Butchers’ Arch

Butchers’ Arch. Metzgerbogli. Metzgerbogli or Butchers’ Arch is a tunnel between Kornmarktgasse and Brandgässli. The marker is composed of four inscriptions on glass, each inscription is in German, English and Chinese. Only the English text is printed here. Click on the images to enlarge them and read the German and Chinese texts., In the year 1458 the corporation of butchers together with the corporation of Balenherren (: guild of fishermen and drum-netters) built their guild-house on the Wine Market. The guild-room, an assembly-room for masters and journeymen, was situated on the first floor and guests were also welcomed there. , The throughfare between Wine Market and Brandgassli, the so-called Metzgerbogli or Butchers’ Arch, existed even before the guild-house of butchers was built. It connected the Wine Market the trading-post to the north, with the bank of the river Reuss in the south where the corporation of Balenherren sold their fish and shel (sic) fish. The thoroughfare was important in case of fire. Buckets of water were then transported one by one by a chain of people from the river to the fire. , The light niche dates from the late Middle Ages and served to light up the Butchers’ Arch. , The candle or oil-lamp was placed into the nich and its light would the illuminate the thoroughfare. , In the beginning the late Gothic entrance gave access to the down town place of residence of 1 family, which later became the property of the Pfyffer family. The adjoining house burned completely down to its foundation during the last big fire in the city of Lucerne in 1833. ,