Blatten: 'We Lost Everything, But Not The Joy Of Making Music'

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) A year after the devastating landslide that flattened most of the village of Blatten in the Swiss Alps, local associations have become the glue holding a scattered community together. The Fafleralp Blatten music society embodies the villagers' determination to keep ties alive, to regain a semblance of normality and to look to the future with optimism. Select your language

Generated with artificial intelligence. Listening: Blatten: 'We lost everything, but not the joy of making music' This content was published on May 28, 2026 - 09:00 9 minutes Luca Beti (text), Céline Stegmüller (photos, video)

Deutsch de Blatten: ((Wir haben alles verloren, aber nicht die Freude am Musizieren)) Read more: Blatten: ((Wir haben alles verloren, aber nicht die Freude am Musizie Français fr Un an après le drame de Blatten: ((Nous avons tout perdu, mais pas le plaisir de faire de la musique)) Read more: Un an après le drame de Blatten: ((Nous avons tout perdu, mais pas le plaisir de faire de la musi Italiano it Blatten,“Abbiamo perso tutto, ma non il piacere di fare musica” Original Read more: Blatten,“Abbiamo perso tutto, ma non il piacere di fare mu 日本語 ja ブラッテン土砂崩れから1年 被災者を支える音楽の力 Read more: ブラッテン土砂崩れから1年 被災者を支え Русский ru Деревня Блаттен: ((Мы потеряли всё, но не радость от музыки)) Read more: Деревня Блаттен: ((Мы потеряли всё, но не радость от муз

“The landslide has not taken away our joy in making music,” says Nicole Kalbermatten, who has been the president of the Fafleralp Blatten music society for the past seven years. We meet her in the village of Kippel, some five kilometres down the valley from the destroyed village of Blatten in the Lötschental. It is a Wednesday evening just before band practice. The musicians are trickling in, taking their instruments from their cases and starting to tune them.

At first, it looks like an ordinary band practice, but one thing seems odd. The walls display only the insignia and awards of the Alpenrose Kippel music society. There is nothing to suggest that the Fafleralp Blatten music societyExternal link meets here.“We lost almost everything in the landslide: our sheet music, uniforms, instruments, flag, archives,” Kalbermatten says.

A continued feeling of void

One year on, memories of the landslide recur more frequently, and with them feelings of deep sadness.“It's a well-known fact that, in the grieving process, something shifts after 12 months. Now that the snow is melting, I can see again the heap of debris and rocks that my house is buried under. Right now, I'd be tidying the garden,” Kalbermatten says.“But it's all gone. All that is left is an unbearable void. My heart aches whenever I look up the valley.”

On May 28, 2025, the village of Blatten, in southwestern Switzerland's Lötschental valley, was destroyed by a huge landslide caused by the collapse of the Birch Glacier. The mass of nine million cubic metres of debris buried 90% of the village, damming the River Lonza and creating an artificial lake.

Two weeks after the disaster, it was announced at a public meeting that the village would be rebuilt over the next three to five years. The estimated cost is at least CHF500 millionExternal link. The disaster sparked a surge of solidarity across Switzerland: CHF68 million has been raised to date.

In late April, work began on the construction of a new cantonal road connecting the lower valley with the villages of the upper Lötschental. It is scheduled to open at the end of 2029. In the meantime, a temporary cable car is being built, which is due to come into service in mid-December 2026.

The day tragedy struck, May 28, 2025, it was dark and rainy. Kalbermatten was at work. She watched the movement of the glacier via livestream on her office computer screen.

Suddenly, a large section of the glacier broke off. A huge cloud of dust billowed up and the power went out.“The screen went black, just like my heart,” she says. A colleague, who was following everything on his phone, exclaimed:“Now it's all coming down!” At that moment she realised that Blatten had gone. She stood rooted to the spot, unable to muster the courage to go outside, and her eyes filled with tears. Those who had stayed in the office fell into each other's arms.

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