© Anina Fässler

Musegg Wall

and its nine towers

Once a symbol of power, the Musegg Wall and its nine towers are part of Lucerne's historic fortifications; forming a striking crown around the Old Town. 

 

Valuable habitat for flora and fauna

The Musegg Wall is not only presents a fascinating aspect from afar, but also provides a valuable habitat for specialised plants and animals, some of which are endangered. The Musegg Wall is home to rare breeding bird species including jackdaws, goosanders and alpine and common swifts. The attentive visitor will also find bats, common wall lizards, wild and honey bees, spiders, slugs and snails populating the wall, not to mention a specialised flora.

 

Construction of the Musegg Wall and towers

The fortifications were begun in the 13th century and consisted of two rings of ramparts: the inner ring comprising the town wall along the Löwengraben and Hirschengraben, the Chapel Bridge and Spreuer Bridge, and the outer ring on an ascending sandstone ridge in the Old Town on the right-hand side of the River Reuss.

As the town, founded in 1178, continued to expand beyond the narrow confines of the fortifications, the Musegg Wall was built with more towers. The 800-metre-long wall, erected around 1400 following the Battle of Sempach, is considered one of the longest, best-preserved defensive walls in Switzerland. Nine stone entities, floodlit at night, remain standing on the Musegg.

 

 #mylucerne

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