STÉPHANE HERZOG The small electric train descends into the ground and rumbles through the tunnels, where there is hardly room to stand. Numbered lamps cast some light along the way, although not enough to tell whether you’re going up or down. The wagon finally comes to a halt at an underground station. Our guide tells us that we have climbed about 20 metres over 1.6 kilometres of rail. The people who constructed these tunnels from the 17th century had their reasons for building them this way: “It’s better to be going downhill when you’re getting the rocks out of the mine,” explains Arnaud Tamborini, operations manager at Bex Salt Mines. All is calm at the small visitor station at the heart of this mountain. It’s 18° C and the relative humidity is 80 percent. Being in the bowels of the earth like this is oppressing and reassuring at the same time. Welcome to Bex Salt Mines, in the canton of Vaud. This is Switzerland’s sole salt mine, in a region where there used to be several of them. Back in the day, brine – salt-saturated water – extracted from the rocks used to be placed in large kettles heated by wood fires to extract the precious salt. Bex is also the only mine in SwitSwitzerland’s salt industry is still state-run Salt production in Switzerland has to meet all local demand. This commodity, which lies buried in the depths of the earth, has been subject to a monopoly since the 17th century. Switzerland’s last surviving mine is a salt mine. Report from Bex Salt Mines. zerland full stop. Each passageway or cavern has its own story to tell. Take the Bouillet well, which was excavated over 26 years to a depth of 200 metres by men equipped with a hammer and knife. They didn’t even find any salt at the bottom of it. An archaic monopoly? Who thinks twice about putting salt on their food or on the road? These seemingly banal actions conceal a rich history, as salt was actually a symbol of power for centuries (see box). In fact, the condiment still enjoys a special status in Switzerland. Higher, farther, faster, more beautiful? In search of somewhat unconventional Swissrecords. This edition: Switzerland’s oldest state monopoly. Swiss Review / December 2023 / No.6 Report 20
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