LUCERNE
MUSEGG WALL & TOWERS
Climb the Medieval City Ramparts
I
admit it, I like castles and things medieval. What else does one go
to Europe for,
the cheese? On a visit to Lucerne, wandering the
streets of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities it is hard to
miss the stone towers visible above the old village. I said to a local
friend that I’d like to go up to the castle. I was rebuked – and
told Lucerne doesn’t have a castle – but the city does
have a wall, to which the towers belong.
The
Musegg Wall, the ancient rampart which protected the city in the middle-ages
from attack from
the northwest. Lucerne built its wall in 1386 after defeating the
Habsburg Duke Leopold III in the Battle of Sempach for the independence
of the
old Swiss Confederation consisting mostly of the lands around Lake
Lucerne, Lucerne, Uri and Schwyz. The battle over the little town
of Sempach on the Ruess River is known for the taunt of the Lucerne
defenders
to the Austrians who were burning the village’s wheat fields
outside the gates “For that - we’ll serve you breakfast!” brandishing
their pikes and halbards.
The
rampart walls are almost fully intact with nine stone towers
looking out
over the old town and the lake. Three of the towers can be climbed
for incredible views, and quite remarkably, although the old town crowds
up below the city side of the wall, behind it is open green parkland
as if the city just stops at the wall. Exploring the rampart walls
of Lucerne requires a bit of a hike up the hill through the Altstadt,
not to mention climbing the towers. Three of the towers are accessible
- the Schirmer Tower at the top of the hill with a gate through the
wall to the park beyond, the Zyt Tower (Time Tower) which gets its
name from the clock designed by local glockenmeister Hans Luter, added
in 1535 with a face and hands large enough for boatmen to spot from
the lake and a chime which still rings one minute before all the other
clocks in the city, and the Mannli (Little Man), 
is named for the little
iron man who stands atop. Duck into narrow passage entrances and up
wooden stairs to imagine attack from marauding armies. There are a
couple of routes to the walls.from the river past the Weinmarkt starting
at the traffic gate Nolli Tower or from the center of the old city
past the Lucerne Lion and Glacier garden (see Lucerne Glacier
Garden).
The view from the wall looks out over the roof tops to the cruise boats
plying the waters of Lake Lucerne with a view all the way to Mt Rigi
(see Mt
Rigi Cog Rail) and the southern Alps beyond in one direction
and the dominant peak of Mt Pilatus in the other (see Mt
Pilatus Aerial Cable).
The Lucerne Musegg Wall and Towers are free to explore and open from
May to October. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Lucerne
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may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
SEE
ALSO:
SWISS
TRANSPORT MUSEUM LUCERNE
HOTEL PILATUS KULM - MOUNTAIN TOP HOTEL
NEW YEAR’S DAY FIREWORKS - LUCERNE
SWISS MUSEUM OF TRANSPORT LUCERNE
