The village is located in a sunny position in a beautiful valley on the border between Canton Lucerne and Canton Bern. The predominant colour is certainly green.

The first written record of Luthern, then known as Lutrun, comes from the papal register of 1275. In 1278, the Emmental barons of Affoltern were the owners. The coat of arms of Luthern still bears witness to this today: the Lutheran is symbolically represented as a white wavy bundle, the apple tree with apples recalls the founders, the barons of Affoltern. Affoltern meant ‘from the apple trees’. In the Middle Ages, Luthern Valley and Waldsberg Castle formed a domain. In 1283, Luthern passed from the barons of Affoltern to the Knights of Hünenberg. In 1414, Götz von Hünenberg sold the Twing rights of Luthern to Ueli Hugi and Hensli Bircher. The latter sells them to Lucerne and the valley becomes part of the district of Willisau. Hünenberg also donates the Schwarzenbach farm and church to Trub Abbey. In Luthern, the mansions are lined up around the lime tree on the village square. The village centre with the rococo parish church of St Ulrich and the surrounding houses – rectory, parish hall and tithe storehouse – form a beautiful backdrop to the village. The Gasthof Sonne completes the idyll. The buildings are all listed as historical monuments. So is the Gasthof Krone below the church. Idyllically located at the foot of the Napf, with one of the most beautiful old town centres in Switzerland, Luthern has as one of its highlights Luthern Bad, a place of pilgrimage with its mystical underground bath.