The Chapels
A death knell sounds in Lucerne
Once a year, on 10 August at precisely 10.00 a.m., the bell in the memorial chapel near the Lion Monument tolls, announcing a mass for the Swiss Guardsmen who fell in 1792 and invoking ‘invictus pax’ – peace to the invincible.
A memorial chapel for the fallen
The Saint Antonius Chapel was first documented in the year 1490. In 1819, it was re-built at the entrance of the former quarry and consecrated in 1820. In 1821, a poplar-lined avenue led from the present-day ‘Löwenplatz’ in the city to the park.
Designed by Lucerne architect Louis Pfyffer von Wyher, the circular chapel is accessed via a small portico framed by two pilasters. The narrow interior of the structure is fitted with just a few seats, and the small classicist altar is flanked by flags bearing the colours of the Swiss Guard regiment in France and the coats of arms of patrician families whose sons lost their lives. The chapel door remains closed except for the day of the annual memorial service.
In Paris, no mention of the Swiss
Situated in a park in the noble 8th arrondissement of the French capital, the Chapelle expiatoire (expiatory chapel) attracts little attention. Here, not far from the royal Tuileries Palace, was the site of the de la Madeleine cemetery, where a memorial chapel was built in 1826 for King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie-Antoinette. It is also believed to be where the Swiss Guardsmen who fell in the 1792 attack on the Tuileries Palace were buried in a mass grave. Of this, there is no mention in Paris.
Ill. 1: Altar with banners of the Swiss Guards, mass on 10 August 2020
Ill. 2: Exterior of the chapel, 2021
Ill. 3: Open entrance to the Lion Monument (no wall) until 1942, print circa 1830
Ill. 4: Chapel in the country outside the city walls, before relocation to the former quarry, 1816
Ill. 5: Chapelle expiatoire, 8th arrondissement in Paris
Haldimann Esther, Ein Denkmal des Schreckens und der Sühne. Die Chapelle expiatoire in Paris von 1826: Gedenkstätte der Monarchen und Massengrab der Schweizergarde? In: Büro für Geschichte, Kultur und Zeitgeschehen / Stadt Luzern (Hrsg.), In die Höhle des Löwen. 200 Jahre Löwendenkmal Luzern, Luzern 2021, S. 159–164.
Hermann Claudia, Kunst gewordene Trauerarbeit. Die Entstehung des Löwendenkmals als Gesamtprojekt, 1817–1821. In: Büro für Geschichte, Kultur und Zeitgeschehen / Stadt Luzern (Hrsg.), In die Höhle des Löwen. 200 Jahre Löwendenkmal Luzern, Luzern 2021, S. 107–131.
Tornare Alain-Jacques, Chapelle expiatoire: Wie die Schweiz in Frankreich für Irritationen sorgt. In: Büro für Geschichte, Kultur und Zeitgeschehen / Stadt Luzern (Hrsg.), In die Höhle des Löwen. 200 Jahre Löwendenkmal Luzern, Luzern 2021, S. 165–167.
Chapelle expiatoire in Paris:
http://www.chapelle-expiatoire-paris.fr
Ill. 1: Photographer Nique Nager, 2020.
Ill. 2: Photographer Giulia Schiess, 2020.
Ill. 3: ZHB Sondersammlung, LSa.17.1.5 (1), Vue du monument erigé à Lucerne à la memoire du 10 aout 1792, datiert 1830.
Ill. 4: ZHB Sondersammlung, LSc.5.1.6, Aquarell von Johann Jakob Sperli d.Ä., 1816.
Ill. 5: Photographer Esther Haldimann, 2021.
Abbreviations
ZHB Sondersammlung: Zentral- und Hochschulbibliothek Luzern, Sondersammlung
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