Kastanienbaum is a locality in the municipality of Horw in the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Culture, wine and routes across the Horw Peninsula offer a variety of starting points for planning your trip. You can tailor your stay to your interests: sacred art, insights into research, a winery’s offerings or routes in the surrounding area. Practical differences also matter when planning—for example, whether a tour returns to Lucerne or ends in Kastanienbaum. For activities with fixed dates, it is worth checking the current schedule.
Art and History in Kastanienbaum
The Bruderklausen Church in Kastanienbaum was consecrated in February 1962. A late Gothic Pietà is located above the side altar. The church’s consecration date and the art-historical classification of the work mark different points in time. In 1992, local artist Marcel Nuber immortalised a scene from the legend of Kastanienbaum on the façade of the Eawag boathouse. The Lucerne cantonal list in the 2021 Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property (KGS) lists Villa Annemarie in Kastanienbaum as a Category B property.
Research and Wine
Eawag in Kastanienbaum offers public tours and lectures, including presentations on research projects relating to surface waters. Visitors are also introduced to projects in fish ecology and evolution. This gives you a choice of specific research topics to explore during your stay. As the public programme may change, check in advance which dates are available.
According to the winery, a wine tasting in Kastanienbaum includes one sparkling wine, three white wines, three red wines and one sweet wine, served with local specialities. The selection may change. An introduction to the winery’s world of wine lasts 1½ to 2 hours and takes you right into the vineyard. Check in advance whether this activity is available on your visit date. The winery also holds a farm-gate sale every Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm; no booking is required. As the recurring sale arrangements may change, it is advisable to check the current hours.
Routes and Getting Around
The landscape of the Horw Peninsula as far as Kastanienbaum is shaped by agriculture and is also a recreational area with mountain biking routes and jogging trails. One specific option is the “Around the Horw Peninsula” cycling tour: it passes through Lucerne, Horw and Kastanienbaum and returns to Lucerne. The public park at Villa Krämerstein offers a scenic place to stop for a swim along the way. Check the park’s terms of use before your visit. About 600 metres past the Kastanienbaum boat station is the Krämerstein swimming area, which has toilet facilities; check their condition on site.
Another route from Horw to Lucerne goes around the Horw Peninsula, past Kastanienbaum and on to Lucerne. Check water conditions before setting out. A guided adventure hike from Lucerne takes a different route, leading via Felmis and Dickiwald to Kastanienbaum. The two activities therefore differ in both route and destination: the cycling tour returns to Lucerne, while the hike ends in Kastanienbaum. Check whether the guided hike is available before making firm plans.
Bus 21 runs from Lucerne to the “Kastanienbaum, Schiffstation” stop. This provides a practical guide for your journey; as timetables may change, check departure times before travelling.
For the broader travel overview: Horw.
