WELCOME TO THE HOHLE GASSE:
William Tell and Gessler

The HOHLE GASSE is a significant historical site situated in the heart of Switzerland. It connects the villages Kussnacht and Immensee and was originally part of the route Zurich-Zug-Immensee-Kussnacht-Fluelen-Gotthard.

		The William Tell chapel

Chapel erected
According to the «White book of Sarnen», William Tell shot the Habsburg Emperor’s bailiff Gessler in the HOHLEN GASSE with an arrow. Ägidius Tschudi (around 1530) tells us that a chapel was erected on the spot to commemorate the event and it was completely rebuilt 1638. The William Tell chapel (dedicated to St. Margaret and later the 14 Holy Helpers) was given an altarpiece by Caspar Wolf in 1760. Hans Bachmann painted the death of Gessler on the façade 1905 and the death of William Tell in the Schächenbach inside the chapel. The widening of the street 1822-23 and extension work carried out for the opening of the Gotthard railway in 1882 – the HOHLE GASSE led up to Immensee station – brought about a profound change in its appearance.
A collection by schoolchildren (1934) led to the establishment of the Swiss Foundation for the Protection of the HOHLE GASSE. This was followed by the construction of an alternative access road 1937 which saved the newly restored HOHLE GASSE from motorised traffic. The Foundation has worked to protect and restore this powerful symbol of the mythological roots of Swiss nationhood 2004/2005 and has made it accessible to wheelchair users. The renovation work also included the construction of an information pavilion..

Welcome again to the HOHLE GASSE