Archaeologists uncover medieval bakery beneath Lucerne market
Saturday 8th August 2026 on 21:00 in
Switzerland
Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a medieval bakery beneath Kornmarkt, a market square in Lucerne’s old town, during construction work for underground waste containers, SRF reported. The bakery will be documented before the excavation is cleared for the containers.
The city is installing the containers near Lucerne’s old town hall. Because historical remains were considered likely beneath the paving, the Lucerne cantonal archaeology office was involved from the start of the project.
Archaeologists found a stone base that appeared to be a dry-stone wall. Its shape suggested it had supported a commercial oven. A dense layer of deposited charcoal nearby strengthened the interpretation.
The team concluded that the remains belonged to a medieval bakery after ruling out other workshops that would have required a large oven. Metalworking, for example, would have left slag, while a blacksmith’s work would have produced hammer scale.
The bakery was probably operating about 700 years ago, when bakers used their ovens to supply the city with bread. The location is more significant than the bakery itself, according to Fabian Küng, deputy cantonal archaeologist of Lucerne. It shows that Kornmarkt was not an open square at the time, but contained houses, confirming earlier assumptions based on written sources.
The archaeological team will document the excavation before construction continues. Small finds such as pottery fragments and bones will be placed in the cantonal archaeology office’s storage depot. The stones from the oven, however, will be disposed of unless they carry features such as an inscription.
Küng described the controlled dismantling and destruction of historical structures as part of the office’s daily work. Archaeologists are sent to construction sites when historical traces are suspected or discovered. Although excavations can delay building projects, Küng said developers are usually pleased once something is found.
He said material remains in the ground are important sources for historical research, alongside written records. There are no written sources, for example, about medieval bakeries in Lucerne.