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Living Lucerne
Angela Rosengart, a model of urbane elegance, is an art dealer and collector who sat for Picasso five times ("his eyes went straight through you, like an x-ray"), and bought her first Klee drawing at 16. When she decided to open a world-class museum devoted to her collection, she knew instantly where she'd place it. London? Paris? Rome? No. The Rosengart Collection—quite possibly Europe's best new museum—debuted quietly this year in Lucerne, Switzerland, Rosengart's hometown. "It was a gift to the city, made with my heart."
FAST FACTS The city of 60,000 sits in the center of Switzerland, at the northwest end of Lake Lucerne. Bisected by the fast-flowing Reuss River, it comes surrounded by eternally snow-topped mountains, for a touch of Christmas even in the mild summer months. DON'T MISS Ask most locals for their perfect day in Lucerne and they come up with strikingly similar lists. "I'd include my own museum," Rosengart says with a laugh, but this isn't vanity speaking. Unlike some glitzier new European museums known more for their hyper-publicized buildings than their generic paintings, the Rosengart Collection is all about the coherent treasure chest of Klees, Picassos, and other great modern painters of the 20th century that Rosengart and her art dealer father kept, because "we loved them too much to sell them." Urs Langenegger, general manager of the Jean Nouvel-designed boutique hotel known simply as the Hotel, also suggests gallery-hopping at two other local landmarks: the Picasso Museum, located in the stone-and-wood Am-Rhyn-Haus, which features original paintings by the artist and photos of him (one of Picasso striking a dance pose); and the Museum of Art in the impressive Culture and Convention Centre, where the conceptual shows can look manic beside the permanent collection of serene Alpine landscapes. For the best outdoor artwork, though, walk the cobbled streets of Old Town, on the north bank of the Reuss, past the frescoes of cherubs and knights decorating the facades of Renaissance buildings. Then cross the river on the covered, wooden Spreuer Bridge, which features 15th-century painted panels under the eaves depicting Death. After coffee in one of the riverside cafÈs, climb into the ethereal landscape. "I like to go to Mount Rigi," Langenegger says, "by boat and then cog railway, take a picnic lunch, and hike one of the trails." Mayor Studer is more flexible. "I ski in winter, swim in the lake in summer, and bike to work each day. But just walking my dog Nˆggi along the quay under the Alps is enough." WHERE THE LOCALS EAT Confiseur Bachmann's buttery apricot danish offers a sugar-high start to the day, and the Bistro KKL at the Culture and Convention Centre dishes up midday soups, quiche, and sandwiches on a lakeside terrace. Dinner can be more of a culinary event at The Hotel's stylish subterranean Bam Bou restaurant, where Cincinnati-bred chef Andrew Clayton skips the schnitzel for coriander-crusted tuna. "I came to Lucerne sight unseen, but it's the best move I ever made," Clayton says. He even likes the local food. For authentic Swiss cuisine, locals point to Galliker, which is famous for its motherly waitresses and the world's most seductive rosti potatoes. Just as good is the Wilden Mann Burgerstube, known for its painted ceiling and mammoth puff pastry meat and vegetable pie, and the wood-beamed, antique-strewn Old Swiss House—a local standby where owner Philipp Buholzer, dressed in an impeccable suit, sometimes batters and fries the Wiener schnitzel himself on a tableside stove. "We do this about a thousand times a month," he says, somehow keeping his tie spotless, "using my grandmother's recipe." If that's too much tradition, take a night out at Thai Garden, which serves serious Asian cuisine without a spaetzle in sight. SHOPPING For the mother of all souvenir shops visit Schmid-Linder, a one-stop Swiss fun house stocked with Heidi dish towels, epic beer steins, and, for people apparently heading into space, the 33-function Swiss army knife extreme (appropriately named the SwissChamp), which includes a metal saw, wrench, chisel, and pliers. Neff specializes in snowy tablecloths sprinkled with embroidered Alpine wildflowers, and antiquarian Daniel Good's shop features historic maps, prints, and books including "an incunabulum, dating from 1490." While the May through October Saturday flea market is hit or miss, unless you're a dedicated collector of cowbells, the produce market (open Tuesday and Saturday) running beside it, along the river, makes for the best shopping; turn the crusty breads, sausages, and big blocks of Emmentaler cheese into a mountain picnic. NIGHTLIFE Fast-living locals tend to congregate in Neustadt (New Town) on the south bank of the Reuss. At the Penthouse Bar, you can drink and mingle on a rooftop overlooking Lucerne's illuminated towers. If you want to keep things more private you can book the historic octagonal-shaped Water Tower along the Chapel Bridge, which has been transformed from a jail and medieval torture chamber into a rent-by-the-night party space. The best entertainment, though, is Lucerne's nonstop round of concerts and music festivals (including the Lucerne Summer Festival, with 30 symphony concerts held in August and September), many now held in the acoustically perfect, 1,840-seat concert hall of the Culture and Convention Centre. LODGING Lucerne offers a bed for every taste. For stellar views the hilltop Art Deco Hotel Montana features balconies jutting over the lake. Located at the edge of the old town, the Romantik Hotel Wilden Mann is a study in beamed coziness, and for Old World elegance nothing beats the belle epoque-style Palace Luzern, which earns its regal name with its luxurious rooms. If bargain rates and a touch of the unusual are more important than the lush life, though, the best option is the Hotel Löwengraben, converted from a 19th-century prison, where the favorite sport among younger guests is making the alarming call home ("Hi Mom. I'm in a Swiss jail"). But it's The Hotel that has become the best emblem of Lucerne's new style. The sleek, minimalist guest rooms offer one big surprise: Each features an art house film still (think Fassbinder, Bertolucci, and AlmodÛvar) stretching across the ceiling. Guests tend to pick their room by the scene (most popular: a frame from Fellini's Casanova). And if cinematic dreams don't help you sleep, the traditional downy Swiss duvets certainly will. TRAVELWISE
Sightseeing, Culture, Shopping Restaurants & Bars Bam Bou: Sempacherstrasse 14; +41 41 226 86 86.
Lodgings
Art Deco Hotel Montana: Adligenswilerstrasse 22; +41 41 419 00 00;
www.hotel-montana.ch. $188-295 U.S.
The information in this story was accurate at the time it was published, but we suggest you confirm all details before making travel plans.
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