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Swiss Transport Museum

Beyond the funicular station in Lucerne, Haldenstrasse continues to the fascinating Verkehrshaus der Schweiz (Swiss Transport Museum, Schweizerisches Verkehrsmuseum; entrance in Lidostrasse). The museum is a large complex of exhibition halls and outdoor exhibits covering all forms of transport, including air and space travel (cosmorama), communications and tourism, with railroad locomotives and rolling-stock, ships, aircraft rockets and automobiles (originals or models), together with a Planetarium. By means of 150 projectors the sky can be seen through a 18m/59ft-wide dome.

The tourism department, opened in 1984, contains the largest pin-ball machine in the world and is an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.

At the east end of the complex is the Hans-Erni-Haus which contains paintings and graphic art by the well-known Lucerne artist of that name, and also a lecture hall.

In the summer of 1996 the museum inaugurated the first IMAX theater in Switzerland.

Chapel Bridge

The most characteristic feature of Lucerne is the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), a covered bridge running diagonally across the Reuss (1333). Hanging from the rafters of the roof are more than 100 17th C. pictures depicting local saints and scenes from the town's history. Beside it is the octagonal Water Tower (Wasserturm, 13th C.), once part of the town's fortifications.

The Kapellbrücke was gutted by fire in 1994. It has been completely rebuilt and restored.

Lion Monument

A little way north of Löwenplatz, to the rear of the pool, is the famous Lion Monument (Löwendenkmal), a huge figure of a dying lion hewn from the face of the living rock. The monument (1820-21), designed by Thorwaldsen, commemorates the heroic death of the Swiss Guards (26 officers and over 700 troops) who were killed during the attack on the Tuileries during the French Revolution (1792).

Dietschiberg

On the north side of Lake Lucerne, just off Haldenstrasse, is situated the lower station of the funicular to the Dietschiberg (632 m/2,014ft). There is a fine view of Lucerne and the lake from the top. Near the upper station there are a cafe-restaurant, a golf-course and a miniature railroad

Glacier Garden

The Glacier Garden (Gletschergarten), is a remarkable relic of the Ice Age which was exposed between 1872 and 1875 (open March-October): glacier-polished rock, erratic boulders and 32 pot-holes, some of them of huge size, with a working model showing the process of formation of a pot-hole. Higher up are an early climbers' hut and a lookout tower. In the museum are relief maps of Switzerland, groups of Alpine animals, specimens of rock and old domestic interiors.

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January - February -> -3(°C) - Winter
July - August -> 24(°C) - Summer

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