Curious Traveler

- A medieval mountain pass, a Belle Epoque vacation spot for the rich and famous, and some of the most stunning natural beauty in the world.

Today, we are taking you to get curious about Lucerne, Switzerland.

(upbeat gentle music) - [Christine] "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(swooshing) (soft ambient music) (gentle upbeat music) (upbeat guitar music) Named for a Benedictine Monastery, this Swiss city looks more like a medieval village frozen in time.

With nine towers, seven bridges, and one beautiful lake, Lucerne has so much to be curious about.

Lovely Lucerne is tucked into the Swiss Alps and on the edge of Lake Lucerne, and with its never-ending fairytale squares and giant colorful murals on every spare bit of wall, it is known for being one of the most picturesque cities in the country.

(upbeat guitar music) - Its history was shaped by Lake Lucerne and the Reuss River when a small fishing village developed here.

Today, the Reuss separates the Old Town from the new.

But, older than the Old Town and older than that fishing village, here at the Church of St. Leodegar, stood an old monastery, which dates back to at least the 8th century.

And that monastery was pretty important to this pretty city.

Why?

Well, because its name was Monasterium Luciaria, which means monastery of light.

And it's where we get the name Lucerne.

(upbeat guitar music) So here's what I'm curious about in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Who is this guy on top of this tower?

What does Pontius Pilate have to do with this mountain?

Where can you find a bunch of golden grapes, a butcher's knife, and Jesus turning water into wine?

Why does this bakery have a family tree painted on it?

When did this roof appear on this bridge?

And what are all these paintings underneath that roof?

And how in the curious world do you choose the perfect Swiss chocolate?

Who, what, where, why, when, and how?

So much to be curious about in Lucerne.

(vibrant music) - Our Curious exploration into Lucerne begins in its Old Town.

And in order to get to the Old Town from the new, you'll need to cross a bridge.

Luckily, Lucerne specializes in bridges, from the Spreuerbrucke built in 1407 to its floweriest, originally built in 1333.

This, of course, is the iconic Chapel Bridge and Water Tower, the symbol of the city.

In the 14th century, the Chapel Bridge was named after St. Peter's Chapel, which is just on the other side, over there, and it provided a beautiful covered walkway for townspeople to get from the town over to the church.

And today it is covered in these beautiful little flowers and is a beautiful way to experience Old Town.

But believe it or not, with all this beautiful covering and beautiful little flowers, the Chapel Bridge and the Water Tower, which was called the Watchtower, provided a military purpose as well.

That's because just over my shoulder here, that is Lake Lucerne.

And that Watchtower was the perfect lookout spot.

And that bridge was the perfect medieval wall just in case any bad guys tried to come in from the lake.

No bad guys here today, just plenty of gorgeous murals after mural after mural, adorning just about every available surface here in Old Town.

The history of murals in Lucerne and, in Switzerland, for that matter, is a long and pretty one, with each mural telling a different story.

The purpose or themes are everything from religious to political or to chronicling an important family or trade guild.

As we explore a few of my favorites, please note how I coordinated my outfit to match those murals.

(whimsical music) - Have you ever seen so much color?

This is the Weinmarkt, the oldest square here in Lucerne, and as you could probably guess by its name, it was originally a market that eventually specialized in only selling wine.

And around the square, it is surrounded by all these beautiful, colorful murals and plenty of those old shop signs that were created back when people couldn't read.

They could only see the signs, so they needed to be told where the shops were.

One good one is right here, that red one.

You can see that meat cleaver.

That told everybody that that is where the butcher was.

And if you look kind of a little bit further back, in gold there, you can see a bunch of grapes, of course, a tribute to the Weinmarkt.

Making our way around, you see this big green building and a religious scene.

This is a very creative way of telling the story of Jesus turning water into wine, which is perfect since, of course, we are in the Weinmarkt.

Let's make our way around here again.

A lot of the squares here have these beautiful ornate fountains, and this square is no different.

This particular square commemorates something very important for Lucerne.

It was the gathering once a year of Lucerne men of military age.

They had to bring their weapons to show that they were ready for battle, just in case.

But the good news is, today, we have no need of weapons.

In fact, I have one more really beautiful, colorful building to show you that's just around the corner.

(whimsical music) - And this is the old town hall and courthouse.

Isn't it gorgeous?

It dates back to at least the 13th century.

Way up at the top, can you see all those beautiful blue and yellow and white tiles?

And as you make your way down, there is a whole lot of mural to take in, telling all kinds of history.

Now, over the centuries, after it was a town hall and courthouse, it became the guild hall for the archers, which is why we see St. Sebastian on there.

He was the patron saint of archers.

And then as we make our way down, you can see all sorts of other imagery, including justice, holding the scales of justice, which actually brings us all the way to the modern-day, 'cause can you look closely there, at the entrance there, where those guys are walking?

Can you see the name of the hotel?

Hotel des Balances, as in balancing the scales of justice.

Next, from religious and civic histories told through pictures, we now visit a mural that commemorates the rich history of the traders and merchants that all helped to make Lucerne thrive.

Plus, I'm feeling a bit peckish.

Anyone seen a giant, golden pretzel around here?

This is the Zunfthaus zu Pfistern.

You're pretty impressed I got that right, aren't you?

This was the guild hall for the bakers back in the Middle Ages.

And just look at that incredible mural covering the entire side of the guild hall.

It's a family tree of sorts that really connects all of the different bakers and their families with those all-important family crests all throughout the centuries.

And today, it is still celebrating that bakery heritage because today, it's a restaurant.

So if you ever wanna find where that bakery guild hall was as you're wandering through Old Town simply look for the golden pretzel.

(bell dinging) (upbeat music) - All righty, carb needs refueled, let's investigate that Chapel Bridge a bit more now.

Because true to Lucerne style, every nook and cranny is decorated here.

So Chapel Bridge is pretty on the outside and even prettier on the inside.

Around the year 1600, somebody had a great idea.

They said, "Let's tell the history of Lucerne through paintings," so that's exactly what they did.

If you look up to the ceiling here, we have these triangular-shaped works of art, and each one tells a little bit different part of Lucerne's history.

So, this first one here might be my favorite.

This is about the mythological beast of the Wilde Mann, the founder of the city.

I'll tell you a little bit more about him in a minute.

Next, another painting with a slightly different theory of the city's origins.

This one, panel number four, is very important 'cause it's about the dedication of the Benedictine Monastery, which was actually here before the city ever existed.

That monastery, of course, was the Monasterium Luciaria, which gave the name of Lucerne to the city.

And finally, a painting with a stunning God's eye view of that pretty city.

This one is wonderful to see because it captures, in time, exactly what Lucerne looked like in the year 1600.

And if you look closely there, you can obviously see the lake and the river, and the most important part, the bridge.

So you're actually standing on the bridge while looking at the bridge and going back in time.

(upbeat music) - Next, let's exit the Chapel Bridge to get a sweeping, panoramic view of Old Town and the unique and precious architecture of Lucerne, and to get a better view of one of Lucerne most historic buildings.

In the heart of Old Town is its town hall and clock tower.

Built between 1602 and 1606, believe it or not, it is considered the new town hall.

That's because there's an even older town hall that was built in the 13th century.

This one has some really curious features to check out.

If you look along the rooftop here, can you see those four attic windows kind of sticking out?

(bell dinging) - Well, those served a very important purpose.

The fire watchman was lucky enough to live inside town hall, up in the roof, only if he did his job.

And that job was to look out those four windows to make sure that there wasn't a fire spreading throughout the mostly wooden town.

Last but not least, the architecture itself is fascinating.

The base of the building is actually an Italian Renaissance mansion style, but the rooftop is completely different.

That is more of a Swiss chalet, farmhouse style.

And that mixed together, of course, is the epitome of Switzerland.

(accordion music) That's right, Lucerne and Switzerland are a little bit French, a little bit Italian, and a little bit German.

To explain more about this lovely crossroads of cultures is art historian Dr. Eva Helfenstein.

- Mount Gotthard Pass, the direct connection into Italy, was opened around the year 1200.

And so, from a little place in the middle of nowhere, Lucerne became an important stop market on the way from Italy to Germany and the Netherlands.

- Many guild halls formed here for the traders and merchants, which explains that wonderful and tasty baker's guild we visited earlier.

But these gorgeous buildings along the river weren't all guild halls.

Many were private mansions, or more importantly to Lucerne history, hotels, for a very curious reason.

We're gonna jump ahead a few more centuries to the Grand Tour because even to this day, Lucerne is known as this amazing, you know, the place to summer for the social elite in a beautiful vacation spot.

But that goes back centuries.

- Yes, Lucerne, already in the 1800's, was a very prominent tourist spot, especially for the British nobility on the Grand Tour.

So that was a boom time for Lucerne and transformed the city quite a bit.

- [Christine] And that wealth from all those Belle Epoque tourists led to a new nickname for Lucerne, which goes back to its Italian influences.

- Where we are standing right now on this walkway, along the river, that was built in the 19th century, before the water came up right to the facades of the houses.

- Oh, wow.

- There were just the bridges and a lot of little boats going back and forth, so it was Little Venice.

- Oh, that's nice.

That makes a lot of sense.

- It does.

(water splattering) (church bells ringing) - But before Lucerne was the place to see and be seen by those Grand Tour visitors, medieval Lucerne had to protect itself from unwanted visitors.

So for that, we stroll along the Reuss for the perfect view of that Middle Age protection.

All throughout the Old Town, visitors like myself love looking at the colorful murals, and at the fountains, and at all the different architecture.

We have to remember to look up as well.

We have a very important medieval wall there called the Musegg Wall.

What does Musegg mean?

- That's a very good question because we are not 100% sure.

But we think that it comes from the medieval word musen, which means to watch out.

And indeed, that was the main function of a wall, a city wall like that.

- The original Musegg Wall was built around the year 1400 and stretched about a half mile long.

Fortunately, much of it remains, making it the longest stretch of a medieval city wall in all of Switzerland.

But it was actually built around another city wall.

Why two?

Well, the normal reason for two city walls would be for defense, right, or to encircle a growing city.

But in the case of lovely Lucerne, it was simply to show off.

The outer wall was known as the Crown Wall and was designed to impress from afar.

So, if you have a medieval city wall, the function of it is to watch out; you have to have some watch towers.

Now, there's nine.

We can see three or four of them right here.

- The very iconic one is, of course, the Mannliturm Tower, the tower with the little man, the statue that you see there.

- Oh, I see him there, and he's holding a flag.

- Exactly.

- He's the little man.

- We call everything little in Switzerland.

- Oh, that's cute.

- The Mannli.

- But at 6' 5", he's actually not all that little.

He is very proud, though, all decked out in his armor and holding his blue and white flag, which is the flag of the Canton of Lucerne.

And he's had some big responsibilities, too.

From the mid 19th century through WWII, the Swiss Army used the little man as an optical telegraph.

As smart and official looking as the little man is, there is another little fella who hangs out up here on the wall, too, who is a bit more, let's just say, on the natural looking side.

My favorite tower, I'm a little obsessed with the wonderful mythological symbol of the town, for the foundation of the town, the Wilde Mann.

He's on one of the important towers.

What is he doing, and why is he there on the tower?

- The Wilde Mann, big figure on the facade of the tower, is actually holding the shield with the coat of arms of the city of Lucerne.

- I love the Wilde Mann.

I'd like to meet him.

I don't know if he's walking around, hanging out in Lucerne anymore.

Actually, I do know where to find him, right here in Lucerne.

But first, we need to head outside the city walls and go way up high to explore the Mighty Alps and its curious legends.

(upbeat accordion music) - And to get there, we take one of the most unique train rides in the world.

In the mid-19th century, a Swiss engineer named Edward Locker had a dream.

He said, "I know what I wanna do.

I wanna build a nearly three-mile-long railway up Mount Pilatus."

People thought he was crazy, but he stuck to his guns, and he did it.

And to this day, the Pilatus Railway is the steepest cogwheel railway in the world.

In fact, his engineering, his ideas, were so amazing, they were featured in the 1889 World Expo in Paris.

And you know if it's good enough for the Parisians, it's good enough for everyone.

That's right, for more than 130 years, this incredible railway has carefully carried visitors from Alpnach below up to Mount Pilatus, with a gradient of 35% most of the time.

But certain spots are a 48% gradient.

Best just to lean back and not to fight gravity.

During the 30-minute climb, the Alpine scenery is spectacular at any time of year.

And my favorite part: these happy little Swiss cows with their little Swiss bells around their necks.

Do you think they know how cute they are?

Once at the top, there are views for miles.

On a clear day, you can see not only Lake Lucerne but a panoramic view of 73 Alpine peaks.

You might even catch your fellow curious travelers paragliding through the Alps or learning about the history and the importance of that trading route that cut right through the Alps.

In the early 13th century, a path was created across the top of the Alps to connect the Upper Rhine with Lombardy.

That path was called the St. Gotthard Pass, and it went right through Switzerland.

One of the trading spots along the way happened to be along a beautiful lake.

That trading spot later became the city of Lucerne.

That all-important St. Gotthard Pass was named for a German saint after a much-needed rest stop was established along the pass and named in his honor.

You can imagine you'd need a little spiritual help along a journey over these mountains.

But that's just the beginning of the inspirations and legends here, which have something to do with this symbol you see everywhere here on Mount Pilatus.

Yep, don't be too surprised if you see a dragon around here.

Yes, a dragon.

Local guide Severin Wallimann explains.

What is the legend of the dragon?

- There are actually different tales about dragons living here, but the most famous is that one time a guy from Lucerne went up here to the mountain and he fell into a cave, and he didn't came out of this cave.

And there were two dragons living in there.

And he had to stay the whole winter time during the winter in this cave with the dragons.

They feed him.

- Oh, they were nice dragons.

- Yeah, they were nice dragons.

And then, yeah, luckily.

And then, they even took him out in spring, took him out of the cave.

And he went back to Lucerne and told everybody about these dragons living here.

But the most time, the dragons are nice here at Mount Pilatus.

- I'm so glad because I love everything about Switzerland, especially the chocolate and the mountains.

And even the dragons are nice.

- Yes.

- Oh, good.

And there's yet another dragon's tale about a 15th-century farmer who claims he saw a dragon fly overhead and drop a stone or a dragon's egg onto Mount Pilatus.

That stone or egg, known as the Lucerne Dragon Stone, was believed to have magical powers of healing for centuries.

Today, it is proudly displayed in a Lucerne museum.

Yes, really.

Whether there's actually a baby dragon inside it is anyone's guess.

But believe it or not, these dragon's tales aren't the most curious legend about Mount Pilatus.

Okay, the next part.

I had no idea until I was researching before I came here the origin of the name Pilatus for the mountain.

Pontius Pilate?

- Yes, that's true.

- What in the world?

Tell me how that came to be.

- Before, the mountain had a different name, and then the dead body of Pontius Pilate was brought into the lake near here on Mount Pilatus.

- [Christine] Yep, that's right.

According to legend, when Pontius Pilate died, his body was thrown into the Tiber River in Rome.

But his ghost kept haunting people and making the weather really crazy, so it was decided that his body should be brought out to the wilderness of Switzerland and dumped into a nearby lake where, presumably, he could only haunt a few Swiss cows.

- There were always one day in the year he came out of the lake, and the people were actually scared of him.

- I would imagine so.

- It was forbidden to walk up here to Mount Pilatus until one day, a brave man came up here, and Pontius Pilates was not here.

And since this day, it is allowed to get up on Mount Pilatus.

- That's wild.

(upbeat music) - Okay, no Pontius Pilate hauntings here anymore, just incredible views of the Alps and a wonderful ride back down the mountain.

See, the cows aren't being haunted anymore, either.

(upbeat music) Back down in Lucerne, we continue on our trail to find some more myths and legends.

Remember the Wilde Mann on Chapel Bridge and on the clock tower of the Musegg wall?

You know, the ancient furry founder of the city?

Well, I think I know where to find him.

How about inside one of the oldest hotels in Lucerne?

Established in 1517, this folklore-inspired spot is dedicated entirely to, you guessed it, the Wilde Mann, with lovely little wood carvings, drawings of Lucerne throughout the years, even an elaborate diorama of what Lucerne looked like way back when.

Even the restaurant called the Burgerstube serves up delicious Swiss history on a plate.

- It's okay.

- We're joined by Andres Calvo, one of Hotel Wilde Mann's managers, and we dig into a traditional Lucerne dish, a Chugelipastete.

It's like the greatest puff pastry, pot pie concoction you've ever tasted.

Oh, so you take the little top.

Oh, it's got a little heart.

Why does it have a little heart?

That's so cute.

It matches the chairs.

- Just make it nice.

- You've never seen anybody more excited about food than me right now.

You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into.

Okay, excellent.

So we take our little heart top off.

- And now, we cut it.

- Oh, my goodness.

You see, it's the sounds of happiness.

A Chugelipastete isn't just a Swiss specialty, but a Lucerne specialty.

It dates back to the 18th century and is usually made with sausage, mushrooms, raisins, brandy, and onions.

Sounds weird, but trust me, it's delicious.

And to taste it surrounded by the coats of arms of famous Lucerne families, nestled into a cozy little corner after a long day of mountain climbing, okay, I didn't really climb the mountain; it transports you back in time and is truly an authentic Swiss experience.

This is fantastic.

Fantastic.

Now, there's only one more stop that could make our visit to Lucerne complete, and it has something to do with our happy little cows.

So, for dessert, you can't go to Switzerland without tasting some Swiss chocolate.

This is Au Cachet, one of the oldest chocolate shops in Lucerne.

And this is the owner, Susanne Moser.

(people chattering) - How long have you been the shop owner, and what made you decide to own a chocolate shop?

- Yes, I'm like the peoples, and I like serve the peoples.

And I'm here since 40 years, and this is my life.

And I think I make this 50 years, like, die in the case.

- Die happy, surrounded by chocolate.

What more is there?

As you can tell, Susanne's charm is one of the reasons her shop is so popular.

What did you do before you owned a chocolate shop?

- I'm a banker.

I worked in a bank, and then I think, no, uh-huh, money, it's not my life.

I go for chocolate.

It's better.

It's better for the heart.

- It's Better for the heart and the soul.

Susanne only gets her chocolates from a few select chocolate makers in the Lucerne region.

Like this very special type with a suggested pairing that's quite curious.

- You eat this with wine, with red wine and with whiskey.

Combination, the dark with whiskey and wine, you have to try.

It's very, very good.

- You have all the food groups covered there.

Who needs broccoli and apples.

If that's not your style, not to fear.

The Au Cachet usually has about 65 different types of chocolate to choose from.

One of each, please.

Okay, I'm gonna ask you a really tough question.

Can you help me pick three different chocolates?

- Yes.

- I want to get some to take home to my mom, and by that, I mean take home for myself.

- This is dark.

Very good dark.

Very good milk.

Or then the best seller, it's the caramel.

Or then, if you like with liquor, it's the champagne.

- Hmm.

Can I try that one?

- Sure, yes.

- Not that I'm greedy, I just wanna make sure it's okay before I send it to my mom.

- Yes, you have to try.

Don't believe what I say.

You have to try.

- I have to try.

That's what it is.

That's what it is.

This is excellent.

So this is milk and dark.

- Milk and dark.

And from the special happy cows we saw on Mount Pilatus.

- That's right.

Uh-huh, yeah.

- So many chocolates.

So little Time.

I ended up letting Susanne choose for me.

And then, as if these precious little bonbons of Swiss tradition weren't gift enough, each purchase is lovingly wrapped up, tied up in a bow.

Also a European tradition.

Mom, I promise this one's for you.

(gentle upbeat music) - So, from a medieval town square decorated with every crayon from the crayon box to a wild man and a not-so-little man perched on a great big wall that encircled a town with a flower-covered bridge that took you straight to church without getting your feet wet in a city nicknamed Little Venice to a mountaintop so high, it needed the genius of a savvy engineer to steeply cog you up, where you might encounter a dragon, a Roman ghost, but most likely a happy cow.

And those cows are to thank for the sweetest of Swiss creations, which are hard to pick but oh-so fun if you get the advice of an ex-banker.

Lovely Lucerne has so much to be curious about.

Thank you for joining us on our educational journey.

And hopefully, now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and how's of beautiful Lucerne.

As they say here, (speaking foreign language).

(upbeat music) (people chattering and laughing) - Bravo, bravo.

- [Christine] "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(swooshing) (ambient music) (upbeat music) - Still curious, go to curioustravelertv.com, and follow us on Facebook @CuriousTravelerTV, on Twitter @CuriousTravTV, and on Instagram @CuriousTravelerTV.

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