Meandering around the Luzern Back-Country from Werthenstein Monastery to Schachen

Thursday May 1, 2025: In some parts of Europe, May 1st is a holiday ("Labour Day") and so Urs had a day off work. But with an appointment in the late afternoon, we had to arrange for something that didn't require a lot of travel, so we decided to go to the Luzern back-country, as there are always nice hiking options there, and easily and quickly accessible.

Near Wolhusen (which we pass through a lot on our way to the Entlebuch or Emmental regions) is a large Monastery on a cliff above the Little Emme River, one I admire and photograph each time we pass through here, but which we had not yet ever visited. So starting in Wolhusen, we walked along the "Alpine Panorama Trail" to Werthenstein, then over the wooden bridge on the Little Emme River, up to the Monastery. After a good look around there, we headed higher up into the hills (where we had less views than originally expected, and it was also quite hot) through forests and farms, where the farmers were all busy cutting the meadow grasses for hay.

Finally we found a view bench for a look down along the Little Emme River Valley in the direction of Luzern, before we descended to the little railway station in Schachen for the one-hour ride home.

This is the Werthenstein Monastery up high on a cliff, a view we see each time we travel on this railway line to Wolhusen. This is a popular pilgrimage site since the 16th Century.

And from the train you can see the wooden covered bridge which crosses the Little Emme River here in Werthenstein (with the monastery seen on the upper left).

This was a bit over 10 kilometers for us to walk. We started in Wolhusen at 9:15 (it was a hot day so we wanted to start early; also, only a one-hour trip to get there). We got to Schachen train station at 14:05.

The first stretch from Wolhusen train station was through industry, but then we got to this pretty upper plateau, and ultimately missed the sign for the trail we were supposed to follow here because we were admiring the countryside.

Still lots of blossoming fruit trees!

Nice trail, but ultimately the wrong one, which we discovered when we got to the main road below. We turned back so that we could go on the higher trail.

Heading back up the hill to find the actual trail I wanted to walk, which is part of the "Alpine Panorama Trail".

This pretty trail is the one we were meant to be on!

From up here we get a nice view of the Werthenstein monastery building on the hill above the village.

A nice time of day and great weather for this walk.

Crossing the bridge over the railway line before descending into Werthenstein.

And now we are passing over the wooden covered bridge.

The houses here have nice paintings under the roof overhangs.

We then got into the courtyard of the monastery, where the main building was surrounded by a gallery (cloister) of wall paintings.

This is the front entrance of the monastery church building. This main entrance is flanked by two chapels called the Pfyfferkapellen.

We did enter the church building by a side door. What a beautifully-carved work of art!

Inside of the Werthenstein church. The first pilgrimage chapel here (with three altars) was built in 1520.

During the 18th Century, most of the original rich furnishings were dismantled and strewed around the region. Renovations in 1953 restored the church into the current condition.

Always a beautiful organ in these churches. Another interesting feature are the painted walls framing the windows.

From outside the church building we can see the St.Wendelin's chapel built into the wall surrounding the compound.

Entrance to the Wendelin Chapel as we now make our way around the cloister, which forms the inside of the compound's walls, from one side entrance of the pilgrimage church to the other.

The weirdest thing here is that walking along this covered gallery to admire the wall paintings, you are actually walking on people's gravestones.

I had to be very careful not to trip over the flower pots adorning the graves. It was weird to walk over these "gravestones".

Just a sample of the wall paintings. The panel informs us that these paintings were created between 1622 and 1626. The gallery, which extends from one side door of the church building to the other, separates the pilgrimage areal from the monastery buildings (which were completed by 1636 and consigned to the Franziskan Order). The same artist who painted the "Dance of Death" panels on the Luzern Spreuer Bridge was contracted to paint these panels, of which there are 46. Many of these paintings have been damaged by weather, and restoration is apparently quite difficult.

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Before leaving the Monastery Complex, we watched the train from the BLS railway pass by below, heading in the direction of Luzern.

(The same line we traveled to get to Wolhusen from Luzern).

Leaving the monastery complex now, we head up into the mountains. What a pretty building this is.

From near the monastery, there are two ways to reach our goal of Schachen on the Little Emme River in the valley below. Both the "St.James Trail No.4" and the "Alpine Panorama Trail No.3" head down from here to follow the riverbank, but we had chosen to walk higher up, in the hopes of having better views into the valley. It should take about two hours from here.

Our first view of the hills to the north. The Little Emme River flows in the valley between us and those hills.

Our trail took us through these hillside farms, where the farmers were busy mowing the grass. This late April weather with lots of sunshine and little rain is perfect for the drying of the grass.

Another farm cat thinking we can't see it!

Probably the last of the blossoming trees now.

Ah, those cuties are curious about us!

Urs always gets the most curious looks when we walk by!

And later on it's the llamas that watch us walk past!

The grass has been cut and is now being aerated so it can dry better. (This machine is apparently called a Tedder).

While we enjoy a pleasant walk in the back country of Luzern, the farmers are working hard to get the hay dried!

And now the first view of Mt.Pilatus on our right, to the south.

These are the views which we came for, the reason we chose to walk higher up on the hillside instead of down by the river.

A beautiful old farmhouse.

The cows want to follow us! As it is now just after noon, we are looking for a good place (preferably in the shade, as the day had grown warm) to have our lunch.

We had left the main trail to avoid walking on the road, but made a detour back to the road as we knew there was a roadside chapel here, and often there is a bench. In this case, two benches, inside in the shade, perfect for our lunch break at 12:15 p.m. The chapel is called "Kapelle Rothenfluh".

Inside the wayside chapel we found out that such a building was first mentioned in documents of 1739. But the original building was destroyed by fire, and this one built here in 1976. Later (during restoration in 2006), the original statues from 1739 were placed back in the chapel. The one on the right was heavily damaged in the fire. These figures were placed under monument protection in 2005.

My view from inside the wayside chapel, as we enjoy our sandwiches!

What a beautiful tree!

Walking through these meadows is the best part of Spring Hiking. Behind me is the stretched-out range of Mt.Pilatus, with the summit (Pilatus Kulm) on the left.

These are the views we came for. Down below, the Little Emme River flows toward Luzern. Prominent in the background is Mt.Rigi

More pretty farmhouses.

Shortly after leaving the little chapel, we found this bench along the trail. It would also have been ideal for our lunch break, as there was a bit of a breeze. So we sat here anyway for a while, and enjoyed the view.

View from our bench where we sat for about 15 minutes.

Heading down now along the final stretch to the valley bottom. More views of Mt.Pilatus.

Below us we can see a ravine. A river called the Rümlig flows down there and enters the Little Emme River in Schachen.

The colours of springtime are the best.

Arriving in the village of Schachen.

All the fountains in all the towns and villages are a welcome refreshment on these hot days!

The little "Sacred Heart Chapel" ("Herz Jesu") is a real little jewel, with a stunning wood-panel ceiling. The little church was gently restored in 2014, and is now under Monument Protection.

If the steps to the upper balcony are not blocked off, I like to ascend there for a photo from above.

A view of Mt.Pilatus from the main street in Schachen.

This is the Gasthof Rössli ("Ross" = "Horse", thus the horse figure above the main entrance). All of these houses have attractive roof overhangs, with images and sayings painted on the wood panels.

As there is only one train every hour passing through Schachen, and we reached to village quite early this time, we had to wait 20 minutes. It wasn't enough time to walk to the river, so we waited here at the train station. There was a "second-hand" shop crammed with antiquities and such here in the station building. I checked it out, but it was so crammed, you couldn't make your way through. They had a HUGE collection of LP (vinyl) records, probably a real treasure for collectors.