Model of the Goldau landslide 1806 – before

On 2 September 1806, some 40 million cubic metres of rock broke loose and within minutes engulfed the village of Goldau and large parts of the valley under a 10–50 metre thick layer of rubble. In the Age of Enlightenment, the avalanche was no longer perceived to be a judgement of God. It had a scientifically explicable cause, which can be understood from the model. The tailor Joseph Martin Baumann was a native of Goldau. For many years, he worked to make the village visible again and illustrate the extent of the avalanche. An increase in rock avalanches is to be expected as a result of climate change, due to the slippage of rock strata no longer bound together by ice.