Willisau

According to tradition, on 7 July 1392, three men were gambling at the Lustgarten near Willisau. After losing all his money, a man named Ueli Schröter drew his sword and thrust it into the air, crying out that he wished to pierce the body of Christ. Five drops of blood allegedly fell onto the table, echoing the five stigmata. The blood could not be washed away. The oldest written record dates from 1498; in 1564, a local priest added the precise details — the date, name, and number of drops — giving the legend its enduring form.

The Willisauer Ringli is a small ring-shaped biscuit (3 cm diameter) famous for its extreme hardness and honey-lemon-orange flavour. Around 1850, baker Heinrich Maurer gave the biscuit its definitive shape and name, selling them from his bakery at Hauptgasse 26. The recipe came from his wife Martha Peyer, who had worked at Castle Heidegg. A 55-year legal battle (1920–1975) established that biscuits bearing the Willisauer name may only be manufactured in Willisau. Today, the factory produces nearly 500 tonnes annually.

In 1966, a young Niklaus Troxler (born 1 May 1947 in Willisau) began organizing jazz concerts at the Hotel Mohren. By 1974, he had hosted Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, and Chick Corea. The first official Jazz Festival Willisau took place in August 1975. Troxler directed it for 35 years, building it into an internationally renowned forum for free jazz. His poster designs are held in MoMA New York, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

Willisau was destroyed by fire four times: in 1375 during the Gugler invasion, in 1386 when Duke Leopold ordered it burned before marching to the Battle of Sempach (where he was killed), in 1471, and finally in 1704. The last fire transformed Willisau from a medieval timber town into the stone-built Baroque streetscape visible today. The Obertor (Upper Gate), bearing the date 1547, survived the 1704 fire and is one of the oldest standing structures.

The Kutzenturm is a fortification tower built at the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century, surviving from the original ring wall of Willisau. It stands open toward the city side, typical of medieval defensive architecture. The ring wall originally connected the eastern and western rows of houses, whose rear walls doubled as town walls. The Hauptgasse runs between the two gate towers, lined with painted facades and three distinctive heptagonal fountains.

The Swiss Peasants’ War of 1653 was a major popular revolt sparked by currency devaluation. Willisau was an important meeting point of the insurgents. Key rebel leaders included Christian Schibi of Escholzmatt and Hans Emmenegger of Schüpfheim, both from the Entlebuch. Local innkeeper Johann Ulrich Amstein of the Sternenwirt in Willisau was punished with ten years of galley service. Facade paintings on the Gasthaus Adler, created in 1942–1943, commemorate the revolt.

The Heiligblutkapelle (Holy Blood Chapel), built in its current Baroque form in 1674, houses three ornate Early Baroque wooden altars from the late 1600s and eight oil paintings depicting the Holy Blood Legend. A painted wooden ceiling added in 1854 depicts 70 biblical scenes. The Lustgarten adjacent to the chapel features five red-flowering or red-leaved plant beds representing the five legendary blood drops.

Niklaus Troxler (born 1947 in Willisau) designed the Jazz Festival Willisau posters for 35 years. His graphic work is held in the collections of MoMA New York, MoMA Toyama, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2009, he donated his private collection to the Hochschule Luzern music library, and sound recordings are preserved at the Swiss National Sound Archives in Lugano. Over 1,000 concerts have been documented since 1966.