Making Way for Rubbish: Lucerne Unearths and Erases a Medieval Bakery

In the pristine heart of Lucerne’s Old Town, where tourists traverse the cobblestones of the Kornmarkt, municipal efficiency has collided with medieval history. The Swiss state, ever dedicated to keeping its wealthy streets immaculate and its economy humming without interruption, recently dispatched excavators to install underground waste containers. Yet, beneath the pavement of this affluent city, the diggers unearthed a rather different kind of municipal infrastructure: the remains of a 700-year-old bakery.

Because the local administration operates with a characteristic thoroughness, the cantonal archaeology department was integrated into the construction project from the outset. Fabian Küng, the deputy cantonal archaeologist, and his team took over the site the moment the heavy machinery broke ground. Their excavation quickly revealed a dry stone wall serving as the base of a commercial oven. A dense layer of deposited charcoal confirmed the structure's purpose. The team was able to rule out a forge or metalworking shop, as the soil lacked the telltale slag or hammerscale left behind by medieval smiths.

The unearthing of the bakery offers more than a quaint glimpse into medieval bread production, an industry entirely absent from the city's surviving written records. Its real value lies in its location. Historians had long suspected that the Kornmarkt was not always the open, sweeping square it is today. The physical presence of a bakery confirms these theories, providing concrete evidence that the area was heavily built up with houses during the Middle Ages. The ground beneath the prosperous city functions as a vast historical archive, one that only opens briefly when modern development requires a trench.

However, historical curiosity rarely halts the march of Swiss civic progress. While builders are occasionally frustrated by the delays caused by archaeological interventions, the procedure follows a strict, unsentimental routine. Küng noted that the department's everyday work consists of documenting historical structures, dismantling them in a controlled manner, and ultimately destroying them, summarising the pragmatic approach to heritage.

Small artifacts, such as animal bones and ceramic fragments, are whisked away to the cantonal archives. The stones of the medieval oven itself, lacking the space for preservation in such a rich but space-constrained nation, are destined for a landfill. Once this controlled destruction is complete, the excavation will resume its original purpose. The 700-year-old bakery will be entirely erased, making way for a highly efficient place for the residents of Lucerne to dispose of their garbage.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com