Introduction
Welcome to Aarau, one of Switzerland's best-kept secrets and a town that possesses a unique architectural treasure found nowhere else in the country. Look up as you walk through the old town, and you will discover the Dachhimmel, painted eaves that decorate the undersides of the overhanging roofs with scenes, patterns, and ornaments in colours that range from delicate pastels to vivid blues and reds. More than seventy of these painted eaves survive, making Aarau's old town one of the most distinctive and photogenic in Switzerland.
Aarau is the capital of the Canton of Aargau and sits on the Aare River at the point where the river emerges from the Jura Mountains into the Swiss Mittelland. The town was founded around 1240 by the Counts of Kyburg and quickly grew into a prosperous trading centre. In 1798, Aarau had a brief moment of national glory when it served as the first capital of the Helvetic Republic, the short-lived centralised Swiss state created by Napoleon. That distinction lasted only five months before the capital was moved to Lucerne, but Aarau has never forgotten it.
The painted eaves are the legacy of a tradition that flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when Aarau's prosperous burghers commissioned artists to decorate not just the facades of their houses but the previously neglected undersides of the roof overhangs. The result is a town where the art is literally above your head, rewarding those who remember to look up.
Stop 1: Aarau Bahnhof and Approach — 47.3912, 8.0512
Exit the station and walk south toward the old town. The modern commercial district transitions quickly into the historic core, and within five minutes you will be among the medieval lanes and painted houses.
Aarau is a compact town of about 22,000 people, but its position at the junction of major transport routes has given it an importance disproportionate to its size. The Aare River, navigable downstream to the Rhine, provided a natural trade route, and the passes through the Jura to the north connected the Swiss Mittelland with Alsace and the Rhine Valley.
The Canton of Aargau, of which Aarau is the capital, was created in 1803 from territories that had previously been subject lands of Bern. The name Aargau simply means "Aare district," and the river is the defining feature of the canton's geography and identity.
Stop 2: Rathausgasse and First Painted Eaves — 47.3900, 8.0525
The Rathausgasse is the main street of the old town, and it is here that you will see your first painted eaves. Look up at the buildings on both sides of the street. Where the roofs project beyond the facade walls, creating a protective overhang, the underside of the eaves is decorated with painted scenes and patterns.
The tradition of painting eaves developed from a practical feature of Swiss architecture. The projecting roofs, known as Vordacher, were designed to protect the facade walls from rain and snow. The undersides of these overhangs were flat wooden surfaces, usually consisting of boards laid side by side, and they provided a natural canvas for decoration.
The earliest painted eaves in Aarau date from the sixteenth century, but the tradition reached its peak in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The subjects are extraordinarily varied: biblical scenes, classical mythology, landscapes, floral patterns, heraldic devices, geometric designs, and trompe l'oeil architectural motifs. Some are sophisticated works of art, clearly painted by skilled professionals; others are more naive, perhaps the work of local craftsmen or even the householders themselves.
The most striking feature of the painted eaves is their colour. Protected from direct sunlight and rain by the roof above, the paintings have retained their pigments with remarkable fidelity. Blues, reds, greens, and golds that would have faded to nothing on an exposed facade still glow with surprising intensity on the sheltered eave surfaces.
Stop 3: Haldenplatz — 47.3897, 8.0530
The Haldenplatz opens up as a small square at the heart of the old town. Several buildings around the square have particularly fine painted eaves, and this is a good place to stop and study the details.
One of the most elaborate examples shows a continuous landscape painting that wraps around the entire eave of a corner building. The scene depicts an idealised Swiss countryside with mountains, lakes, villages, and fields, painted in the delicate style of the late eighteenth century. The perspective is carefully managed to create an illusion of depth, so that looking up at the painting from the street below, you seem to be gazing into a vast landscape.
Another building displays a series of medallions containing portraits and allegorical figures. These may represent the virtues, the seasons, or the liberal arts, common subjects in the decorative programmes of wealthy Swiss households. The medallions are framed by elaborate painted mouldings that imitate carved stucco, a trompe l'oeil technique that demonstrates the skill of the painter and the ambition of the patron.
The preservation of these paintings has been a major concern for Aarau's cultural authorities. Exposure to weather, pollution, and structural movement can damage the fragile pigments, and a programme of conservation has been ongoing since the 1970s. The work involves painstaking cleaning, stabilisation, and in some cases careful retouching of the original paintwork.
Stop 4: Kirchgasse and the Stadtkirche — 47.3893, 8.0535
The Kirchgasse leads from the Haldenplatz to the Stadtkirche, the town church of Aarau. This Reformed church dates from the fifteenth century, with significant modifications in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its plain, whitewashed interior is typical of the Swiss Reformed tradition, which stripped churches of images and ornament in the name of spiritual purity.
The contrast between the austerity of the church interior and the exuberance of the painted eaves outside is striking and reveals an interesting cultural tension. The Reformed faith forbade religious images in churches but placed no prohibition on decorative art in secular settings. The result was that the creative energy that might have gone into church decoration was channelled instead into the ornamentation of private homes and public buildings, producing the remarkable tradition of painted eaves that makes Aarau unique.
The Kirchgasse itself has some of the finest painted eaves in the town. Look for the building that displays a series of putti, the chubby winged children that are a staple of Baroque and Rococo decoration. These little figures play musical instruments, hold garlands of flowers, and cavort among swags of fruit and foliage, all painted with a lightness and charm that bring a smile even after three centuries.
Stop 5: Schlossli and the Kyburg Heritage — 47.3888, 8.0528
At the southern edge of the old town, a small tower known as the Schlossli marks the site of the original Kyburg castle around which the town was built. The Counts of Kyburg founded Aarau around 1240, granting it town rights and encouraging settlement by offering privileges to merchants and craftsmen who established themselves here.
The Kyburg dynasty was one of the most powerful noble families in medieval Switzerland, controlling territories that stretched from the Jura to Lake Constance. When the last Count of Kyburg died without an heir in 1264, the Habsburgs absorbed their territories, and Aarau became a Habsburg possession. It remained so until 1415, when the Swiss Confederation conquered the Aargau and Aarau became a subject town of Bern.
The medieval street plan survives remarkably intact around the Schlossli. The narrow lanes, defensive in origin, create sheltered corridors that amplify sound and funnel pedestrian traffic in patterns that have not changed in seven centuries. The buildings along these lanes are among the oldest in the town, with stone ground floors and timber-framed upper stories that lean out over the lane, reducing the gap between buildings at roof level to barely an arm's span.
Stop 6: Haus zum Erker — 47.3895, 8.0520
The Haus zum Erker, the House of the Oriel, is one of the most photographed buildings in Aarau. Its name comes from the elaborately carved oriel window that projects from the first floor, a fine example of the Renaissance window bays that were status symbols for wealthy Swiss burghers.
But the real attraction is above. The painted eaves of this building are among the finest in the town, featuring a complex programme of allegorical figures, floral garlands, and architectural trompe l'oeil that demonstrate the highest standards of Swiss decorative painting. The colours are exceptionally well preserved, with deep blues and rich reds that have barely faded.
The technique used for most of Aarau's painted eaves is a form of secco painting, where pigments mixed with a binding medium (usually lime or casein) are applied to dry plaster or wood. This differs from true fresco painting, where pigments are applied to wet plaster and chemically bond with it as it dries. Secco painting is less durable than fresco but more flexible, as it can be applied to wooden surfaces and allows for finer detail and a wider range of colours.
Stop 7: Helvetic Republic Heritage — 47.3892, 8.0515
Walking through the western part of the old town, you pass several buildings associated with Aarau's brief but proud moment as the capital of Switzerland. On April 12, 1798, the Helvetic Republic was proclaimed in Aarau, replacing the old Swiss Confederation with a centralised unitary state modelled on the French Republic.
The Helvetic Republic was imposed by Napoleon as part of his reorganisation of Europe, and it was deeply unpopular with the Swiss, who valued their cantonal autonomy above all. But it brought genuine reforms: the abolition of feudal privileges, the introduction of equality before the law, and the guarantee of religious freedom. Many of these reforms were retained when the Helvetic Republic collapsed in 1803 and the cantonal system was restored.
Aarau's selection as capital was partly due to its central location and partly due to its reputation as a progressive, enlightened town. The first session of the new parliament was held in the town hall, and for five months Aarau was the political centre of Switzerland. The experience left a lasting mark on the town's identity, and Aarau still celebrates its heritage as the Hauptstadt, the capital, even if the title lasted only from April to September 1798.
Stop 8: Aare River Promenade — 47.3890, 8.0540
The walk ends at the Aare River promenade, where a tree-lined path follows the riverbank downstream. The Aare here is broad and powerful, its green waters flowing swiftly beneath the old town walls.
From the promenade, look back at the old town. The buildings rise above the river in a tier of facades, with the projecting roofs and their painted eaves creating a distinctive roofline that is unique to Aarau. From this angle, you can see how the overhanging roofs create a continuous canopy above the narrow lanes, sheltering pedestrians and protecting the painted eaves from the elements.
The Aare promenade is a favourite spot for locals, who come here to walk, jog, swim in summer, and simply enjoy the river. The tradition of Aare swimming is strong in Aarau as in other Aare towns, and on hot summer days the river is full of swimmers floating downstream in the clean, cold water.
Conclusion
Aarau is a town that rewards those who look up. Its unique tradition of painted eaves, found nowhere else in Switzerland in such concentration, transforms a walk through the old town into an art gallery with the sky as its ceiling. The colours, the craftsmanship, and the inventiveness of these decorations are a testament to the creativity of the Swiss burgher culture that produced them.
Practical Information
- Best Time: Sunny days provide the best light for viewing the painted eaves. Spring and autumn offer pleasant walking weather. The Saturday morning market adds liveliness to the old town.
- Wear: Comfortable shoes for the cobblestone lanes. A neck cushion or scarf can help if you spend a lot of time looking up.
- Bring: Binoculars for examining the painted eave details, which are often high above street level. A camera with a good zoom lens.
- Nearby Food: The Rathausgasse has several excellent cafes and restaurants. Try the local Aargauer Rueblitorte, a carrot cake that is the canton's signature dish.
- Getting There: Direct trains from Zurich (30 min), Bern (55 min), and Basel (45 min). Aarau is a major rail junction with excellent connections.