6 Hidden Gems in Lucerne, Switzerland
Six spots that most visitors who make it to the Chapel Bridge and the Lion Monument still skip.
1. The Spreuerbrücke’s original “Dance of Death” panels
Lucerne’s second covered bridge over the Reuss escaped the 1993 fire that hit its famous neighbor, and it still carries its original artwork, 67 triangular panels painted by Kaspar Meglinger between 1616 and 1637, depicting Death mingling with people of every social class. It’s considered the most extensive publicly accessible Dance of Death cycle surviving today, and it’s genuinely quiet compared to the crowds on the Chapel Bridge a short walk away.
2. The Musegg Wall’s towers, free and mostly skipped
The 870-meter medieval wall above the Old Town has 9 towers, several open to climb for free, roughly April through November. Most day-trippers never make it up here, which means an elevated, uncrowded view over the Old Town and the lake for the cost of a set of narrow wooden stairs.
3. The Richard Wagner Museum at Tribschen
A 15th-century manor on the Tribschen peninsula where Wagner lived from 1866 to 1872, financially supported by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Here he completed Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Siegfried and composed the Siegfried Idyll, first performed on the manor’s staircase on Christmas morning 1870 as a birthday surprise for his wife Cosima. The lakeside peninsula setting is worth the trip on its own.
4. The Bourbaki Panorama
A giant 360-degree circular painting, 10 meters tall and 112 meters in circumference, completed in 1881, depicting the internment of roughly 87,000 defeated French troops in neutral Switzerland at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, an early, powerful piece of Swiss humanitarian history. 3D props in front of the painting blur the line between art and scene.
5. The Hans Erni Museum, inside the transport museum
Tucked inside the Swiss Museum of Transport, this dedicated gallery for Lucerne-born artist Hans Erni (1909-2015, died at 106) gets overlooked by visitors who came only for the trains and planes.
6. The Rosengart Collection
Lucerne’s newest major museum, opened in 2002 in a former Swiss National Bank building, a 5-minute walk from the station. Built from the private collection of art dealer Siegfried Rosengart and his daughter Angela, it holds 47 works by Picasso and 120 by Paul Klee, including five Picasso portraits of Angela Rosengart done from life.