William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge

“ Its prosperity has always been bound up with the St Gotthard Pass, so that the successive improvements effected on that route (mule path in the 13th century, carriage road 1820–1830, and railway tunnel in 1882) have had much effect on its growth. It is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Reuss, just as it issues from the Lake of Lucerne, while to the south-west rises the rugged range of Pilatus, balanced on the east by the more smiling ridge of the Rigi and the calm waters of the lake. ”

“ Among modern buildings are the railway station, the post office and the Museum of War and Peace, all in the new quarter on the left bank of the Reuss. In the interior of the town are many quaint old private houses. ”

“ The Lion monument, designed by Thorwaldsen, dedicated in 1821, and consisting of a dying lion hewn out of the living sandstone, commemorates the officers and men of the Swiss Guard (26 officers and about 760 men) who were slain while defending the Tuileries in Paris in 1792, and is reflected in a clear pool at its foot. In the immediate neighbourhood is the Glacier Garden, a series of potholes worn in the sandstone rock bed of an ancient glacier. ”