Five-hundred-year-old city wall to be restored

The section of the old town wall of Zug between the Huwilerturm and the Bohlstrasse will be restored over the next few months. This should bring it very close to its original appearance.

As a result of increasing weathering, the masonry of the Zug city wall (Stadtmauer) will have to be partially rebuilt and secured with special mortar. This was announced by the city of Zug last Friday. Water and salts are major factors in the progressive weathering of the stones and the mortar that connects them. To secure the wall over the long term, the amount of moisture must be significantly reduced and, in some cases, the masonry will even have to be rebuilt and secured with special mortar. This would require both restoration and structural measures.

The work will be carried out on behalf of the city of Zug in cooperation with stonemasonry specialists and the Cantonal Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Archaeology (Amt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie) and is expected to last until the end of 2023. Once the construction work is completed, the city wall will look very close to its original appearance with the supplemented stones and joints, the report continues.

The Zug city wall near the Huwilerturm needs to be restored         Archive photo: Andreas Faessler
The course of the ring wall with the Huwilerturm                Source: PD

The restoration costs amount to around CHF 900,000, and the Canton of Zug will contribute to this in the form of monument preservation contributions. In addition, an application for federal funding will be submitted, as the building is of national importance. The city wall north of the Huwilerturm (Huwiler tower) to the Bohlstrasse was declared a protected site by order of the Department of the Interior on 3 July 2019.

The history of Zug's city wall
Zug's outer city wall was built in three known stages between 1478 and 1528. It was 850 metres long and comprised three gate towers, six round towers, two unfortified gates and two stream culverts secured with portcullises. The last construction phase, which includes the section of wall between the Huwilerturm and the former Ägeritor (Aegeri Gate) that is now being restored, began in 1518 with the construction of the Oberwilertor (Oberwil Gate) and ended in 1528 at the Löberentor. The Huwilerturm was probably built between 1522 and 1526, and the adjacent section of wall a little later. The city wall in this area was originally only equipped with battlements and an uncovered battlement. The roofing that still exists today was probably built during renovation work in the 17th century.

The remaining city wall is about 33 metres long and up to eight metres high, and is about two metres thick at its thickest point. In contrast to the stones of the defensive towers, which were worked and set by stone masons, the wall is built of various quarry and field stones, erratic blocks and chunks. The material used - various sandstones and limestone,s as well as ‘Nagelfluh’ - was presumably salvaged locally and came from the ice-age moraine deposits and debris at Lake Zug, as well as from sand, gravel and crushed stone delivered by the local streams from the slopes of the Zugerberg. Spoil material from the quarries of Ägeri and Lothenbach are also conceivable. The rounded stones were joined with coarse lime mortar. The round holes through which the supporting beams were pushed are also clearly visible.