Rockfall

 

The village of Brienz in Switzerland has evacuated its 100 residents.

Why?

Some 71,000,000 cubic feet is expected to fall on the village caused by melting permafrost triggered by climate change.

It is not a just any village. There's a mention of a church in historical documents in the 800s and another mention in the late 1200s.

It's age is not what makes it special. When Rick and I visited, we discovered so many of the residents were wood carvers and had been for centuries. A variety of wood sculptures, beautiful, funny, historic were all over the village. Other wooden products were for sale in the few shops.

 

We had wanted to stop in Brienz because I had given Rick a wood carving of William Tell, (Wilheim in German) that was a copy of the famous statute in Altdorf carved in 1905 in Brienz. I'd been looking for a Tell statue for almost 4 years when he said it would be cool to have one. 

I finally found it in an Italian antique shop on-line. My fingers flew to the telephone for more information than the webpage brought. 

The shop owner spoke English, thank goodness. (My Italian is limited to food.) It arrived one day before Christmas.

 

 

It is as close to identical as possible to the original in Altdorf. Size of course differs. The original, made of bronze, is a giant four meters. Ours barely 60 centimeters high fits on a small cabinet.

I've always been amazed at the detail in the wood carving even to the two perpendicular wrinkles between the eyebrows.

 

The original statue was designed by Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling, who won the commission as part of a competition.

The day we were in Brienz was beautiful. Besides looking in all the closed wood carving shops , we sat along the lake, checked out the various carvings, admired the architecture. The memory of that day adds to the pleasure each time we look at our statue. 

The idea that the village will be decimated by rocks is nothing but sad. I find myself checking for news from Brienz along with the international and U.S. news each day. As of Tuesday, May 6 it is still there.