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.

Around the 18th century, a new idea appeared: minor offenders were made to work for the public. This punishment was called “Schellenwerk.” The word “Schelle” means clamp . People sentenced to the Schellenwerk were put in chains, and the chains had metal clamps that made noise. They also had to wear a heavy iron neck ring with a large clip, called the “beak.” This made them easy to see and hear. During the day, the Schellenwerker had to do hard physical work, such as construction work or repairing the dam. In winter, this often meant standing in cold river water. At night, they were locked into the Weggistor , a gate at the end of today’s Hertensteinstrasse. Historical reports say that the Schellenwerk was also used to force lazy or work-shy young adults to work.

In the Middle Ages, every city had a pillory. It was used to punish minor crimes. The offender was chained to the pillory for a certain time so that the people could mock him, spit on him, and throw dirt at him. Being “put in the pillory” was a punishment of shame. Beatings, branding, and mutilations were also carried out at the pillory. For people sentenced to death, the pillory was only one stop on the painful way to execution. In Lucerne, a pillar pillory stood in the lower part of the old fish market. The iron neck rings that belonged to it are shown in the Historical Museum. The pillory itself no longer exists, but it can be seen in the Martini Plan of 1597.