Painting by John Ruskin in 1861, Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour

Part of the bridge complex is the octagonal 34.5 m (113 ft) tall (from ground) "Wasserturm",[1] which translates to "water tower," in the sense of "tower standing in the water." The tower pre-dated the bridge by about 30 years. Over the centuries, the tower has been used as a prison, torture chamber, and later a municipal archive as well as a local treasury.[2] Today, the tower is closed to the public, although it houses a local artillery association and a tourist gift shop.[3]

The bridge itself was originally built c.1365[4] as part of Lucerne's fortifications. It linked the old town on the right bank of the Reuss to the new town on the left bank, securing the town from attack from the south (i.e. from the lake).[5] The bridge was initially over 270 metres (890 ft) long, although numerous shortenings over the years and river bank replenishments mean the bridge now totals only 204.7 metres (672 ft) long. It is the oldest surviving truss bridge in the world, consisting of strutted and triangulated trusses of moderate span, supported on piled trestles; as such, it is probably an evolution of the strutted bridge.[3]

The Kapellbrücke almost burned down on 18 August 1993, destroying two thirds of its interior paintings.[6] Shortly thereafter, the Kapellbrücke was reconstructed and again opened to the public on 14 April 1994 for a total of CHF 3.4 million.[4]