This painting is by Joseph Clemens Kaufmann and is dated 1901 ( oil on canvas, 58 × 76 cm ). The artist was probably standing on the Spreuer Bridge when he painted this beautiful scene. It shows the right bank of the River Reuss below the bridge around 1890 . At the centre of the painting stands the Nölliturm , built between 1516 and 1519 , marking the lower end of the Musegg Wall . Because of its bright red tiled roof, it was once called the “Red Tower.” The painting shows a time when the riverside was still quiet, natural, and free from traffic – the St. Karli Quay and the Geissmatt Bridge did not yet exist. The river lies calm in the warm sunlight, the houses reflect in the clear water, and gardens and old trees rise up on the hillside. The whole scene feels peaceful and timeless , as if everyday life had paused for a moment.

Long ago, on Mount Pilatus , there lived little mountain men . They lived inside the whole mountain , from the top down to Hergiswil and the Eigental. They could suddenly come out of caves and disappear again very fast. They were very small and wore green clothes and red hats . Their feet looked like goose feet . They had long white hair and beards down to the ground . They looked after animals and fish and helped the farmers . But if someone was unkind to them, they took revenge very quickly . On the Kastelen Alp , there once lived a rich farmer named Klaus . One day, Magdalena came to him. Her mother was poor and sick . Magdalena asked Klaus for help. But Klaus only laughed at her . So Magdalena walked sadly down the mountain. On the way, she met a farm boy from the Bründlen Alp . He saw how sad she was. So he gave her his only small cheese .

Mount Pilatus strongly stimulated the imagination of the people in Switzerland early on. This was because it seemingly rose gently from the flatlands, but then suddenly jutted steeply upwards in massive rock formations. The ancients called it "Fractus mons" (broken mountain) or Frakmont . They considered it nothing more than a split and broken-up mighty hill. Since the people of antiquity could not explain the elemental forces that once split the mountain, they saw in them the work of evil powers. Because fire, water, storms, and lightning had always terrified the residents, they believed that these forces were causing mischief on the mountain. In the ignorance of the Middle Ages, one thing was clear: spirits lived there. In the stories, one heard of dragons, ghosts, spirits, hobgoblins (Herdmännlein), and mischievous dwarves (Toggelis); even the Türst and the Sträggele caused trouble there.

Lucerne, 1758. The Golden Time of the Republic was coming to its autumn. Wars and bad harvests in Europe meant that the soldier contracts, which the city lived from, were paid slowly. This made the state treasury, the heart of the Lucerne Republic, even more important.  It was stored in the safest place you could think of: in the upper room of the Water Tower. The Reuss river flowed around it, and you could only reach it over the Chapel Bridge or by boat.

A painting on the Chapel Bridge (panel Nr. 25) once showed a famous Lucerne legend: The Emperor Charlemagne giving special "Harsthörner" (war horns) to warriors from Lucerne to honor them. (Please note: This original painting was unfortunately destroyed in the 1993 Chapel Bridge fire and is no longer on the bridge.) The legend says that in 778, warriors from Lucerne joined Charlemagne’s army in Spain. They bravely saved his nephew, Roland, in a battle. As a "thank you" for their loyalty and courage, the emperor gave them the special war horns, a great privilege.

A famous painting on Lucerne's Chapel Bridge (Panel No. 1) shows an old city legend. It pictures a giant man with a tree trunk standing next to a normal-sized man.

Just like any good craftsman, the executioner tried to do a "clean" job. When it came to torture, he was only allowed to go as far as it was useful—he wasn't supposed to kill them. The executioner had to be extremely careful that the tortured prisoners didn't die, so they could still be brought to their "real" punishment.

In the beginning, as serfs of the Hofkloster (monastery), we got our judgement at the Marienbrunnen (Mary's fountain) by the stairs of today's Hofkirche. From the middle of the 13th century, the Habsburgs allowed us to hold court ourselves . This happened at the lower fish market (unterer Fischmarkt), by the court linden tree. Later, the first town hall of Lucerne (the building before today's Hotel Des Balances) became the court place. The executions happened at the Sentimatt execution place .

On the heights of Mount Pilatus, a ghostly figure roams—a creature that is part "wild man," part "spirit," part "warrior," and part "god." This being, called Türst , causes great trouble for the alpine herdsmen and torments their cattle in many ways. His power is strongest when the herdsmen stray from a godly life. He is a fearsome hunter from the underworld. At nightfall, Türst prepares for the hunt. He drives the poor cattle before him, scaring and confusing them so much that they run wildly in all directions. Sometimes, they even leap down into the valley, forcing the herdsmen to struggle to bring them back up. The cows remain without milk for a long time after such encounters. When Türst approaches, he blows a powerful hunting horn. Every animal that hears it must come and stand before him. He is often accompanied by a pack of hellish dogs , all of which have only three legs . Leading the pack is a massive dog with a single eye in the middle of its forehead . This dog jumps ahead, with the entire pack stumbling behind it, constantly falling over due to their missing legs. In the middle of it all is Türst , part hunter, part spirit, part ghost, and part warrior.