Route 6 From Bale to Lucerne.
59 1/2 M. Railway in 3 1/2-4 1/2 hrs.; fares 9 fr. 90, 6 fr. 95 c., 5 fr. — The trains correspond with steamboats from Lucerne to Wäggis, Flüelen, etc. (see pp. 52 and 55
From Bâle to (2 M.) Aarburg, see pp. 9-11. Then (31 1/2 M.) Zofingen (1430'; *Rössli; Ochs), a busy little town. Besides a collection of coins, the library contains autograph letters of Swiss reformers, and drawings by members of the Swiss society of artists, founded in the year 1806, which formerly met annually at this town, and on these occasions contributed to embellish the album of the library. The Zofingen Union of Swiss students celebrates the anniversary of its foundation here, to which the members resort in great numbers from the Swiss universities. On the branches of the fine old lime-trees near the Schütsenhaus two ‘ball-rooms’ have been constructed. Beyond the town (1/4 M.) is an ancient Roman Bath with a few Roman relics.
The line next passes through the broad Wiggernthal, with its rich meadows. On an eminence near stat. Reiden stands an ancient lodge of the knights of Malta, now a parsonage-house. Stations Dagmersellen, Nebikon (diligence daily by Willisau to Wohlhausen in the Entlebuch, p. 95). Farther on, a view is obtained to the right of the Bernese Alps. Beyond stat. Wauwyl, to the right, lies the small Mauensee with its island and castle.
43 1/2 M. Bursee (Sonne; Hirsch), an old town, over the gates of which the double eagle of the house of Hapsburg is still enthroned. The Town Hall reminds one of the Burgundian style of architecture. Near stat. Nottwyl the line approaches the Lake of Sempach (1663’), 6 M. long, 2 1/2 M. broad, abounding in fish, and more interesting on account of its historical associations than its scenery. At the S. end of the lake, on a hill to the right, stands the castle of Wartensee, with its angular gables and red tower.
At the S.E. end of the lake lies the small town of (49 M.) Sempach (Kreuz; Adler), 1 1/4 M. from the station, near which Duke Leopold of Austria was signally defeated on 8th July, 1386, by the Swiss Confederates, owing to the noble self-sacrifice of Arnold von Winkelried. Thousands of his knights and adherents were slain.
A Chapel (2064'), 1 1/2 M. to the N.E. of Sempach, marks the spot where Leopold fell. His uncle, Duke Leopold, had been defeated by the Swiss 71 years before at Morgarten (p. 323).
The train intersects plantations of firs. On the right appear the precipitous cliffs and peaks of Pilatus; on the left the long ridge of the Rigi. 53 1/2 M. Rothenburg. After passing stat. Emmenbrücke the line skirts the bank of the Reuss, whose emerald waters emerge from the lake of Lucerne, and passes through a tunnel under the rock of Gibraltar (p. 52).
59 1/2 M. Lucerne, see p. 51.