Lion Monument

The Lion Monument or the Lion of Lucerne is a sculpture of giant dying lion. It is carved out of sandstone rock above a pond at the east end of the medieval town. The wonderful sculpture is designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen. 

This monument was built as a memorial for the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland who massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution while serving the French king Louis XVI. 

The Swiss mercenary troops tried to protect the royal family and ensure that the royals could escape when the revolutionary masses attacked the royal Tuileries castle in Paris on August 10, 1792.

The Latin inscription HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI means “To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss” and names of the dead and of the saved officers of the Swiss Guard as well as the death toll among the Swiss soldiers also engraved in the Lion monument.

The Lion Monument was inaugurated on 10 August 1821. The site was originally a privately owned property. This was purchased by the city of Lucerne in 1882. The site is accessible without an entrance fee. Soon, the monument became one of the main tourist attractions in Lucerne.

How to find the Lion Monument in Lucerne

By bus: From the main train station take a northbound bus number
1 (Maihof)
19 (Kantonsspital/Friedental)
22 (Perlen/Inwil)
23 (Dierikon-Root)
until stop “Löwenplatz” [Lion Square].
From Löwenplatz turn to the right for a few steps and then left again
and follow either Löwengartenstrasse or Denkmalstrasse
leading you north to the Alpineum.
From there it’s only a few more steps to the entrance to the English Garden
with the Lion Monument and the Glacier Garden.