- English:
- Chapel Bridge
Kapellbrücke
What is the Kapellbrücke?
When was the Kapellbrücke likely built?
What do the paintings on the Kapellbrücke depict?
Kapellbrücke, covered wooden pedestrian truss bridge in Lucerne, Switzerland, crossing the Reuss River. The majority of it was destroyed by fire in 1993 and subsequently rebuilt. Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), named for St. Peter’s Chapel close to the bridge on the northern bank of the Reuss, is considered one of Lucerne’s most prominent landmarks and is among Switzerland’s top tourist attractions.
A truss bridge has load-bearing structures made of a series of wooden or metal triangles known as trusses. Since triangles cannot easily be distorted by stress, a truss gives a stable form to support considerable loads on the deck of such a bridge.
The Kapellbrücke is 673 feet (205 meters) long. It extends from the southern bank of the Reuss before taking a diagonal path northeastward, passing the famous Wasserturm (Water Tower), and then angling back due north to connect to the northern bank of the river. It is one of several bridges in Lucerne crossing the Reuss.
History
The Kapellbrücke was likely built in 1333, though some sources suggest it was constructed closer to 1360. The first recorded mention of the bridge is dated to 1367. The nearby Wasserturm predates it by at least 100 years, having been built some time after 1262, likely under Berthold von Steinbrunn, abbot of Murbach, who had become ruler of the region and is believed to have undertaken the challenging project to awe his subjects and assert his power.
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Beyond being a footbridge, the Kapellbrücke was part of Lucerne’s fortifications, hence its winding path across the Reuss and the high parapets that line the side of the bridge facing southeast toward Lake Lucerne. The Kapellbrücke has been shortened several times throughout its history. In 1833 it was shortened from its original length of 915 feet (279 meters). It was shortened again by the construction of embankments in 1835 or 1836 and in 1838. In 1898 the construction of a promenade along the Reuss, the Rathausquai (Town Hall Quay), shortened the bridge nearly 50 feet (15 meters), leaving it at its modern length. About this time it was rumored that the bridge might be demolished altogether, having become redundant upon the construction of the new Rathaussteg footbridge. Locals and tourists, especially the numerous English tourists who visited the site at the time, vehemently opposed the bridge’s destruction, and so it was left standing. In 1913 it was deemed a national monument by the Swiss government. The bridge as a whole was kept intact even as large sections were replaced and rebuilt from the 1930s to 1969.
In the early hours of August 18, 1993, a fire spread across the Kapellbrücke and destroyed two-thirds of the structure. The blaze had broken out on one of the boats docked at the landmark and spread quickly. Though the cause of the fire is still unknown, it is suggested that it began with a discarded matchstick or cigarette. On the day of the disaster the Lucerne city council ordered that the landmark be rebuilt in full. A mostly new Kapellbrücke was completed on April 14, 1994, about eight months after the fire—with updated fire protections, such as numerous fire alarms and a heat cable. After the reconstruction the Kapellbrücke ran from the Luzerner Theater (Lucerne Theater) on the river’s southern bank to connect with the Rathausquai on the northern bank.
Paintings
The Kapellbrücke is one of three of Lucerne’s bridges to have been decorated with triangular paintings tucked under the bridges’ roofs. The other two are the now-dismantled Hofbrücke (Court Bridge), the longest and oldest bridge in the city until it was taken apart in the 19th century, and the smaller, 15th-century Spreuerbrücke (Chaff Bridge), which connects the Mühlenplatz (Mill Square) on the northern bank of the Reuss with Pfistergasse (the baker’s quarter) on the southern bank.
The Kapellbrücke’s paintings were likely commissioned in the early 17th century. Lucerne’s city council started commissioning paintings to be put in the gables of the city’s bridges—where they would be protected from the elements—in the 1550s. While some of the paintings were directly paid for by the city, most were paid for by prominent Lucerne families whose names and crests are still visible along the bottom of the artworks. Many of the Kapellbrücke’s remaining gable paintings depict the city’s patron saints, St. Leger and St. Maurice. Others depict stories and images from a politically turbulent era, during a period of political consolidation within the old Swiss Confederation. There are also city landscapes, civic milestones, Germanic myths, and biblical scenes. It is assumed that much of the painting was done by Hans Heinrich Wägmann, a prominent local painter.
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In 1741, when the Reuss flooded and part of the Kapellbrücke collapsed, some of the 158 paintings on the bridge fell with it into the river. The fire that destroyed much of the original bridge structure in 1993 also destroyed 86 of the remaining 111 paintings.