Switzerland's 2.5-Billion-Franc Cleanup of an 80-Year-Old Military Blunder

Decades of prosperity have given the Swiss state an unshakeable faith that even mountain ranges will comply with an administrative schedule. Nearly eight decades after a military ammunition depot exploded in Mitholz, Bern has finalized a grand 2.59-billion-franc master plan to tidy up the lethal mess. The project, managed by the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, is meticulously projected to run until 2047.

In 1947, the catastrophic blast buried roughly 3,000 tons of unexploded ordnance beneath rock and debris in the Bernese Oberland. Among the remnants resting under the Fluh rock face are an estimated 2,400 missing aerial bombs. Decades later, officialdom still cannot say how many detonated in the original inferno and how many sit waiting in the dark.

Characteristically, actual removal of the explosive buried payload will not begin until 2038. The intervening decade is reserved for elaborate preparation. Engineering teams must literally shave off layers of unstable rock peaks, including the Zweispitz and Dreispitz, to prevent mountain collapses during excavation. Transport routes require concrete defenses, and underground cavities must be secured. A preliminary filling of the former railway tunnel with expanded clay was completed in September 2026, only to be dug out again when main operations start.

This bureaucratic patience comes with a staggering price tag. Preparatory and protective measures alone account for 1.09 billion francs, nearly half the total budget, while 147 million francs have already been absorbed. Meanwhile, 56 locals inside the safety perimeter have been obliged to leave their homes behind.

The official schedule envisions main clearance concluding in 2044, followed by land remediation and the eventual return of displaced residents. Whether a mountain containing thousands of forgotten bombs will cooperate with a thirty-year planning horizon is another matter entirely. Swiss administrative thoroughness is legendary, but expecting nature and volatile explosives to follow a slide-deck timeline reflects a remarkably naive confidence in state engineering.

Written by Christiane Hofreiter christiane.hofreiter@alpineweekly.com