The fourteenth-century covered Kapellbrücke,the oldest road bridge in Europe,
angled around the octagonal mid-river Wasserturm.
In deference to the fact that the city development arose largely from defence of this bridge,
its highly distinctive Wasserturm (formerly a lighthouse, a prison,a treasury
and today serving as a meeting house) has come to stand as the symbolof Luzern.
In the early hours of August 18, 1993, a small boat moored alongside the bridge caught fire
and,in one of the most dramatic spectacles in the city’s recent history,
the flames rapidly spread to engulf the whole structure.
By dawn, virtually the entire bridge had been destroyed,
with only the bridgeheads on both banks surviving.
The authorities rapidly set about reconstruction,
and an identical replacement was completed nine months later –
though today it’s still easy to see where the old wood meets the new.