Beckenried is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. History The first settlers in what would become Beckried were from Alamanni tribes that moved into the area over 2000 years ago. During the Middle Ages the region was part of extensive estates that were shared between Engelberg Abbey, Murbach-Lucerne and Steinen, Switzerland. The two tower houses in the village (named: Retschrieden and Isenringen) were built in the 13th century for two local, influential families. In 1262 the village is mentioned in an agreement over a nearby pasture. In 1314 it is mentioned as Beggenriet. Geography Beckenried has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 48.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 37.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 6.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 7.9% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of or about 3.2% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1981 amount. Of the agricultural land, is used for orchards and vineyards, is fields and grasslands and consists of alpine grazing areas. Since 1981 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by and the amount of forested land has increased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality. The municipality is a linear village along the shore of Lake Lucerne. It consists of the village of Beckenried with the sections known as Oberdorf, Niederdorf and Dorf. The Beckenried–Gersau car ferry links a terminal in Niederdorf with Gersau on the opposite bank of Lake Lucerne. Demographics Beckenried has a population () of . , 12.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals of which a small minority (182 or 5.1% of the total population) was born in Germany. Over the last 5 years (2010-2015) the population has changed at a rate of 6.88%. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2015, was 12.3, while the death rate was 6.3 per thousand residents. , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 20.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) are 61.7% of the population and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.6%. In 2015 there were 1,525 single residents, 1,582 people who were married or in a civil partnership, 173 widows or widowers and 264 divorced residents. In 2015 there were 1,541 private households in Beckenried with an average household size of 2.27 persons. In 2015