KKL Luzern

History

"I like to think of my buildings as my children. The KKL Luzern is my first, very, very beautiful international child."

Jean Nouvel, Architect of KKL Luzern

  • Architecture Water Channels Concert Hall with visitors in the KKL Luzern
  • Caroline Chevin with band on stage at the KKL Luzern
  • Jean Nouvel architect of the KKL Luzern in an interview at the 25th anniversary of the KKL Luzern
  • Visitors in front of the stage on the Europaplatz during the 25th anniversary of the KKL Luzern
  • Stephan Eicher with a bouquet of flowers at the 25th anniversary concert in the concert hall of the KKL Luzern

25th anniversary

Under the motto "Experiencing unique moments together", around 20,000 visitors celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Concert Hall on 16/17 September 2023. The anniversary weekend offered a varied programme of concerts, tours and talks, most of which were free of charge. The events in the building were mostly sold out and almost 1000 people took the opportunity to discover the KKL Luzern on a guided tour. Architect Jean Nouvel was also a guest at the birthday of "his KKL Luzern" and was delighted to experience it in such a lively and diverse way. This celebration would not have been possible without our partners. We would especially like to thank the Club of Lucerne for making the varied music programme on the Europaplatz possible and all other organisations for their generous support!
History 1998-today

The Concert Hall was opened on 18 August 1998 with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, the Lucerne Trumpet Ensemble and the then President of the Swiss Confederation, Flavio Cotti. The following day, the opening concert of the Lucerne International Music Festival (now the Lucerne Festival) took place with conductor Claudio Abado and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Wings A and B were also opened in March 2000 and the Lucerne Art Museum in June. The RED and World Café restaurants followed in 2004. In 2016, or more than 17 years after opening, the KKL Luzern exceeded the billion mark in terms of added value for the first time. Every year, the KKL Luzern generates around 75 million Swiss francs in added value for the city and region of Lucerne, as the HSG calculated in its 2011 added value study. Philipp Keller has been CEO of KKL Luzern Management AG since 2017. The current President of the KKL Foundation, Markus Moll, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Felix Howald, have both been in office since 2019. The restaurants Le Piaf and Lucide were opened in 2020. The Lucide restaurant has been awarded 16 Gault Millau points and one Michelin star. The coronavirus pandemic hit the KKL Luzern hard. For almost two years, events were only possible to a limited extent or not at all. The culinary facilities had to be partially or completely closed again and again. In February 2022, almost all measures were lifted and operations could resume in all business areas. The year 2023, the year of the 25th anniversary, was the first in which the company was fully operational again and achieved a very successful result.

Architecture Festivities Concert Hall at KKL Luzern
History 1980-1998

In 1980, the poor structural condition of the old culture and congress centre, designed by architect Armin Meili in 1933/1934, became known. In the subsequent architectural competition, Jean Nouvel and Emmanuel Cattani win the contract for a new concert hall in Lucerne. Management consultant Thomas Held becomes overall coordinator of the cultural area. At the request of the International Music Festival, the acoustician Russell Johnson from New York was brought in in 1992. In 1993, the government of the city and canton of Lucerne and then in 1994 the voters of the city of Lucerne approved the costs of 94 million francs for the construction of a new culture and congress centre. On 21 January 1995, the ground-breaking ceremony is celebrated. Two years before the opening, KKL Luzern Management AG was founded in 1996.

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