Sixty-seven painted panels above the water, each one a reminder that nobody crosses this river forever.
Faßnacht Luzern
Brass bands echo off medieval facades at five in the morning, and the city does not sleep until Ash Wednesday.
Lucerne Faßnacht (carnival) begins before dawn. On Schmutziger Donnerstag, Dirty Thursday, the Urknall fires at 5 am and the city's guilds wake the streets with Guggenmusik, brass bands playing deliberately off-key. It is the loudest tradition in Lucerne, and the oldest: guild parades have marked this week since the 15th century, expanded over the 19th century into the citywide event it is now.
For six days, the old town belongs to costumed guilds, masked figures, and marching bands. The Monstercorso, the main parade, moves through the streets after dark, guggenmusik groups performing until morning. Bruder Fritschi, the carnival's central figure, presides over it all. Over 100,000 visitors pass through during the week, though the tradition still runs on local guild structure, not spectacle for its own sake.
Carnival ends as abruptly as it starts, with the removal of the Guuggerbaum at Kornmarkt.