To the tourist, Switzerland is a beautiful country with flowery alps in summer
and sunny ski slopes in winter, a land of cheese, chocolate, and the Swiss
franc, i.e., therefore expensive.
Few of those visiting Switzerland know that the country is still a military
fortress where every male not only has to serve in the armed forces but keeps
his assault rifle together with a soldered-up can of ammunition in his
wardrobe.
Somehow this is a tradition, for in the Middle Ages, Swiss soldiers were known
for their crossbows, halberds, and bravery. On many occasions, they had fought
and won battles against the Kaiser and the Habsburgs. As a
result, the Eidgenossen (confederates) eventually gained independence
from the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Swiss soldiers were coveted by European powers and were fighting on all
fronts. In many a battle, the Swiss stood against the Swiss, and frequently
the country paid a high death toll. Nowadays, the only Swiss soldiers serving
outside Switzerland are those of the Swiss Guard protecting the Pope.
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Defending the Swiss border in 1914 (© DLM)
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The Swiss
Wehrwille (combat spirit) to defend the country was
strengthened during the two World Wars. They built the
Alpenfestung (Alpine Fortress) and mined strategic roads, tunnels, and
bridges, particularly those crossing the High Rhine. Extraordinary caves
inside the foundations were permanently filled with TNT to be exploded in case
of an invasion from the north. If it was not for the Germans, it was aimed
against the Warsaw Pact forces during the Cold War.
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Even the historical wooden bridge crossing the Rhine at Bad Säckingen
had explosive chambers filled with TNT (©dpa)
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Explosive chamber in the
Bad Säckingen bridg (©Lipp/Der
Sonntag)
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Only recently, Switzerland had emptied all foundations of bridges of their
permanent TNT loads. Red Baron does not know how often he had passed over tons
of TNT crossing the Rhine between Switzerland and Germany in the past. Swiss
experts assured the somewhat astonished traveler that in case of a fire, TNT
would not explode but simply burn and stink. For an explosion, you need a
detonator, and they were always kept apart in good custody.
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Thanks for the article! It's great seeing all this information all in one place, I've gleaned much of this on several trips to Switzerland. On one occasion, I had driven to the end of the road above Elm, I had crossed the last one lane bridge where I was greeted by soldiers with rifles, they were completing their yearly service by guarding the military installation built into the mountain. Since then I have also visited a de-commissioned installation on the Gotthard Pass. We attended a lecture in a underground muster room and viewed several underground living quarters and mechanical rooms before heading on a 3 km tunnel walk (straight and uphill!) we surfaced quite a distance from where we entered! The TNT issue was also brought to our attention about destroying the big guns that were also in the installation. We stayed overnight at the hotel at the top of the pass. The next day we stopped when we saw the old Post carriage pulled by a team of horses, this was in 2011 the same year we crossed paths in Murten!
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