Kapellbrücke and Wasserturm

The Kapellbrücke, or Chapel Bridge, is a covered wooden footbridge that crosses the Reuss river diagonally at the edge of Lucerne's Old Town in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. It dates to the early 14th century, around 1333, when it was built as part of the city's fortifications, linking the Old Town on the right bank with the area around the Hofkirche and the lake. It is named after the nearby Peterskapelle. The octagonal Wasserturm, or water tower, is older than the bridge and stands in the river beside it. Over the centuries the tower served as a prison and torture chamber, a treasury and an archive, and it was never a lighthouse despite the name, which comes from the Latin lucerna. The bridge is roughly 200 metres long today, shorter than the original because sections were removed as the riverbank was filled in during the 19th century. Its interior roof beams carry a series of triangular gable paintings from the 17th century, commissioned by the city council and depicting scenes from Lucerne and Swiss history and the lives of the patron saints Leodegar and Mauritius. On the night of 18 August 1993 a fire, thought to have been started by a discarded cigarette on a moored boat, destroyed most of the bridge and about two thirds of the painted panels. The Wasserturm survived with its masonry intact. The bridge was rebuilt using traditional timber construction and reopened in April 1994; the surviving paintings were restored, and the lost panels were replaced by black-and-white copies that are visibly distinct from the originals. The structure is therefore a reconstruction on the medieval plan rather than original timber, although the tower and the remaining paintings are authentic. The curatorial approach is informal and open-air: visitors walk through at any hour and read the panels in sequence, with the tower exterior best seen from the quay. The site is among the most photographed in Switzerland and is protected as a Swiss heritage site.