Kapellbrücke

Geschichte

The Kapellbrücke is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss in the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland. Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel, the bridge is unique because it contains a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with a larger part of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire. Subsequently restored, the Kapellbrücke is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as well as the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. It serves as the city's symbol and as one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.HistoryAs part of the bridge complex, the Kapellbrücke includes the octagonal 34.5m tall (from ground) Wasserturm, which literally translates to "water tower". However, the tower is not a water tower in the usual sense, but the name comes from the fact that the tower is standing in the water. The tower predated the bridge by about 30 years. Throughout the centuries, the tower was variably used as a prison, torture chamber, and later a municipal archive. Today, the tower is closed to the public, although it houses a local artillery association as well as a tourist gift shop.The bridge itself was originally built 1365 as part of Lucerne's fortifications. It linked the old town on the right bank of the Reuss to the new town on the left bank, securing the town from attack from the south (i.e. from the lake). The bridge initially had a length of over, although due to numerous shortenings throughout the years and river bank replenishments, the bridge now totals only in length. It is the oldest surviving truss bridge in the world, consisting of strutted and triangulated trusses of moderate span, supported on piled trestles; as such, it is probably an evolution of the strutted bridge.