A bridge in Lucerne

A 50 minute train journey brought us from Zurich central station to the beautiful city of Lucerne (Luzern), sometimes also described as the gateway to central Switzerland. The city is on the banks of Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstaettersee or Lake of the Four Forested Canons), surrounded by the Swiss Alps including Pilatus, Titlis and Rigi. We stepped out of the station and saw the lake right in front at the bottom of the mountains. Turning a bit towards the left brought us onto a bridge, Seebrucke, at the end of which was the Saturday morning market and also next to it was a cute, flower-lined, angled, wooden bridge, running diagonally over the water.

One of the famous landmarks of Lucerne is the Chapel Bridge or Kapelbruecke, a covered, wooden bridge, 669 feet long which maybe one of the oldest in Europe. The original bridge was built in 1333 as part of the city's fortifications but was destroyed by a fire on August 18, 1993. The restored bridge was opened on 14th April, 1994. The bridge spans the river Reuss near to the place where it flows out of Lake Lucerne. It is named after St Peter's Chapel which is at its northern end.



There is a tall, octagonal tower adjoining the center of the bridge, more towards the southern portion. This is the Water Tower (Wasserturm), a building constructed around 1300 AD which has subsequently been used variously as a prison and torture chamber, watch tower, treasury and archive.

Another significant feature is the 122 gable paintings, originally dating from the 17th century, a lot of which of which were destroyed and subsequently restored after the fire. The paintings by Heinrich Wagmann, have Swiss history and Christianity as a common theme and show quite violent and morbid scenes. Some of them depict black death, in reference to the black plague of the 1500's which wiped out more than half of the population of Europe. Others show the daily life and times of the people of that age, their clothes and activities. Stories of the life of the city's patron saints, St. Leodegar and St. Maurice, are also seen, as are the coats of arms of the various noble families. The paintings were executed directly on the frame of the bridge and the ones at the two ends of the bridge were part of the few of the original to have completely escaped the fire. Each painting has a number and a caption.