Matterhorn lighting comes to an end after five weeks

Light Art by Gerry Hofstetter (Photo: Frank Schwarzbach)

On behalf of the Valais tourist stronghold, light artist Gerry Hofstetter has been illuminating the Matterhorn every day between sunset and 11 p.m. since March 24 - as a sign of hope and solidarity during the coronavirus crisis. Hofstetter has been transforming buildings, monuments, landscapes and mountains around the world into temporary art objects since 1999.

For Zermatt, he projected lettering such as "hope", "solidarity" and "thank you" as well as numerous national flags and cantonal coats of arms onto Zermatt's local mountain, as Zermatt Tourism announced on Monday. The illuminations have attracted worldwide interest. Measured in terms of media coverage, it was probably one of the best campaigns.

Individual posts received up to 1.7 million likes on social media and were even shared by presidents and government representatives. The United Arab Emirates expressed their gratitude by illuminating their Burj Khalifa skyscraper with the Swiss flag.

Criticism from environmentalists

At the same time, the campaign was also criticized. The environmental protection organization Mountain Wilderness complained about the light pollution and criticized the staging as an "inappropriate marketing stunt".

Zermatt Tourism, on the other hand, justified the action by saying that no animals live on the Matterhorn and that the projections do not run all night. Nevertheless, the project should "not serve as a precedent" for further actions. The light on the Matterhorn has now gone out. But if, contrary to expectations, the crisis rises again, the sign of hope will also light up again. (SDA)