45 & 46. Göschenen Village, Switzerland - 18 Sept 1900 | Glass Plates
Göschenen is a picturesque Swiss village surrounded by forest covered mountains.
These two glass plates capture views of Göschenen: the first being taken inside the village, giving a clear view of the houses and church; the second is more distant shot from the outskirts of the village, displaying the scale of the mountains that surround Göschenen and captures the waterfall backdrop of the Rientalbach cascading down Rienzenstock.
Taking its Toll
First mentioned in the records in 1290, Göschenen lay in the centre of the Schöllenen Gorge as a stopping point for muleteer travellers as they made their way north or south through the Gotthard Pass. The toll bridge, with an arch dating from 1590, collected a small fee from all who passed through the village.
This toll was collected for centuries until 1830, when a larger traffic bridge downriver neared completion; it was from this modern bridge that glass plate 45 was taken.
Constructing the Gotthard Tunnel
Undoubtedly, the most active period in Göschenen’s history was during the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel between 1872 and 1882, when the local population quadrupled due to the influx of railway construction works and their families. It was to be the longest tunnel constructed anywhere in the world up to that point, connecting Göschenen by rail to Airolo.
As glass plate 47 is of a train steaming into this tunnel, I will leave telling its ingenious, dramatic, and sometimes tragic history until next time…
References
‘Göschenen’, Andermatt website <https://www.andermatt.ch/en/cities/goeschenen-f3807c6274>
‘Göschenen Toll Bridge’, Andermatt website <https://www.andermatt.ch/en/attractions/goeschenen-toll-bridge-b26f584691>
1900 Glass Plates: This project explores a series of glass plates from the year 1900 with the eventual goal of travelling the same route as the photographer. It will be a varied journey that will stretch from simple blog posts examining each photo to videos and more. This project is in collaboration with photographer Aleksandar Nenad Zecevic, who’ll be restoring the photographs to bring out details dimmed by time. More to follow.
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