Swiss-History.com presents historic and contemporary photographs and prints from Switzerland.

1855 - Lake Lucerne ( Vierwaldstättersee)

Lake Lucerne (Symphonie en bleu) painting by Alexandre Calame around 1855

Alexandre Calame (May 28, 1810 – March 19, 1864) was a Swiss painter, born in Vevey, Switzerland

From Wikipedia:

The lake is a complicated shape, with bends and arms reaching from the city of Lucerne into the mountains. It has a total area of 114 km² (44 sq mi), an elevation of 434 m (1,424 ft), and a maximum depth of 214 m (702 ft). Its volume is 11.8 km³. Much of the shoreline rises steeply into mountains up to 1,500 m above the lake, resulting in many picturesque views including those of Mount Rigi and Mount Pilatus.

The Reuss River enters the lake at Flüelen (in the canton of Uri, the part called Urnersee) and exits at Lucerne. The lake also receives the Muota (at Brunnen) Engelberger Aa (at Buochs), the Sarner Aa (at Alpnachstad).