bymotor buses,goes up toChâtel-Saint-DenisandBossonnens.There are also late nightPetit Princebuses.

Vevey is well connected on the lake with boats going to all the major harbours likeLe Bouveret,Saint Gingolph,Evian,Lausanneand more.

International relations

See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in Switzerland

Twin towns – sister cities

Vevey istwinnedwith:

• Carpentras,France
• Müllheim,Germany
• Locarno,Switzerland

See also

• Vevay, Indiana,United States

External links

• Official websiteTemplate:Fr icon
• Media related toVeveyat Wikimedia Commons
• Veveytravel guide from Wikivoyage