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The Glacier Garden is an extremely varied museum that covers a wide range of topics, from geology and biology to history. The main attraction is the 20 million year old glacial potholes that were carved out by huge stones over thousands of years. Located in the heart of the city of Lucerne, the museum offers a journey of discovery into the natural sciences.
Legend
According to legend, Vreneli wanted to create a beautiful garden on the site of today's Glacier Garden. The attempt obviously failed. Nevertheless, a garden with branching paths and plant trails has been created today and a natural oasis has been created in the middle of Lucerne for over 150 years. Since then, the green area around the Glacier Garden has also been known as Vrenelisgärtli.
museum
The museum belonging to the Glacier Garden consists of a hodgepodge of attractions from all eras. In addition to the glacier museum, there is a somewhat dated multimedia show, landscape models and a living museum. From crystals to models of battlefields, a seemingly random excerpt from geology and human history can be admired here.
labyrinth
There is another curiosity on the bottom floor of the museum: in 1896, a mirror labyrinth in the style of the Alhambra in Granada was built for the national exhibition in Geneva. Since 1899, this has been located in the Glacier Garden. The mirror experiments are not only interesting for children, they are also quite admirable.
Lion Monument
The adjacent Lion Monument is not directly part of the Glacier Garden. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who fell during the storming of the Tuileries in Paris on August 10, 1792. During the storming of the Tuileries during the French Revolution, around 760 guardsmen were killed defending the empty royal palace.
The monument was sketched by a guard officer (Carl Pfyffer von Altishofen) and refined by Vinzenz Rüttimann and Bertel Thorvaldsen. The monument was finally implemented and carved in stone by Urs Pankraz Eggenschwiler and Lukas Ahorn. It was finally ceremoniously unveiled on August 10, 1821 and inaugurated exactly 29 years after the storming of the Tuileries.
The inscription reads "Helvetiorum Fidei Ac Virtuti" and means "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss". The names and number of fallen and surviving soldiers of the Swiss Guard are also engraved.
Access and opening hours
The Glacier Garden is open 364 days a year. In winter it is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and in summer from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Glacier Garden is closed for one day once a year.
The Lion Monument is freely accessible at all times.
