A number of ceramic, bronze, bone, stone and flint items were found in the excavation.

An Alamannic cemetery and the remains of another early medieval church were excavated to the north-east of the town.

The first mention as Surse dates to 1036, as Ulrich I of Lenzburg gave the village to Beromünster abbey.

The village grew into a small town in the 13th century, granted city rights by the Dukes of Austria in 1299.

Sursee was conquered by Lucerne in 1415, and managed to retain its city rights under the new lordship.

By 1950, Sursee was affected by uncontrolled growth and today faces the problems of many agglomeration cities.

In 2003, the Wakker Prize was awarded to Sursee for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.

Sursee was awarded the prize for their efforts to control and direct the formerly uncontrolled expansion while avoiding turning the historic old city into a museum or an empty show piece.

Of the rest of the land, 46.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Of the settled areas, 17.95% is covered with buildings, 9.23% is industrial, 0.51% is classed as special developments, 3.76% is parks or greenbelts and 15.21% is transportation infrastructure.

In the 2000 census[update] the religious membership of Sursee was; 6,004 (74.5%) were Roman Catholic, and 791 (9.8%) were Protestant, with an additional 269 (3.34%) that were of some other Christian faith.