Materialising identity

Since its opening in 1882, the Gotthard Railway with its 15-kilometer long tunnel under the Gotthard Massif provides a crucial international link through the Swiss Alps between North-Western Europe and Italy. In contrast to many other railway lines, its symbolic meaning never sank into oblivion. In Swiss society today, references to the Gotthard myth are multifaceted and omnipresent. Not only do they evoke images of a technological railway project, they also allude to Swiss history, alpine nature and national identity. Reading this book assists in understanding old and contemporary discussions about the future of the Gotthard Railway, the regions in which it lies and the Swiss national identity.

Curiosity-driven, the research combines viewpoints from the history of technology, cultural studies and cultural geography to grasp the intensity of the Gotthard as a national Swiss image. Whereas the relation between the Gotthard Mountains and Swiss national identity has received ample scholarly attention, the role of the Gotthard Railway remains largely unexplored.

To illustrate to what extent historical actors co-constructed the railway and Swiss identity, the empirical chapters start with the analysis of an engineering discussion about tunneling methods. Hereafter, the book examines the reactions in Switzerland to the inauguration of the line. Subsequently, it describes the appreciation of the railway line portrayed in travel guides of the belle epoque. The last chapter captures the glory days of the Gotthard myth, before and during the Second World War, with a focus on the novels and plays in which the Gotthard Tunnel construction occurs. This historical overview offers insights in the multiple roles technology plays in the construction of a sense of national identity as well as illustrating how identity has an effect on the appropriation of a technological railway project.