City of Lucerne - History, tourism, worth to know The city of Lucerne Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and in many respects the most important city in Central Switzerland. It is the cultural centre of the region and the fourth largest Swiss agglomeration. Lucerne owes its development firstly to its geographical location on the important north-south transport axis, sandwiched between the Swiss Plateau and the Alps at the threshold to Central Switzerland, and secondly to the uniquely picturesque scenery of this region. Some brief historical notes The city does not appear to have been officially founded. There was probably a small settlement here near the lake during Roman times or earlier. The St. Leodegar monastery has existed since the early 8 th century and was first mentioned in documents in the year 840. An important marketplace developed around the Reuss Bridge, which connected the monastery with the feudal court to the south. Historians regard 1178 as the year of the birth of Lucerne, because it was then that the parish was transferred from the monastery to the city. The opening of the Gotthard Pass around 1220 created new impetus for growth. The first fortification wall with towers was constructed during this time and stretched from the Grendel via Grabenstrasse to the Mühleplatz square. It also encompassed the still-insignificant left bank of the city, ending near the lake with the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower. Lucerne was sold to Rudolf von Habsburg in 1291. The city population protested against the limits on their autonomy and in 1332 pledged to form an eternal pact with the other forest cantons. The year 1332 is considered one of the most important in Swiss History. For the first time, city and country populations enjoyed the same rights under an agreement that would last for many years, and this was of great importance to the Confederation of States. Lucerne s decision to join was probably the factor that ensured the survival of the young Confederation, which rapidly evolved into a city-state.
page 2/7 The Confederation s victory at the Battle of Sempach in 1386 permanently freed Lucerne from its ties to Austria and paved the way for the formation of the territorial state of Lucerne. A visible sign of the power gained was the outward expansion of the fortification ring around the city and the construction of the Musegg wall, which was completed in 1408. Thereafter, Lucerne s City Council was able to rule over 14 provinces. At the end of the 18 th century a patrician group of only 29 families ruled the entire city state. Yet, in 1800 Lucerne was still a small town with only 4,300 inhabitants, despite its dominant position as the centre of Catholic Switzerland and focal point of a large subservient region. As the first city in the Confederation, Lucerne had always held a special position, and its geographical location should have predestined it to be the Swiss capital. But since the canton of Lucerne had led the Sonderbund Alliance, which was defeated in 1847, and then in 1848 voted against the Federal Constitution, Bern was finally chosen as the capital. In the mid 19 th century the city gratefully seized the opportunity offered by tourism to recapture some of its lost glory. On a sightseeing tour Already in the Middle Ages, Lucerne was a city of bridges. In 1400, Lucerne was the only city in Europe to boast four bridges. The Hof Bridge, constructed ca. 1250 (demolished in 1834) and the Chapel Bridge, built ca. 1300 formed part of the city fortifications. The Mill Bridge (Spreuer Bridge) served to connect the lower parts of the city. It got its name from the chaffs of wheat that were thrown into the River Reuss at this point. The nowadays less attractive Reuss Bridge was the oldest river crossing and contributed considerably to the city s development. It was not until the 19 th and 20 th centuries that four more bridges were added: the Seebrücke (1870), the Geissmatt Bridge (1890), the St. Karli Bridge (1908) and the motorway bridge (1974). Lucerne is also a city of palaces, churches, and squares. In the late Middle Ages passion plays were performed on the Weinmarkt square. The city instituted a public market hall on the Kornmarkt around 1370. This also served as a storage house for grain and was later converted into a town hall. The squares Kapellplatz, Hirschenplatz, Mühleplatz and Franziskanerplatz also retain vestiges of their past history. The Hof Church, the Town Hall and the Rittersche Palace are important monuments dating from the late Renaissance, while the Jesuit Church is one of Switzerland s finest baroque churches. The Franciscan Church is considered to be the finest Gothic church in Central Switzerland.
page 3/7 The Water Tower and the Chapel Bridge, both built ca. 1300, are Lucerne s trademarks. The oldest preserved wooden bridge in Europe displays a series of 17 th century paintings on triangular panels under its eaves. A major part of the bridge, including the paintings, was almost completely destroyed by fire on August 18, 1993. The reconstructed bridge was reopened on April 14, 1994. In the meantime, many of the paintings have been replaced or recopied. The octagonal Water Tower, like the Chapel Bridge, formed part of the inner city fortifications and has served as an archive, a city treasury and a prison. Lucerne s second wooden bridge, the Mill Bridge, was built ca. 1408. It boasts its own series of 17 th century paintings featuring the famous «Dance of Death» on 65 panels by Caspar Meglinger. The 800-meter-long Musegg Wall with its nine towers was built in 1400 after the Battle of Sempach and is nowadays considered one of the longest and best-preserved city rampart walls in Switzerland. The Dying Lion Monument created by the Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen is world-famous. It is dedicated to the memory of the Swiss mercenaries who were slaughtered while protecting the French monarch at the Tuileries in 1792. The Bourbaki Panorama is one of the few remaining monumental circular paintings in the world. In it, Edouard Castres depicts a moving scene from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71: General Bourbaki s defeated army crossing the border into Switzerland. Lucerne and tourism Lucerne remained a small medieval town until the end of the 18 th century, but with the beginning of tourism around 1830, it began to change and grow. River and lakeside promenades like the Jesuitenquai, Unter der Egg and the Schweizerhof Quay were built on landfills during the first half of the 19 th century. These were followed by the National Quay with the Casino. At the same time the Hof Bridge and a continuation of the rampart walls with over 40 towers and portals were demolished to open up the still-enclosed city. After 1875 the Musegg hill became built up. In the middle of the 19 th century 10,000 inhabitants lived on 57 hectares of land. By 1890 there were over 20,000 living on three times that area. Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War the city counted 40,000 inhabitants. Several large, lavish hotels had already been constructed before 1900, as well as other buildings for tourist purposes. The era of steamboats on the lake began in 1836, and from
page 4/7 1859 onwards Lucerne could be reached by railway. There was even a Swiss aeronautics base at Tribschen before World War I. The First World War and the Depression put Lucerne s tourist industry back a number of years. Nevertheless, the Art and Congress Centre designed by Armin Meili was opened in 1933 and in 1938 the first International Music Festival was held there. The Second World War brought another difficult period and, after the war ended, recovery took several years. American military personnel on vacation helped to get things started. In the fifties and sixties lodging nights increased continuously from 700,000 to 850,000. In the seventies they reached the million mark and surpassed it several times during the following decade. Tourism is a very important industry for Lucerne and the surrounding region, which ranks among the most popular destinations in the world. The economy of canton Lucerne derives a direct volume of business amounting to approximately CHF 1.5 billion and a direct added value of CHF 810 million per year through tourism. In terms of direct added value, tourism in canton Lucerne has roughly the same relevance as other industries, for example, the machine and electrical industries and the commercial banks (4.6% each). Incoming tourism contributes to approximately 12% of the total export-led added value. A total of approximately 8,600 full-time jobs in canton Lucerne are directly dependent on incoming and inland tourism. This corresponds to approximately 6% of the full-time employment (figures: 2005). Lucerne has approximately 1 million overnight stays per year and is visited by 4.5 to 5 million day guests every year. Americans, who comprise about 18% of all overnight stays, are an important market in the City of Lights. Among the European markets rank both Germany with 10% share of the market and Great Britain with 7.5% share of the market among the guests for overnight stays. Thanks to a sustainable marketing concept, Lucerne s Tourist Board has attained an above-average rate of growth nationally, with a constant increase during recent years. Asia, with about a 20% share of the overnight stays, has become an important market for Lucerne. However, Lucerne is not only popular among the guests from abroad. An increasing number of Swiss are spending their short vacations or planning their business trips in Lucerne. This results in a considerable share of the overnight stays: approximately 26% (figures: 2006).
page 5/7 Lucerne worth knowing Portrait of Lucerne Lucerne owes its fame to its uniquely picturesque location. Nestled among the foothills of the Alps, the city lies at the end of a lake that has been eternalised by poets and composers. An incredible panorama begins here which stretches from Mount Rigi to Mount Pilatus and, depending on the weather, season or time of day, sets dramatically different moods. Lucerne, with 60,000 inhabitants, is the eighth largest city in Switzerland. When the agglomeration is included, this figure triples. Lucerne is the capital of Central Switzerland due to its size, central location and economic potential. At the political level, Lucerne does not reserve any special right to govern because each of the four forest cantons has always had its own seat of government. Lucerne, the City of Lights Lucerne is often referred to as the City of Lights. The name goes back to a miracle of light said to have happened here. According to an old legend, an angel showed Lucerne s first settlers with a light where to build a chapel in honour of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of fishermen and sailors. City with a past In the Middle Ages, Lucerne was a mere fishing village that people scornfully referred to as a little wooden stork s nest. However, over the centuries it developed into a flourishing trade centre and its location on the Gotthard transit route led to an international exchange of commerce and culture. From the very beginning, Church and State determined the lives of Lucerne s citizens. Through lucrative contracts for the supply of mercenaries, the patricians managed to fill the city s treasury, as well as their own coffers. The impressive Lion Monument is a tribute to the services rendered by such mercenaries to a foreign power, commemorating their heroic but foolish defence of the French King Louis XVI. As faithful followers of the Pope, Lucerne s citizens have always stood up for the Roman Catholic faith. They were leaders of the Catholic regions and granted hospitality to the papal nuncio. The Jesuits helped shape the city s religious and political life from 1574 until their defeat in the Sonderbund war of 1847. Among other things, we have them to thank for the ornate Jesuit Church, the first sacred Baroque building in Switzerland.
page 6/7 The current political landscape may seem rather confusing. In the city there is a so-called «black» majority, while in the rest of the canton, there is a «red» majority. In Lucerne, «reds» are not socialists, but conservatives called Christians Democrats. The «blacks» are not conservatives, but liberals. The unusual colours originated from a constitutional assembly in 1841, in which those who voted for the constitution (conservatives) deposited their ballots in a red box and those against (liberals), had to put theirs in a black box. City of bridges and towers The two medieval covered wooden bridges that connect the old and new parts of town are main focal points of Lucerne. The Chapel Bridge spans the River Reuss near the end of the lake. It was built shortly after the Water Tower (approx. 1300), to which it is connected. The sturdy octagonal Water Tower, Lucerne s landmark, has served several purposes during its history: archives, a place to store captured loot, a treasury, a jail and a torture chamber. In 1408 the Mill Bridge was built below the city mills as a connection between the two lower ends of town. The name originates from the ruling that leaves and wheat chaff were only to be thrown into the river from this bridge. The two bridges were not built with pedestrians in mind but as part of the city fortifications. They closed the gap in the line of city walls over the water. In the 17 th century both bridges were adorned with triangular paintings, which were attached to the roof framework. The Chapel Bridge paintings are scenes of Swiss and city history and from legends of the two city patrons St. Leodegar and St. Mauritius. The Mill Bridge has a series of paintings on the theme of the «Dance of Death». Up until the 19 th century there was one more covered wooden bridge which connected the cathedral area with the main city. This oldest and longest of the three footbridges had to make way for the new Schweizerhof Quay. Another trademark of the «City of Lights» is the Musegg Wall that apart from one tower has been preserved in its original state. It belongs to the medieval fortifications that were completed in 1408. Nowadays a walk along these walls is a popular attraction. The Schirmer, Zyt and Männli Towers may be climbed, and from above there is a beautiful panoramic view over the city and countryside. The oldest clock in town is mounted on the Zyt Tower and it can be seen from a great distance. Lucerne s respect for its past can be witnessed in this clock s privilege to chime one minute before all the others. Also typical of Lucerne is the way the Musegg Wall, the Town Hall and the Water Tower are used and maintained. The majority of these premises are rented for a modest fee to clubs and societies such as the Safran and Wey Guilds. These organizations, in return, have
page 7/7 maintained the towers voluntarily and with private means and annually hold open house for the public. City of art and culture On the afternoon of August 25, 1938, Arturo Toscanini conducted Richard Wagner s Siegfried Idyll in the park at Tribschen before an audience of 1,200 people. The music and venue had been specially chosen, because it was at his country house in Tribschen that Wagner enjoyed the happiest and most fruitful period of his life. It was here that he composed Siegfried Idyll as a serenade to his wife Cosima upon the birth of their son. Toscanini s concert inaugurated the Lucerne Festival (formerly known as the International Music Festival of Lucerne). Since then, music lovers from all over the world are drawn to Lucerne every year. But Lucerne is also famed for its three-discipline theatre, which produces sophisticated plays, operas and ballets on a shoe-string budget. It is no coincidence that the Lucerne Theatre often serves as a springboard for talented young artists. Lucerne also has a dynamic art scene. The art museum inside the Culture and Convention Center Lucerne puts on temporary displays of the latest exhibits of modern painting and plastics. At the same time it remains true to its principle of being a collection of modern Swiss art. Visitors who prefer 19 th century art will enjoy a visit to the Bourbaki Panorama. A large-scale circular pointing round by Edouard Castres shows the army of General Bourbaki crossing the border at Les Verrières during the Franco-Prussian War. Visitors to the elegant old Am-Rhyn House near the Town Hall will find an unexpected gem of contemporary art in the form of a collection of works from Picasso s later period. This was a generous gift to the city of Lucerne from Picasso s friend, the art dealer Siegfried Rosengart. In addition, since March 2002 the Rosengart Collection has displayed some 200 paintings and drawings by over twenty famous masters of the 19 th and 20 th centuries. Apart from traditional art, there is also an interesting cabaret scene in Lucerne. One very popular venue is the Kleintheater, founded by the famous Emil (Steinberger). Another annual cultural event is the Carnival. The people of Lucerne have Carnival in their blood. On Carnival Thursday, carnival fever breaks out in full force, holding the city under its spell for a week, finally ending in the early hours of Ash Wednesday. The Guugenmusigen (groups of Carnival musicians in spectacular costumes) are a typical and important part of the traditional Lucerne Carnival. On the last day of Carnival they congregate for a fantastic monster concert and then parade through the old town.