Pfaffnau: St. Urban Abbey, Churches and Hiking Trails
Accommodation in Pfaffnau
Pfaffnau offers a range of reasons to stay: the Baroque complex of St. Urban Abbey, churches and historic buildings in the village, and hiking trails through the cultural landscape of the Rottal water meadows. Recurring festivals also shape the calendar year. Depending on whether you are interested in architecture, art or nature, you can focus on different things during your trip.
St. Urban Abbey: Baroque Architecture and Culture
The church and convent buildings of St. Urban are among Switzerland’s most outstanding examples of Cistercian architecture and culture. The Baroque church, with its tall twin towers and imposing convent wings, features a Baroque organ with 2,500 pipes and a monumental organ case. An art history tour lasts about 90 minutes and introduces the abbey church, library, banquet hall and Baroque staircase.
St. Urban Abbey hosts concerts, readings, contemporary art and architecture exhibitions; art history tours are also available. The private art and culture centre art-st-urban includes the moca-st-urban museum, a sculpture park with an orangery, and an artist-in-residence programme. The sculpture park offers permanent and temporary exhibitions year-round, with free admission. Check the current tours and exhibitions before your visit. St. Urban railway station is about a three-minute walk from art-st-urban; check the timetable for your travel dates.
Churches and Local History
The neoclassical parish church of St. Vincent stands on a hill above the village. It was built mainly between 1809 and 1812 under the patronage of St. Urban Abbey. The ceiling paintings in the nave are by Xaver Hecht, a painter from Willisau. Together with the rectory, tithe house and St. Anthony’s Chapel, the church forms Pfaffnau’s distinctive village centre.
The rectory also tells of the connection with St. Urban: the Rococo palace was built between 1764 and 1765 as a summer residence for the abbey. St. Anthony’s Chapel stands next to the former site of Pfaffnau’s church and dates from 1687. A castle site above Burghof and the local field names also bear witness to Pfaffnau’s history.
Hiking Trails and Cultural Landscape
The chapel trail in the Pfaffnerntal passes many sacred treasures. It is well signposted, has no significant changes in elevation and is considered family-friendly. The trail can be reached by bus from Reiden or Zell railway stations; by car, take the Reiden exit on the A2 and then follow the signposted route. A brochure with a map excerpt and descriptions of the sacred buildings is available at St. Vincent’s parish church.
The Napfbergland Border Trail is signposted as Route 65 with SwitzerlandMobility’s official hiking trail markers. A 1.5-kilometre section runs between St. Urban, Altbüron and Melchnau through the Rottal water meadows. This increasingly rare cultural landscape of national importance provides a habitat for many plant and animal species that have also become rare. Another hike between Roggliswil and Pfaffnau takes about two hours and leads to three carp ponds and a nature reserve pond.
The Burgwald circular hike starts and ends in Pfaffnau and leads to Eberdingen. There, views open up across the Swiss Plateau as far as the mountains. At Ă„schweiher, a mown path follows the irrigation channel from the gravel car park to the pond. It is surrounded by species-rich wet meadows and an enhanced, extensively managed water meadow. With a little luck, you may spot a kingfisher; beaver tracks and several amphibian species can also be seen at the pond. Check local trail conditions before setting out. GrĂĽenbodeweiher, on the edge of the forest, is surrounded by a rich variety of flora; stone benches invite you to linger. Common toads, common frogs, alpine newts and yellow-bellied toads have been observed there.
Festivals Throughout the Year
Since 1778, the feast day of St. Urban has always been celebrated on the second weekend in October and has grown into a popular festival. The St. Urban-Roggwil Abbey Fair stretches from St. Urban in the Lucerne municipality of Pfaffnau to Roggwil in the canton of Bern. About 200 market traders sell their wares at the Sunday market, after which thousands of visitors stream through the market. As programme details may vary from year to year, check the event dates for your trip. Since 2005, the Rottal Harvest Festival has showcased specialities from the Rot catchment area once a year. Check the date and venue for the relevant year as well.
Discover more destinations: Menznau, Ufhusen, Willisau, Dagmersellen, Gettnau, Reiden, Menzberg, Wikon.
Back to the main travel overview: Willisau.
