Musegg wall
The Musegg Wall with the Musegg Towers is a landmark of the city of Lucerne and, together with the water tower and Chapel Bridge, defines the city's historic appearance. It is part of the city fortifications of the city of Lucerne.
history
A fortification of the city is indirectly mentioned as early as 1226 and 1238, but this is not about the Musegg Wall, but the older, inner wall ring of the city. With the help of dendrochronology , archaeological building studies in recent years have shown that the construction of the Musegg Wall began around 1370 at the latest (Luegisland Tower). The construction work continued with interruptions for decades and extended well into the 15th century (Schirmer tower around 1420, Zytturm around 1442). The settlement of 1408 contained in the Lucerne Citizens Register for construction work a. a. at the Musegg wall - seen in older research as the final account and thus the date of the completion of the Musegg wall - is certainly only an interim calculation. The thesis that the construction of the Musegg wall is related to the battle of Sempach in 1386 is unfounded.
Between 1833 and 1856, most of the fortifications were gradually razed, as these were in the way of the increasing traffic and a town without medieval fortifications was more beautiful in the opinion of the local assembly at the time. The former south-western part of the city fortifications on the left bank of the Reuss consisted of the high Litzimauer wall with the moat (later Hirschengraben) and the fortifications (from west to east) Judenturm, Baslertor (also called Untertor or earlier Niedertor), the break tower with break gate, the Kessler or Kesselturm, the Oberturm (formerly Ketzerturm) with Obertor, Kriensertor, the Kropfturm with the Moos or Kropftor and the Frauenturm. The old northern wall within the Musegg has also disappeared with the Mühletor in the west on the Reuss, the Graggentor, the inner Weggistor, the Rosengartentor, the Lederturm and the Baghardsturm at the eastern end at the mouth of the lake. The Musegg wall with its towers, on the other hand, did not obstruct the flow of traffic due to its location on the Bramberg and was thus largely preserved.
The Association for the Preservation of the Musegg Wall was founded in 2002 and the foundation of the same name in 2003. They campaigned for a comprehensive restoration of the wall, which was carried out from 2003 to 2015 for 12 million Swiss francs.
Origin of name
One interpretation says that Musegg comes from the word Mus , Swiss German for view and lookout point , from the verb musen "to look out". The Swiss Idioticon assumes an origin from the Low German muserie , mushus = armory, armory; from mus = mesh or ring of chain mail. These approaches are discarded in the ortsnames.ch portal of Swiss place name research. Rather, the name is traced back to the appellative muus (for mouse ) and egg (for corner , paragraph ) and thus “a corridor with lots of mice in an off-road area” or “in a small, mouse-like area”. This fits in with the statement that the wall is named after the Musegg hill on which it was built.
Musegg wall
The Musegg wall is still completely preserved, with the exception of the easternmost lost part of 40 meters and measures 870 meters in length. It is on average 1.5 meters thick; the height varies depending on the terrain, but averages around 9 meters. An uncovered parapet walk extends behind its crenellated crown . The battlements rise above an outwardly protruding brick, irregular round arch frieze with angular and rounded consoles. The wall owns or has had different gates.
Musegg towers
All, with the exception of the Nölliturm, which was replaced in the 16th century, stand in front of the wall. They were originally shell towers, that is, open towards the city. Only the Luegisland has retained this shape; the roof tower was closed in the 18th century, the other towers in the 15th century. The towers, with the exception of the Luegisland, had no roof structures, but a pent roof sloping towards the east within the pinnacle crown. Only the Männliturm has preserved this; The Zytturm, Schirmerturm and Dächliturm were given roof structures before 1513, the other towers before 1597. The internal structure of the towers is made of wood. From the top floor, a stone staircase partially sunk into the western wall leads to the stone-paved battlement. In several towers there are wooden, rotating elevator booms (cranes) and round trips (rotating pillars) for the transport of building materials.
Nölliturm
The Nölliturm is a round stone boss on the banks of the Reuss. It was built in 1513. A gate tower already stood in front of it at this point. Today's road breakthrough was created in 1901. The Nölliturm is the home of the saffron guild and houses the guild room and archive. The somewhat massive tower has a height of 28 m.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 '11.71 " N , 8 ° 17' 58.21" O
Männliturm
The “iron man”, a figure with a standard, can be recognized far out in the country. It is the second tower in the rising rock ridge and is open to the public. Measured from the ground to the pinnacle, its height is 33 m.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 12.73 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 2.82 ″ E
Luegisland
The tower has an old popular name. Its high, pointed roof shows a wind swirl from left to right. With its height of 52.6 m, the tower is the highest of the nine brothers and the only one that is open to the city. According to archaeological studies, the tower was built around or shortly after 1367 together with the Musegg wall on both sides.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 13.8 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 7.7 ″ E
Heuturm / watchtower
It takes its name from the hay that was once brought in here. At that time, gunpowder was also supplied behind its thick walls. A lightning strike in 1701 detonated 350 quintals of powder and blew up the tower. Great damage was done by the rocks falling over the city. Even people were killed in the explosion. The rebuilt tower is 44 m high.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 14.72 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 11.44 ″ E
Zytturm
The name says it all, this tower is equipped with a clock. This clock was built by Hans Luterer in 1535 and is still in use. The dial with the numbers is so big that the fishermen on the lake could read the time. The bell belonging to the clock indicates the time 1 minute before the town hall clock. The Lucerne painters Schobinger and Schmidiger renewed the frescoes on the tower at the beginning of this century. Since April 2012 there has been an exhibition of historical tower clocks in the Zytturm, which is maintained by the "Verein Turmuhren Luzern". The height of the Zytturm, which is open to the public, is 31 m.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 15.94 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 16.12 ″ E
Schirmer Tower
At the Schirmer Tower, the gate of the same name leads from the city out into the country. Cities were once a closed unit within their walls. That also applied to Lucerne. Whoever stepped through the Schirmer Gate was in the country. Apart from the widely scattered farmhouses, there was no building to be seen. The Schirmer Tower placed in front of the Musegg Wall is a plastered quarry stone building with embossed corner cuboids. As with other towers, it shows a round arch frieze with protruding consoles. A low pyramid roof lies on top of the battlements. The tower is open to the public. Its height is 27.5 m.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 17.15 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 20.13 ″ E
Powder tower
As a precaution, the city-state of Lucerne had stored the gunpowder in two towers. If, as in 1701 with the Heuturm, an accident happened, half of the powder in the other tower was secured. The Powder Tower is one of the oldest buildings on the Musegg. It was built up from a "stone house". It also measures 27.5 m in height. The Weyzunft repaired the Powder Tower by labor and needs it as a guild hall.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 18.19 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 23.36 ″ E
Allenwind Tower
The Allen wind tower and the lower roof tower are no longer towering in the maze of houses on the Musegg. The tower is also called the Holdermeyerturm after a former Säckelmeister. It is 1.8 m thick and is one of the former shell towers. The Allenwindenturm has been used since 1972 by the "Tambourenverein der Stadt Luzern" (lower half) and the "Vereinigung Luzerner Maskenfreunde" (upper half) as a club bar.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 18.89 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 26.78 ″ E
Roof tower
The last of the nine towers, the Dächliturm, is also known as the Chutzenturm. It's the smallest on the entire Musegg line. Its pyramid roof is striking and should be older than most of the roofs of the other towers. The Swiss Association of Master Carpenters - Lucerne Section has had its club room in the tower since 1936.
Geographical location: 47 ° 3 ′ 18.33 ″ N , 8 ° 18 ′ 32.2 ″ E
literature
- Jürg Manser et al .: The Musegg Wall. Nine towers over the city of Lucerne. Ed .: Association & Foundation for the Preservation of the Musegg Wall, 2012, ISBN 978-3-033-03532-4
Web links
- Musegg Wall , Association for the Preservation of the Musegg Wall
- Castle world
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lucerne's Musegg wall is tight again , radio broadcast by SRF 1 on August 21, 2015
- ↑ Lucerne city wall restored for 12 million , article in the Neue Luzerner Zeitung of August 21, 2015, as well as special supplement Die Museggmauer in Central Switzerland on Sunday of August 23, 2015
- ↑ Erika Waser: Lucerne name book (one) 1. Entlebuch. The place and field names of the Entlebuch office (part 2): MZ. Hitzkirch 1996. p. 708
- ↑ Alfred Helfenstein: The Namengut Pilate territory. Keller, Luzern 1982, ISBN 3-85766-004-X , p. 27.
- ↑ Article Mûsegg in: Schweizerisches Idiotikon Vol. I, Sp. 157 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Musegg. Courtyards on a small ledge. Entry in ortsnames.ch, the portal for Swiss place name research, accessed on July 4, 2019
- ↑ Beat Fischer (former President of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Musegg Wall) in Small Documentation on the Musegg Wall , video on Youtube, 4:16 min.
- ↑ Exhibition of historical tower clocks in the Zytturm .
Map with all coordinates: