Exploring the Unusual Goat Rituals at the Gotthard Base Tunnel: A Deep Dive into Swiss Folklore

The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest railway tunnel, officially opened in 2016, connecting northern and southern Switzerland through a 35-mile journey deep beneath the Swiss Alps. While the tunnel is a marvel of engineering and a modern transportation feat, it also holds a unique connection to Swiss folklore. Specifically, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is home to a peculiar ritual involving goats.

Swiss folk tradition holds that goats have the ability to predict natural disasters, specifically rockfalls and landslides. According to legend, the goats will refuse to cross certain areas if they sense danger, and thus, their behavior is closely monitored by tunnel workers. The ritual of the “goat walk” is performed before each tunnel excavation, where a group of goats are led through the proposed tunnel route. If the goats refuse to cross a certain area, it is considered a bad omen and the tunnel workers will not proceed with excavation in that location.

This goat ritual has been carried out for centuries and is still practiced today at the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The goats used in the ritual are specially trained and have been passed down through generations of Swiss farmers. The farmers responsible for the goats are known as “goat walkers” and are considered…