History Henri Guisan monument inaugurated in the Gotthard Fortress
The mural on the Gotthard Pass inaugurated on Saturday.
Image: Keystone
Between army chief Thomas Süssli (3rd from left) and Ticino State Councillor Norman Gobbi (2nd from right): a double of General Guisan.
Image: Keystone
Soldiers on horseback also attended the inauguration of the General Guisan monument.
Image: Keystone
The Sasso San Gottardo Museum, where the monument was opened, is located in the kilometers of tunnels and huge caverns of the Gotthard fortress.
Image: Keystone
The mural on the Gotthard Pass inaugurated on Saturday.
Image: Keystone
Between army chief Thomas Süssli (3rd from left) and Ticino State Councillor Norman Gobbi (2nd from right): a double of General Guisan.
Image: Keystone
Soldiers on horseback also attended the inauguration of the General Guisan monument.
Image: Keystone
The Sasso San Gottardo Museum, where the monument was opened, is located in the kilometers of tunnels and huge caverns of the Gotthard fortress.
Image: Keystone
A monument to the general Henri Guisan was erected in the Gotthard Fortress on Saturday to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth. Ticino State Councillor Norman Gobbi also attended the ceremony on the Gotthard Pass on Saturday.
31.08.2024, 13:30
SDA
To mark the anniversary, the museum in the Gotthard fortress installed the Guisan monument in the form of meter-high murals on the armoured entrance gates, which weigh several tons.
When the gates are closed, Guisan riding his horse Nobs forms a colorful eye-catcher, according to a press release. If the gates are open when the museum is open, the monument is transformed into two parts, which are attached to the inner surfaces of the portal wings: In memory of the general's solidarity with the people, he greets guests entering and leaving with a friendly gesture.
A yellow tower is emblazoned on the opposite gate wing. The symbol of the fortress troops is a reminder that the fortress was built as a central defensive bulwark in the Alpine region as part of the general's Reduit strategy.
Museum Director Damian Zingg is convinced that studying Guisan and his history is very instructive. "It is about leadership, strategy and tactics, it is about authenticity, credibility, exemplary communication in the language of those being addressed and the ability to gain the trust of the people in all language regions of the country," Zingg is quoted as saying in a press release.
In the knowledge that the current armed conflicts are developing their own dynamic, the outcome of which is highly uncertain, it is definitely worth taking a look at Guisan and his time, explained Zingg.
General shortly before the start of the world war
The Swiss commander-in-chief during the Second World War, Henri Guisan, was born 150 years ago on October 21 in Mézières VD. As the situation in Europe came to a head in the summer of 1939, he was elected General of the Army by the Federal Assembly on August 30, 1939 - a military rank that does not exist in the Swiss army in peacetime. Two days later, the German Wehrmacht invaded Poland on Hitler's orders and the Second World War began.
In his report on the Rütli on July 25, 1940, he presented the réduit strategy for concentrating military defence in the Alpine region. Guisan died on April 7, 1960 in Pully near Lausanne.
The Sasso San Gottardo Museum is located in the kilometer-long tunnels and huge caverns of the Gotthard fortress. It is open from June to mid-October and is divided into two sections: "Exhibitions" and "Historical Fortress". The Metro del Sasso funicular runs between the two sectors.
