Épalinges

Epalinges

Epalinges is a municipality in the district of Lausanne in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The former German place name Späningen is no longer used today.

Geography

Epalinges is located on 785 m above sea level. M., 4 km north-east of the canton capital Lausanne ( straight line ). The suburban community of Lausanne extends on the southern slope of the Jorat, below the pass traversal Col du Chalet -à- Gobet, in the Vaud Mittelland, a scenic location high above the city of Lausanne and 400 meters above the lake level of Lake Geneva.

The area of ​​4.6 km ² large municipality territory, which includes an articulated by smaller valleys section on the southern slope of the Jorat. The communal land bounded on the west by the deepened in the molasses stream valley Flon, in the east by the valley of the Flon Morand (page stream of Paudèze ). The municipal area arise from several tributaries of the Flon. On the south is the headwaters of the Vuachère. The only large forest area, the Bois de la Chapelle, located on the edge of the valley of the Flon Morand. The highest elevation of Epalinges is with 850 m above. M. reached on the high area of ​​the Jorat. From the municipality surface 1997 49 % came from settlements, 27 % of forest and woody plants and 24% in agriculture.

To Epalinges addition to the actual village Epalinges Village also includes the settlements Epalinges and La Croix- Blanche, and the hamlet Ballaigue ( 800 m above sea level. M. ) and De Marin ( 833 m above sea level. M. ). Neighboring communities of Epalinges are Le Mont- sur -Lausanne and Lausanne. The community consisted of several centers ever since. Today the former agricultural areas of Epalinges are largely built over, and the settlement area is completely conjoined with that of Lausanne.

Population

With 8812 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) Epalinges belongs to the medium-sized municipalities in the canton of Vaud. Of the 85.0 % inhabitants are French-speaking, German-speaking 5.5 % and 2.0 % in English (as of 2000). The population of Epalinges moved from 1850 to 1940 always in the range between 700 and 800 people. Since 1950, urbanization was associated with a rapid increase in population and an eight-fold increase in population observed within 50 years. Particularly strong growth rates were recorded during the 1960s and 1980s.

Economy

Epalinges was up to the beginning of the 20th century, mainly stamped by agriculture village. Today, the agriculture and the livestock and dairy industry have hardly any significance in the occupational structure of the population.

Since the 17th century, the water power of the Flon was used by a mill and a sawmill. From 1675 to 1875 there was a brickyard in Epalinges. 1916, the clinic was founded Silvana for tuberculosis patients who did not was the first sanatorium in the mountains. Larger commercial and service companies settled only since the 1970s in Epalinges to. Several companies are now active in the fields of computer science and mechanics. The Centre de laboratoires of Croisettes conducts research in biomedicine. It mainly consists of three institutions, the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research ( ISREC ), the Institute and the Ludwig Institute for Biochemistry at the University of Lausanne.

The center of Epalinges shifted after 1970 with the construction of a new administration building and community center Epalinges -Village to La Croix -Blanche. The community also has great sports facilities; The golf course Epalinges, however, for the most part on the Lausanne area.

In recent decades, Epalinges has changed with the construction of apartment buildings and the opening up of villas quarters into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who pursue in the near Lausanne their work.

Traffic

The community is a very good transport developed. It lies on the main road over the pass 1 of Lausanne Chalet-à- Gobet to Bern. The motorway connection Lausanne- Vennes on the A9 opened in 1974 (Lausanne -Sion ) is located below La Croix -Blanche.

The traffic connection in the direction of Lausanne done since September 2008 by the metro line M2, whose northern terminus Epalinges located near the motorway junction at the edge of the village. The operated by the Transports publics de la région Lausannoise, fully automated metro system replaces a line of trolley Lausanne. Epalinges is accessible by several bus lines, including the line 62 to Moudon.

History

The first written mention of the village was 1182 de Spanengis. Later, the names Espaningio ( 1224 ), Espalingio ( 1283) and Espallingiez appeared in the 14th century. The place name probably goes back to the Burgundian personal names Ipano and means for the people of Ipano. Through the clearing of the forest area on the southern slope of the Jorat built in the 11th century, the first settlements. Epalinges belonged to the Lausanne Cathedral Chapter in the Middle Ages.

With the conquest of Vaud by Bern in 1536 Epalinges came under the administration of the bailiwick of Lausanne. After the collapse of the Ancien Régime, the village belonged from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic to the canton of Geneva, who came up then with the enactment of the Act of Mediation in the canton of Vaud. 1798 was assigned to the district of Lausanne. In the first half of the 20th century, the incorporation of Epalinges in the city of Lausanne has been discussed several times in 1947 but discarded.

Attractions

The Church of Epalinges was built in 1662. Also from the Berne time comes the old community hall in Epalinges -Village, which was built in 1709.

Personalities

The hitherto most famous resident of Epalinges were or are a Belgian and a Swede. Georges Simenon spent the latter part of his life in a villa in Epalinges and Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea, lives in the Vaud commune since the 1970s.