Let me introduce you to the Gotthard region—a slice of Switzerland that’s part historic marvel, natural wonder, and part workout disguised as a vacation. Nestled in the Alps, it’s where glaciers whisper their ancient secrets, tunnels defy physics, and goats shamelessly steal your snacks.

I came here looking for adventure, a touch of history, and maybe an Instagram-worthy selfie. What I found was blisters, stories I’ll be telling for years, and an alarming respect for Swiss cheese.

Act I: The Devil’s in the Details

The Gotthard Pass has been Europe’s main artery for centuries. Merchants, pilgrims, and armies slogged through this treacherous route, driven by ambition and a deep mistrust of Google Maps. At the center of it all is the Devil’s Bridge, a structure so legendary it comes with its own infernal backstory.

devils bridge

The legend goes like this: the villagers needed a bridge but lacked the know-how. So naturally, they called in the Devil. He agreed to build it but demanded the first soul to cross as payment. Clever villagers sent a goat instead. The Devil, not a fan of loopholes, hurled a boulder in fury. (Frankly, I’d have just demanded my consulting fee.)

Standing on the bridge, I marveled at its timeless design and the fact that it hadn’t been renamed “Goat Memorial Bridge.” History is weird like that.

Act II: Nature’s Gym Membership

If the Gotthard Pass is the region’s historical heart, its trails are the lungs. Lungs that you’ll need in excellent shape, by the way, because every hike here feels like a fitness test disguised as a scenic stroll.

Take my trek to Lake Lucendro. The guidebook called it a “moderate hike,” which I quickly realized was Swiss for “you might survive, but don’t count on it.” As I trudged uphill, wheezing like an old accordion, I questioned every life choice that led me to this point.

But then—oh, the payoff! The lake appeared, shimmering like a jewel cradled by rugged peaks. I collapsed on a rock, ate a sandwich, and tried to look contemplative for a photo while secretly hoping my legs wouldn’t mutiny on the way down.

on the way down I approached an old, what looked like a cattle stall or barn, being curious, I peeked through the cracks of the wooden walls, and what I saw almost freaked me out.. a 50mm canon, all rusty, but still facing SW, left over from the second world war! Camouflaged by a barn!

Canon Barn & Rock Camouflage

Of course, the wildlife here doesn’t care about your existential crises. Marmots chirped at me like gossiping neighbors, by the way. They make a great muscle & joint pain relieving ointment with the fat of the marmots) and ibexes surveyed my sweaty form with unearned superiority. And then there was the goat—a bold creature with no respect for personal space or property rights. After a tense negotiation involving my granola bar, we parted ways. I’m pretty sure he won.

Act III: Culture Shock (But in a Good Way)

Gotthard culture is a delightful mix of German precision, Italian flair, and Romansh mystery, all wrapped in a blanket of Alpine charm. And nowhere is this more evident than in the food.

In a tiny village inn, I was introduced to the holy trinity of Swiss cuisine: bread, cheese, and stories. The locals served up fondue with a side of folklore, including a tale about the Tschäggättä—mysterious Alpine spirits that roam the valleys in winter. Supposedly, they scare off evil spirits and the occasional tourist who overstays their welcome.

I also tried a local specialty, famous in the canton of Uri, the canton where you either start your journey through the Gotthard or end up starting from the Tessin, the Italian part of Switzerland.

Riis & Poor

The fondue itself was a revelation. Molten cheese, crusty bread, and the unspoken rule that dropping your bread into the pot meant you’d either sing or pay for everyone’s drinks. I didn’t drop my bread, but I may have sung anyway. The yodeling lesson didn’t hurt either.

Conclusion

The Gotthard region is many things: a gateway to history, a playground for nature lovers, and a test of your cardiovascular endurance. It’s where you can stand on a bridge built by (allegedly) Satan, share your lunch with an overly enthusiastic goat, and end your day with cheese-induced euphoria.

As I boarded the train home, sore but happy, I couldn’t help but smile. The Gotthard isn’t just a place you visit; it’s a place that visits you back—in the form of stories, laughter, and the occasional phantom muscle cramp.

So, pack your boots, bring your appetite, and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime. And maybe keep an extra granola bar handy. You never know when you’ll meet a hungry goat.

WHAT WILL BE BUILT?

The main Tunnel

The main tunnel runs parallel to the first tube at a distance of approx. 70 meters and will also be 16.9 kilometers long. The second tube will be connected to the existing tunnel system. The tunnel cross-section is round and has a diameter of approx. 12.3 meters. The lane in the tunnel, including the emergency lane, will be around 8 meters wide. A total of 68 connecting tunnels are planned at intervals of 250 meters along the entire length of the tunnel. The space above the roadway is available for the ventilation systems and is connected to the existing ventilation shafts.

Two service ducts are provided in the cavity under the roadway. All lines for electricity, communication, and extinguishing water, which are necessary for the maintenance of the tunnel, are installed in a canal. The second channel provides space for third-party infrastructures. For example, the power grid operator Swissgrid: They are replacing their existing high-voltage line over the Gotthard Pass with a new line in the road tunnel. Linking such a line to a road tunnel is a pioneering project across Europe. After commissioning, the old line over the Gotthard Pass will be dismantled.

The Gotthard tunnel between Göschenen, Uri, and Airolo, Ticino, needs extensive renovations and repairs. That would require a full lockdown of the tunnel. So that the north-south connection can be maintained during the renovation, the Federal Roads Office FEDRO will be building a second tunnel tube over the next few years. It is expected to be operational in 2029. Then the repair of the first, existing tube will start. Both tunnels will then be available as of 2032. Only one lane will be open in each direction, so the traffic capacity through the Gotthard will not be increased. 

Delia, the name of the tunnel boring machine, is characterized by the pink color of its “body”. Ten elements with different equipment and installations are attached to the drill head so that the ready-to-use drilling machine has a total length of 175 meters and a total weight of 1,100 tons.

After the start-up phase, Delia will begin drilling through rock in August 2022 to the southern geological fault zone, 4.9 km away, which it is expected to reach in June 2023. With a head diameter of “only” 7.4 meters, Delia is one of two small tunnel-boring machines used on this site. In the main tunnel, two tunnel boring machines with a diameter of 12.3m work.

THE REGION

The construction of the second tube affects the surrounding region, the Urner Oberland and the Leventina Valley. The environmental compatibility of the project has been proven, but there are still unavoidable effects. These are compensated for with appropriate environmental protection measures to upgrade habitats and landscapes in the region.

LAKE DEPOSIT IN LAKE URI

The train transports around 3.5 million tons of rock material from the excavation of the second tube to Flüelen. There it is used for the renaturation of shallow water zones in Lake Uri. In this case, renaturation means the restoration of near-natural habitats and an increase in biological diversity

WAS WIRD GEBAUT?

Der Hauptunnel

Der Haupttunnel verläuft in ca. 70 Meter Distanz parallel zur ersten Röhre und wird ebenfalls 16,9 Kilometer lang sein. Die zweite Röhre wird an das bestehende Tunnelsystem angeschlossen. Der Tunnelquerschnitt ist rund und hat einen Durchmesser von ca. 12,3 Meter. Die Fahrbahn im Tunnel inklusive Pannenstreifen wird rund 8 Meter breit. Auf der gesamten Tunnellänge sind im Abstand von jeweils 250 Metern insgesamt 68 Verbindungsstollen geplant. Der Raum über der Fahrbahn steht für die Lüftungsanlagen zur Verfügung und er wird mit den bestehenden Lüftungsschächten verbunden.

Im Hohlraum unter der Fahrbahn sind zwei Werkleitungskanäle vorgesehen. In einem Kanal werden alle Leitungen für Strom, Kommunikation und Löschwasser installiert, die für den Unterhalt des Tunnels notwendig sind. Der zweite Kanal bietet Platz für Infrastrukturen von Dritten. Beispielsweise für die Stromnetzbetreiberin Swissgrid: Sie ersetzt ihre bestehende Hochspannungsleitung über den Gotthardpass durch eine neue Leitung im Strassentunnel. Die Verknüpfung einer solchen Leitung mit einem Strassentunnel ist europaweit ein Pionierprojekt. Nach der Inbetriebnahme wird die alte Leitung über den Gotthardpass zurückgebaut.

Der Gotthard-Strassentunnel zwischen Göschenen, Uri, und Airolo, Ticino, braucht eine umfangreiche Instandsetzung. Dafür wäre eine Vollsperrung notwendig. Damit die Nord-Süd-Verbindung während der Sanierung aufrechterhalten werden kann, baut das Bundesamt für Strasse ASTRA in den nächsten Jahren eine zweite Tunnelröhre. Sie ist voraussichtlich ab 2029 in Betrieb. Danach steht die Instandsetzung der ersten Röhre an. Ab 2032 stehen dann beide Tunnel zur Verfügung. Pro Richtung wird stets nur eine Fahrspur offen sein, die Verkehrskapazität durch den Gotthard wird also nicht erhöht.Delia, die Tunnelbohrmaschine, zeichnet sich durch die rosa Farbe ihres «Körpers» aus. Zehn Elemente mit verschiedenen Ausrüstungen und Installationen werden an den Bohrkopf angehängt, so dass die einsatzbereite Bohrmaschine eine Gesamtlänge von 175 Metern und ein Gesamtgewicht von 1’100 Tonnen erreicht.

Nach der Startphase wird Delia, der name der Tunnelbohrmaschine, sich ab August 2022 bis zur 4,9 km entfernten geologischen Störzone Süd durch den Fels bohren, welche sie im Juni 2023 erreichen soll. Mit einem Kopfdurchmesser von «nur» 7,4 Metern ist Delia eine von zwei kleinen Tunnelbohrmaschinen, die auf dieser Baustelle eingesetzt werden. Im Haupttunnel werden zwei Tunnelbohrmaschinen mit einem Durchmesser von 12,3 m arbeiten.

Agtifuturo takes fair trade to a new level. The Altorf-based company purchases green coffee directly from the farms and even operates its own cultivation business in Colombia. In doing so, the company bypasses an inflated retail chain and can pay a much higher price than usual for green coffee. In return, the producers can rely on quality instead of size. All processing including packaging and distribution takes place in Altdorf. The coffee is therefore characterized by a special regionality as well as social and economic sustainability. “For example, we are currently working on being able to deliver unpackaged coffee to larger customers,” says Claudio Marty.

Despite its small size, large quantities

Due to the business model, many think that Agtifuturo only processes small amounts. Not even close! “Without additional investments, we can already produce 60 tons of coffee a year,” says Claudio Marty. He and his wife are therefore completely in a position to also supply large catering establishments – and at very competitive prices The aforementioned environment of inflated trading structures as well as the relatively small size of the company make up for it.

No problem despite the problems

Claudio Marty and Yesenia Rosero owe their success to meticulous planning and calculation. The times are suitably anything but cheap: Green coffee is currently scarce and correspondingly expensive; In addition, there is the currently tense political situation in Colombia, where the company’s coffee farm is located. Claudio Marty assures us: “On the one hand, we pay the coffee farmers the best prices; on the other hand, we are concentrating on other production countries, such as Brazil.” There is also room for maneuvering about the types of coffee. Although it would be possible, even very special types of coffee, such as single-farm coffees, have never run out. Anything that is needed in larger quantities is not a problem anyway, because there are enough alternatives here to deliver to customers in any case.

KONTAKT

Agrifuturo GmbH

Agrifuturo Webseite – hier clicken

In the afternoon he took part in the swearing-in of 24 new Swiss Guardsmen. Because of the pandemic, the swearing-in ceremony took place in the narrowest possible framework and without guest cantons, as the Swiss Guard wrote. Only parents and siblings of the new guardsmen as well as the families of the active guardsmen were allowed to take part in addition to a few selected representatives from Switzerland.The new guardsmen come from the cantons of Aargau, Lucerne, Bern, Nidwalden, Zurich, Valais, Solothurn, Waadt, Thurgau, Graubünden, Ticino, Freiburg and St.Gallen. For the first time, the celebration was broadcast via live stream, from Vatican Radio. “This morning I had the honor of talking to Pope Francis,” tweeted Guy Parmelin on his visit to the Papal States in the early afternoon. He also spoke to Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin.

Guard in “Gran Gala”

The Garde presented themselves at the inauguration later in the afternoon in “Gran Gala”, ie in uniform including armor. This is usually only worn for the papal blessing “Urbi et Orbi” at Christmas and Easter.

The body of the Pontifical Swiss Guard was founded in 1506 by Pope Julius ° II. founded, discontinued twice, and only reorganized in 1810. The defense of Pope Clement VII against the numerically far superior Sösdner army of Emperor Charles V at the Sacco di Roma – the sack of the Holy City – in 1527 is remembered. 147 Swiss Guards perished at that time.

The Swiss Guard is still responsible for the Pope’s security today. The guard has been gradually increased from 110 to 135 men since 2018, as the Department of Economics, Education, and Research had announced before the inauguration. A member of the Papal Guard must be Swiss, at least 1.74 meters tall, younger than 30 years, and Catholic. The inauguration of the world’s smallest army always takes place on May 6th – in memory of Sacco di Roma.

Barracks expansion by 2027

In his address, Christoph Graf, the commander of the Swiss Guard, referred to the construction of the barracks, which should be completed on the 500th anniversary of the Sacco di Roma in 2027.

Because the Swiss Guard has increased its staff, the new building will offer up to 60 percent more space but consume 55 percent less energy, as reported by the kath.ch portal, which is closely related to the Swiss Bishops Conference.

A special challenge is therefore the outer facade of the barracks facing Via di Porta Angelica. This is also the border between the Vatican State and the Republic of Italy and should fit into the street scene. For this, they need the green light from Unesco.

Last year, 3471 people found themselves in an emergency in the Swiss Alps and had to be rescued.
That is more than ever before. 112 people had fatal accidents while hiking in the mountains, as the Swiss Alpine Club announced on Wednesday, March 10th.
With the relaxation of the Corona measures from mid-March 2020, the activities and thus the emergency and accident numbers increase

Of the 3471 mountaineers. 1172 those in dire straits or decrepit could be rescued in healthy conditions or with minor injuries.

A total of 180 deaths

A total of 180 people lost their lives in the mountains, 47 of them as a result of illness, mostly due to a cardiovascular problem. 21 more people trotting in sports such as delta and paragliding, base jumping, and the use of mountain bikes. In mountaineering, in the narrower sense, where no transport device was used, 112 mountaineers had fatal accidents.

What is striking is the significantly lower proportion of foreign victims compared to previous years. While this proportion was mostly well over 40 percent, it was 27 percent last year with 30 fatal accidents. According to the Swiss Alpine Club, the decrease is largely due to travel restrictions.

A total of 1627 people

were in dire straits while hiking. According to the Swiss Alpine Club, especially in spring and early summer as well as in autumn, it became clear that even simple mountain hiking trails become dangerous when shady sections of the trail are snow-covered or icy.
In 2020 there were particularly many accidents on such sections of the route, six of them fatal.

See the. Swiss Rega website here

as quoted in the Urner Wochenblatt, March 13, 2021