The Court Bridge – the lost one

It was the first of Lucerne’s wooden bridges to be built. The Court Bridge was demolished in the 19th century.

In the 13th century, the city was under threat of attack from the lake. The Court Bridge was built in the bay of Lucerne in order to give better protection to the city. Its route and shape indicate that it was a continuation of the city walls and formed a line of defense from the lake. Rows of piles in the lake just beyond the bridge support this theory.

Connecting the church and the city

The Court Bridge was more than just a part of the city’s fortification ring, however. The 385-meter-long bridge connected the city directly with the monastery church and the parish church (now called the Court Church) in the Hofbezirk (Court District), hence the name “Court Bridge”. It ran over the flat, marshy shoreline of the lake from the Benedictine monastery of St Leger right to the Haus zur Gilgen and the adjacent cemetery. The bridge was mainly used to get to the church and – because of the beautiful view across the lake to the mountains – as a popular walk.

A victim of tourism

Today, you will look in vain for the Court Bridge in Lucerne. The advent of tourism heralded its demise. To make more room for hotels and a quay, embankments were built along the shoreline of Lake Lucerne where Schwanenplatz (Swan Square) and Schweizerhofquai (Schweizerhof Quay) are today. And so with parts of it no longer crossing over water, the Court Bridge gradually lost its purpose. It was demolished in four stages: the first 75 meters starting from St. Peterskapelle (St Peter’s Chapel) were pulled down in 1835, another 100 meters were lost in 1839 and again in 1845, and in 1852 the Court Bridge disappeared completely – to applause from the general public.