We The People

Devil’s bridge and Devil’s stone

The Schöllenen Gorge is an important access route and the shortest transit to the St. Gotthard Pass, but it was generally not used until the early 13th century because it involved crossing the turbulent Reuss river, swollen with snowmelt during the early summer. The first bridge across the river was built in 1230. It was a wooden bridge and needed frequent maintenance.

In the 16th century, the wooden bridge was replaced by a stone arch bridge. The road was essentially a mule track that only allowed for the transportation of goods by mule, up to the beginning of the 19th century. In 1799, this bridge witnessed one of the most dramatic battles of Suvorov’s Italian and Swiss expedition which took place during the Napoleonic Wars. During this battle the bridge was heavily damaged by the retreating French army. The bridge gave away in a storm in 1888.

The legend says that the locals, after trying and failing repeatedly to build a bridge over Schöllenen Gorge, looked to the Devil for help. The latter appeared and offered to solve the problem if he received the first soul to cross the bridge in return. No sooner said than done – the locals agreed.

When the time came to send a soul across the bridge, they began thinking about who should be sacrificed. In the end, they sent a billy goat across the bridge. The Devil got so furious that he picked up a rock and tried to knock down the bridge again. However, a religious woman etched a cross into the rock, and so the Devil couldn’t damage the bridge.

In 1994, the Swiss government issued a commemorative coin for the Teufelsbrücke. The obverse features a stylized scene of the devil holding the devil’s stone – the Teufelsstein – approaching the bridge to smash it. The 220 ton rock, allegedly picked up by the devil, is still there, though it had to be moved in 1973 by 127 meters in order to make room for the new Gotthard road tunnel.

SO THEY MOVED THE STONE WITH THE CROSS….CLEARING WAY FOR THE DEVIL

«300 000 Franken zum Teufel» NZZ 21.11.2016
Q: Why was the stone not blasted but moved?