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LUZERN |
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An hour south of Basel and Zürich is beautiful LUZERN (Lucerne in
French), offering captivating mountain views, lake cruises and a
picturesque medieval quarter. The giant Mount Pilatus rears up behind
the town, which is split by the River Reuss, flowing rapidly out of the
northwestern end of the oddly shaped Vierwaldstättersee ("Lake of the
Four Forest Cantons" or plain Lake Luzern). In the Middle Ages, the
communities dotted around the lake guarded the northern approaches to
the Gotthard Pass, the main route between northern and southern Europe.
When Habsburg overlords tried to encroach on their privileges, the
communities formed an alliance in 1291 at the lakeside Rütli Meadow
which was to prove the beginning of the Swiss Confederation. Luzern, as
the principal market town for the region, was drawn into the bond
shortly after. About this time in Altdorf, just around the lake, William
Tell shot the apple from his son's head; the Tell legend lies at the
core of Swiss national identity, and the semi-mystical
Vierwaldstättersee is the spiritual as well as the geographical centre
of the country.
Luzern was (and is) the main town of the region, and evidence of its
medieval prosperity is manifest in the frescoed facades of its charming
Old Town and the two surviving covered wooden bridges spanning the river,
both formerly part of the city's fortifications and both boasting unique
triangular paintings fixed to their roof-beams. In 1993, fire almost
destroyed the fourteenth-century Kapellbrücke , a dog-leg angled around
the squat mid-river Wasserturm ; it was reconstructed with facsimiles of
the roof-paintings (although a few charred originals remain) - check out
no. 31's William Tell. The Spreuerbrücke downstream is also worth a look
for its macabre "Dance of Death" paintings. The north bank is home to a
compact cluster of medieval houses, with Mühlenplatz, Weinmarkt,
Hirschenplatz and Kornmarkt forming an ensemble of cobbled, fountained
squares ringed by colourful facades. Next to the Renaissance town hall
on Kornmarkt is the Picasso Museum in Am Rhyn-Haus, Furrengasse 21,
containing a small fine-art collection supplemented by hundreds of
intimate photographs of the artist's later years (daily: April-Oct
10am-6pm; Nov-March 11am-1pm & 2-4pm; Sfr6). A few minutes west along
riverside St Karliquai brings you to the Nölliturm , a fortified gate
marking the southwestern extent of a lengthy stretch of the surviving
fourteenth-century town walls. Pass through the gate and head right up
the hill to gain access to the battlements (Easter-Sept daily 8am-7pm)
and their impressive views. Northeast of the Old Town is Löwenplatz,
overlooked by a circular building holding the Bourbaki Panorama , a
10x110m painting depicting the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, newly
revamped with audio effects (daily 9am-6pm; Sfr6; www.panorama-luzern.ch
). Just north of the square is the moving Löwendenkmal (Lion Memorial),
a dying beast hewn out of a cliff-face to commemorate the seven hundred
Swiss mercenaries killed by French revolutionaries in 1792 for defending
Louis XVI. Adjacent is the Gletschergarten (daily 9/10am-5/6pm; Nov-Feb
closed Mon; Sfr9; www.gletschergarten.ch ), a set of geological potholes
demonstrating Luzern's prehistoric subglacial existence which are
completely upstaged by a nightmarish century-old Mirror Maze in the same
complex.
A big reason to visit Luzern is the Verkehrshaus , 2km east of the
centre at Lidostrasse 5 (daily 9/10am-5/6pm; Sfr21, discounts with rail
passes; www.verkehrshaus.org ) - take bus #6 or #8 from the station, or
have a pleasant walk along the lakeside. The museum, inadequately
translated as the "Transport Museum", is a vast complex that could keep
you amused all day. It's packed with loads of hands-on technology
including videophones and fully equipped TV and radio studios, various
original space capsules, railway locomotives (including a walk-through
account of the digging of the Gotthard tunnel beneath the Alps,
dramatized with slides and soundtrack), aeroplanes, cable cars and more.
An incongruous highlight is an excellent museum housing the whimsical
and attractive works of the little-known Swiss artist Hans Erni .
Adjoining the complex is an IMAX cinema , with shows throughout the day
(Sfr16; joint admission with museum Sfr31; www.imax.ch ). The newest
attraction is a tethered helium balloon known as the Hiflyer , which can
lift thirty people up to a height of about 150m (daily 11am-5pm; Sfr20;
www.hiflyer.ch ).
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