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Kerns

Municipality in the canton of Obwalden · FSO no. 1404

Parcel data from Jul 2025, statistics computed on 26 Sept 2026.

Open map at the Kerns center

The parcel data lists 2’595 parcels in Kerns, covering 92.6 km². 68.8% of them have at least one registered building. The median parcel measures 1’183 m².

Key figures

Parcels
2’595
15% of the canton
Total area
92.6 km²

18.9% of the canton

Median area
1’183 m²

Canton: 1’006 m²

Switzerland: 870 m²

Built share
68.8%

Canton: 67.5%

Switzerland: 52%

Median year built
1986

Canton: 1979

Switzerland: 1976

About Kerns

Kerns ranks 2nd of 7 municipalities in the canton of Obwalden by number of parcels and holds 15% of the canton's parcels on 18.9% of its area. The median parcel in Kerns measures 1’183 m², larger than the canton median of 1’006 m². Kerns is about as built-up as the canton as a whole: 68.8% of its parcels have a building, against 67.5% across the canton.

The zones with the most parcels are Landwirtschaftszone (34.6%), Zweigeschossige Wohnzone (16.3%) and Wald (9.7%). In total, Kerns uses 28 zone designations.

According to the building register, Kerns has 3’252 buildings with 3’567 dwellings, 1.1 dwellings per building on average. Residential buildings mix single-family houses and buildings with several dwellings: single-family houses make up 41.1% of them. Non-residential buildings account for 53.4% of all buildings.

Built parcels most often have their newest building from 1981 to 2000 (27.3% of them), and 27.8% have one from 2001 or later. The median year built, 1986, is more recent than in the canton as a whole (1979).

Built and unbuilt parcels

Built: 1’785 (68.8%)Unbuilt: 810 (31.2%)

Parcels by zone

Parcels by zone, the 12 largest zones first
ZoneParcels
Landwirtschaftszone89716.93 km²68.3%
Zweigeschossige Wohnzone4220.28 km²92.9%
Wald25223.64 km²11.5%
Dreigeschossige Wohnzone1600.14 km²88.1%
Alpwirtschaftszone14842.03 km²68.9%
Dreigeschossige Wohn- und Gewerbezone1430.14 km²89.5%
Dorfkernzone1360.09 km²86.8%
Zweigeschossige Wohnzone in empfindlicher Lage850.07 km²91.8%
Verkehrszone630.06 km²1.6%
Verkehrsfläche470.33 km²2.1%
Zone St. Niklausen420.04 km²90.5%
Zweigeschossige Ferienhauszone330.01 km²93.9%
Other zones (16 labels)1678.86 km²67.7%

Zone names are the municipal designations. A canton lists each wording separately.

Building stock

The building register lists 3’252 buildings with 3’567 dwellings here; 540 of them are single-family houses.

Buildings
3’252
Dwellings
3’567
Single-family houses
540
Building volume
3.4 million m³

Buildings by category

  • Residential1’313
  • Mixed use104
  • Non-residential1’735
  • Other100

Construction periods

Built parcels by construction period of their newest building
  • Before 1920201
  • 1920-194594
  • 1946-196096
  • 1961-1980387
  • 1981-2000488
  • 2001-2010251
  • 2011-2020204
  • 2021 and later42
  • Unknown year22

Maps and geodata for Kerns

geopool works as a GIS and geoportal for Kerns. Its parcel map shows the parcels of the official cadastral survey with their area, their zone from the municipal zoning plan and their buildings, on swisstopo maps. Building zones, the property map and the geodata of each parcel open on the geopool map. The ÖREB extract of a parcel (public-law restrictions on landownership) is in lookup.

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