Highlights in Luzern

Lucerne traces its roots directly to St. Leodegar monastery, a small Benedictine cloister founded in 735. Over the centuries a community developed, stretching along the Reuss River from the monastery to a nearby feudal settlement. In spite of Lucerne's 8th-century beginnings, historians regard 1178 as the city's birth date, when the parish was officially transferred from the monastery to the city.

The Middle Ages were a time of rapid growth for Lucerne, both in terms of religion and trade. The Franciscan monastic community, first mentioned in Lucerne's 13th-century archives, founded what is considered the finest Gothic church in Central Switzerland. The Town Council made regular use of the church for council meetings, legal business and elections during the 14th and 15th centuries.

The Water Tower and the Chapel Bridge, two of Lucerne's most important symbols, were built about the same time period. The Chapel Bridge, the oldest in Europe, and its mate, the Spreuer Bridge, were adorned with 17th-century paintings (many of them religious) on panels under their eaves. Both wooden bridges and the octagonal Water Tower formed part of Lucerne's city fortifications, as did the 800-meter-long Musegg Wall built in 1400, one of the longest and best-preserved ramparts in Switzerland. Pope Julius II honored Lucerne and nearby Zürich in 1506, selecting the elite Swiss Guard from among these cities' tough mercenaries. And the Weinmarkt, the loveliest of Lucerne's fountain squares, drew visitors from throughout Europe from the 15th-17th centuries with its popular passion plays.

But the 16th century was also a tumultuous one for Lucerne. With the growth of Protestantism in the country, Lucerne became the leader of the Catholic states, who held their own diets in the city. Church and city leaders grew eager to carry out the recommendations of the Council of Trent (1545-1563): to educate priests, to reduce the citizenry's superstitious practices, and to stamp out the vices of avarice, gluttony and adultery. Led and financed by Lucerne's mayor Ludwig Pfyffer, Lucerne invited the Jesuits into the city, thus beginning the Counter Reformation in Switzerland. The Papal Swiss Guard and its commander Jost Segesser acted as intermediaries. In 1666 the Jesuit Church was begun and completed in only 11 years.

Although Switzerland's tradition of nurturing skilled mercenaries earned the country status and prized positions as papal bodyguards, the practice ironically led to Switzerland's political neutrality. The Swiss tired of seeing their young men die in other nations' wars-including, famously, while protecting French King Louis XVI in 1792-and outlawed the practice in the mid 19th-century. Lucerne's Dying Lion Monument created by the Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen is dedicated to the memory of the Swiss mercenaries who died protecting the French monarch.

Nicholas von Flüe

Switzerland's beloved patron saint-and the only Swiss-born saint-lived in the 15th century in a quiet river gorge near Lucerne. Commonly called "Brother Klaus," he began his life as a successful farmer, town councilor and husband. But at 50 Nicholas felt God's pull toward a life of seclusion. With the support of his wife and 10 children, Brother Klaus became a hermit. He lived out his remaining years as a sound source of spiritual counsel and as a skillful arbitrator of political disputes. He helped avert civil war thanks to his negotiation of the Treaty of Stans in 1481, and he settled disputes involving the cloister Klingental in Basel (1482) and between the town of Constance and the Swiss Confederacy (1482). When he died in 1487 St. Nicholas had earned a reputation as a peacemaker and the respect of Catholics and Protestants alike. Several sites related to his life are active pilgrimage sites, including his home and retreat in Flüeli and his grave in Sachseln. Brother Klaus' beloved prayer also remains popular: My Lord and my God, take everything from me that keeps me from Thee./My Lord and my God, give everything to me that brings me near to Thee./My Lord and my God, take me away from myself and give me completely to Thee.

Abbey of Einsiedeln

In 828 Meinrad, a Benedictine monk from Lake Constance, withdrew as a hermit to a secluded mountain valley east of Lucerne. There Meinrad lived and prayed in solitude until 861, when he was killed by bandits. St. Meinrad's retreat forms the core of the monastery at Einsiedeln. Set on the location of St. Meinrad's retreat, Einsiedeln (which means "hermitage") has attracted the devout for over 1000 years. Eberhart became the first abbot of the community under Benedictine Rule in the 10th century. Pilgrimage to the monastery began no later than the 14th century, when the monastery acquired the Black Madonna, an icon so named for the black candle smoke that colors her skin and the infant Jesus. The Black Madonna is usually clothed in elaborate attire and resides in the Lady Chapel, which rests over the site of St. Meinrad's cell. The chapel in turn resides within the nave of the baroque Abbey Church.
Huldrych Zwingli, leader of the Swiss Reformation, served briefly as a priest at Einsiedeln in the early 16th century. After being convinced by Martin Luther's writings, Zwingli moved to Zürich where he persuaded thousands to join the Protestant Reformation.