Bad
This film about the dramatic events at Lake Sihl is touching and surprisingly current
The restored documentary “The Dream of the Big Blue Water” by Karl Saurer will be screened this Sunday at the Bourbaki Lucerne and the following Sunday at the Schwyz cinema.
If you see the Sihlsee near Einsiedeln today, you might think it has always been there. But only 85 years have passed since the creation of the largest reservoir in Switzerland. Director Karl Saurer, himself from Gross near Einsiedeln, was only six when the valley was flooded in 1937. And the houses in the water have disappeared. Until then, around 500 people had lived in the upper valley reservoir. 1700 people were affected in their existence due to the flood.
Short break during fatigue: the Sihlsee workers pose for a photo.
Karl Saurer, winner of the 2018 Culture Prize of the Canton of Schwyz, pursued this intervention in the landscape and in the emotions of contemporary witnesses for his film “The dream of the great blue water”. The film was released in 1993. Elena M. Fischli, longtime partner and executor of Karl Saurer’s work, had the documentary film restored so that it can now be shown in cinemas. Karl Saurer himself died in mid-2020, in the midst of preparations for the restoration.
At that time 120 farms were lost
Karl Saurer’s film could not be more current. Given the imminent lack of electricity, the question still arises today: how much does energy and progress cost? And how do you manage resources? Sihltal farmers were expropriated to generate energy from the reservoir. 120 farms have been lost. Their peat was no longer required and electricity had to be generated from Lake Sihl. It was a useless struggle of the little ones against the acquisition of land for a hydroelectric plant. In the film, eyewitnesses recounted what it was like for them to leave the valley floor and how they found a new home and livelihood elsewhere.
One of the many families who had to leave their homes.
Hard work for 95 cents an hour
Also disturbing are the images of the construction work and the stories of men working in difficult conditions for 95 cents an hour and building dams, viaducts and dams. The subsequent political struggle of the hermits to reconquer the lake and the SBB factory was also impressive. It is surprising how the ecological issues that are central today are addressed by farmers, politicians and workers.
In his documentary, Karl Saurer approaches people and their emotions. It documents, shows and offers the public the space to think for themselves and to draw parallels with the present. Understanding this history of the past 85 years is particularly valuable to the population of the districts of Einsiedeln and Höfe, where the new Etzelwerk concession will be put to a vote on 27 November. Because SBB, as the owner of the reservoir and the power station, has to sign a new concession contract with the cantons of Schwyz, Zug and Zurich.
There will be special screenings of “The dream of the great blue water” in the presence of Elena M. Fischli next Sunday at 11 at the Bourbaki cinema in Lucerne and on Sunday 13 November also at 11 at the Schwyz cinema.
Works on the viaduct.
