Town Hall & Kornmarkt (Rathaus)
Lucerne's Italian-Renaissance town hall stands proudly on the bank of the Reuss, its elegant arcades crowned by a broad Bernese farmhouse roof. Beneath its windows, Switzerland's finest weekly market has spilled across the riverside quay for centuries.
À propos de ce lieu
Built between 1602 and 1606 by the Italian master Anton Isenmann, Lucerne's town hall is often called one of the prettiest public buildings in Switzerland, and its charm lies in a beautiful contradiction. A dignified Italian Renaissance facade, complete with arcades and Corinthian columns crowned by figures of justice and moderation, is topped by a low, wide roof borrowed straight from a Bernese farmhouse. Behind the ground-floor arcades once stood the Kornschütte, the city granary where Lucerne's harvest was weighed and traded, while the council chamber above decided law and war, so bread and power quite literally shared a roof. The building even swallowed an older medieval family tower, some 41 metres tall, which had belonged to the earlier Gothic town hall. On Tuesday and Saturday mornings the surrounding quay and arcades still host the region's most celebrated weekly market, filling the riverbank with cheese, flowers, and the murmur of bargaining just as they did four centuries ago.
À retenir
- 1606 year completed — Italian architect Anton Isenmann finished the Renaissance town hall after four years of building
- 41 metres — Height of the medieval family tower the new hall was built around
- 2 market days — Tuesday and Saturday mornings fill the arcades with Switzerland's finest weekly market
📍 Kornmarkt, 6002, Luzern