In the Swiss canton of Schwyz, on Lake Wägital, floats a 180 centimeter high mark from optimal-sailing.com. However, regattas are never held here. The reservoir is not a sailing area - but a body of water with a special history.
100 years ago, in July 1924, a dam was built in the Wägital. Until 1929, it was the largest gravity dam in the world. The associated electricity power station was the largest in Europe. The dam and power station were built against many protests in order to supply Zurich, 40 kilometers away, with much-needed electricity.
The small village of Innerthal was located in the Wägital, above the new dam. It had to be abandoned and the valley was flooded by its dammed mountain streams within a short time after the dam was completed. The houses of the 336 villagers were demolished before the flooding and the church tower was blown up. The church and some of the houses were rebuilt at a higher point in the valley. Innerthal was later rebuilt. But most of the people moved away at that time.
So where does the regatta buoy come into play?
Some time before the 100th anniversary of the flooding of the Wägital, we received a request from the municipality of Innerthal. We designed a particularly sturdy version of our mark for the local parish office and delivered it to Switzerland. It now marks the location of the former village church at the bottom of the reservoir in Lake Wägital for locals and tourists - as a reminder of the old Innerthal, the fate of its inhabitants and the history beneath the surface of the water.
The parish of Wägital has erected a memorial to its old sunken church. A 1 meter 80 orange buoy floats in the reservoir where the church once stood.
If you are interested in the history of Lake Wägital, read on here.
