Glacier Garden
Glacier Garden features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Lucerne. Give it roughly ~60 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type park
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Lucerne Lucerne guide
About Glacier Garden
A geological natural monument, not a botanical one: a field of Ice Age glacial potholes discovered in 1872, plus a museum, a cliff world and an 1896 Alhambra mirror maze.
The Glacier Garden (Gletschergarten) is a geological natural monument near the Lion Monument, not the botanical garden its name suggests. Its centrepiece is a field of glacial potholes, or giant's kettles, smooth round shafts worn into the sandstone. They were discovered in 1872 by Josef Wilhelm Amrein-Troller while he was excavating a wine cellar, and the site opened to the public the following year.
Around thirty potholes are preserved here, generally attributed to meltwater at the close of the last Ice Age; the largest are several metres across. The complex has grown well beyond the rock formations to include a museum with a large eighteenth-century relief map of central Switzerland, a tunnelled cliff world with an Alpine viewpoint, and the “Alhambra” mirror maze, a hall of mirrors built in 1896 in the style of the Moorish palace in Granada.
Did you know? The potholes were found by accident in 1872, when Josef Wilhelm Amrein-Troller dug into the sandstone to build a wine cellar. He opened the site to visitors the very next year.
How long is a visit to Glacier Garden?
Set aside roughly ~60 min for Glacier Garden. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Glacier Garden worth your time?
Glacier Garden is among the 15 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Lucerne, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Lucerne
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Glacier Garden and read more:
Day 2 of the Lucerne in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Glacier Garden
Preview the Lucerne tour free in the Gingerguide app.