Top 10 Facts about the Chapel Bridge in Switzerland

Top 10 Facts about the Chapel Bridge in Switzerland

Known locally as Kapellbrücke or Chapel Bridge, is a massive wooden bridge that is 204 meters long. It is located on the Reuss River in Lucerne City Switzerland.

This bridge is a major tourist spot in the country as well as being one of Europe’s oldest wooden bridge. it is a link between the Old town and the New town.

Its water tower cannot be left out because together they form a beautiful landscape. The bridge was named after St. Peter’s Chapel that is nearby.

There are beautiful paintings and views to enjoy while crossing this bridge.

As you plan your next trip to this fairytale-like country, here are the top 10 facts about this bridge that will make you visit the City of Lucerne.

1. This bridge was built in the 14^th century

Still standing strong and firm, the Chapel Bridge was built in 1333. The main reason for its construction was to protect the city of Lucerne from their enemies.

To keep those crossing entertained, there were several paintings dating back to the 17^th century on the bridge.

It connected the old town which is on the right bank of the Reuss river to the new town on the left bank. This protected them from attacks from the south.

The original length of the bridge was 890 feet long. However, with reconstruction that has occurred during the years has shortened it to 675 feet long.

Being one of the oldest wooden bridge in the world, it still has its strutted and triangulated trusses as well as piled trestles.

It is the oldest covered bridge in Europe, dating back to the 14th century.

2. The bridge connects the Old Town to the New Town

By Simon Koopmann – Wikimedia

The Chapel Bridge allows pedestrians to walk to and from the Old Town to New Town with ease. It also allows one to enjoy a leisurely walk while admiring art from the 17^th century.

Today, pedestrians can get to Lucerne theatre on the south end to St. Peter’s Chapel.   

3. The Tower was there before the bridge was built

While walking to either side of the bridge, one feature one cannot miss is the Water tower. This tower was built about 30 years before the bridge.

Its octagon shape makes it unique and its sides are about 5 metres long. The Tower is 34 metres long and 39 metres wide.

During the time of its construction, the tower was used as a lookout post for incoming and outgoing boats.

It has also served different purposes over the years such as being a prison, torture chamber, a municipal archive subsequently, it served as a local treasury. The tower is closed to the public.

4. The Tower was used as the town’s archive

By John Ruskin – Wikimedia

Other than the above-mentioned purposes, the Tower on Chape Bridge was used as an archive on several occasions from the 14th century.

It as until 1919 when they moved the town’s archives out of the tower. They made it the treasury and a place to store stolen war treasures.

The room that used to be the armoury, is today used as an exhibition area for weaponry by the Artillery Association.

5. The Tower served as a prison too

Prisoners held in this Water Tower were made to sit on a toggle that lowered them to the dungeon. They would only go up once their sentence was over.

6. A fire destroyed the wooden bridge

By Yinch – Wikimedia

Being a wooden bridge, a hazard that it faced was a fire. They had managed to treat the wood well enough to protect it from rotting.

Chapel Bridge got destroyed by fire in 1993 and about a half of the bridge was burnt.

That was not all, original paintings that were on the bridge got destroyed in the process. It took firefighters about 11 hours completely put off the fire.

The government took up to renovate the bridge maintaining its 14th-century design.

They also put back some of the original paintings that were salvaged from the fire. One can notice a few of the paintings with burnt edges.

Before the fire, boats were allowed to cross under the bridge, this was stopped after the fire.

Nevertheless, after the fire parking boats under the bridge was banned.

7. Some of the paintings were destroyed by fire

There was a total of 158 paintings on Chapel Bridge before the 1993 fire. Unfortunately, only 25 paintings were saved from the fire. Some of them restored.

The city had safely stored some of the paintings since the 19^th century, these can be found on the bridge too. 

These paintings and pictures get replaced during the carnival season. They display the works of modern artists while saving the old paintings from being vandalized by carnival-goers.

8. The interior of the bridge was painted for entertainment purposes

By User:MatthiasKabel – Wikimedia

The triangular frames on Chapel Bridge had paintings on them. This was and remains to be a unique feature in all of Europe’s wooden bridges.

Hans Heinrich Wagmann was a local Catholic painter who used his talent to tell historical events of Lucerne.

The original paintings on the bridge were 158, before the 1993 fire there were 147. This number quickly went down to 47, 25 of which were restored.

These paintings were created during the Counter-Reformation, featuring scenes promoting the Catholic Church.

The city’s council members sponsored the paintings and were allowed to feature their personal coat of arms on it.

Each of the paintings had a brief explanation of the scene at the bottom.

9. The Chapel Bridge is the oldest covered bridge in Europe

By Simon Koopmann – Wikimedia

Other than being the longest and oldest surviving bridge in Europe, another first about this bridge is that it is also Europe’s oldest covered bridge.

The bridge, whose function was used as a fort, was constructed in 1332. It contains not only the history of the city but also memoirs of the city’s patrons, St. Leodegar and St. Maurice.   

10. A watchman was employed to keep watch on the paintings

To protect the paintings from being stolen or vandalized, a night watchman was employed by the city in 1726.

Rowdy youths were fond of going to the bridge at the dead of the night defacing the paintings. Most of the damaged paintings were restored in 1646.