Goldau is a town in the community of Arth, canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. It lies between the Rigi and Rossberg mountains, and between lakes Zug and Lauerz. Well known attractions include the Natur- und Tierpark Goldau [1] and the Arth-Goldau valley station of the Arth-Rigi Bahn connecting to the Rigi mountain.
Goldau is primarily known in Switzerland for its historic landslide, the "Goldau landslide" (Goldauer Bergsturz) of 1806 which killed 457 people. It is also known for its importance for the Swiss railways network, with Arth-Goldau station forming the intersection between the Gotthard, Lucerne, Zug–Zürich and Pfäffikon lines.
There were numerous historical landslides in Goldau, with a major event, more significant than the 1806 landslide, dated to the 14th century. The toponym itself, first recorded in 1353, refers to the remnants of these landslides, from a dialectal gol, goleten "gravel, rubble, debris". [2]
On September 2, 1806 heavy rains triggered a landslide from the Rossberg which destroyed Goldau and the adjacent villages of Buosingen, Röthen and Lauerz. The landslide comprised 40 million m3 (52 million cu yd) of material, with a mass of 120 million t (132 million short tons; 118 million long tons). [3] [4]
Part of the mass hit Lake Lauerz (which had been created by an even larger landslide in the 14th century), and the resulting tsunami-like displacement wave caused more devastation towards Seewen. The event destroyed 111 houses, 220 barns, and two churches in a disaster area of about 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi), parts of which were covered with debris to a height of 30–70 metres (98–230 ft). It resulted in the confirmed death of 457 people. [3] [4]
The disaster inspired the epic poem Goldau by American writer John Neal in 1818. [5] A museum outside the Natur- und Tierpark exhibits findings and photos of the event. [6]
SC Goldau is the city's football club.
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, characterized by either steep or gentle slope gradients, from mountain ranges to coastal cliffs or even underwater, in which case they are called submarine landslides.
Zug is the largest town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Its name, translating from German as "pull" or "tug", originates from the fishing vocabulary; in the Middle Ages it referred to the right to pull up fishing nets and hence to the right to fish.
The canton of Schwyz is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz.
Lake Lucerne is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country.
The canton of Zug or Zoug is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. It is located in central Switzerland and its capital is Zug. At 239 km2 (92 sq mi) the canton is one of the smallest of the Swiss cantons in terms of area. It is not subdivided into districts, but eleven municipalities.
Milano Centrale is the main railway station of the city of Milan, Italy, and is the second railway station in Italy for passenger flow and the largest railway station in Europe by volume.
The Battle of Morgarten took place on 15 November 1315, when troops of Schwyz, supported by their allies of Uri and Unterwalden, ambushed an Austrian army under the command of Leopold I, Duke of Austria on the shores of Lake Ägeri, in the territory of Schwyz.
The Rigi is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The range is in the Schwyzer Alps, and is split between the cantons of Schwyz and Lucerne, although the main summit, named Rigi Kulm, at 1,797 meters above sea level, lies within the canton of Schwyz. The Rigi Kulm Hotel, established in 1816, is located on the summit.
Arth is a village, a town, and a municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
On February 17, 2006, a massive rock slide-debris avalanche occurred in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte, causing widespread damage and loss of life. The deadly landslide followed a 10-day period of heavy rain and a minor earthquake. The official death toll was 1,126.
The Gotthard railway is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between northern and southern Europe, especially on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor. The Gotthard Railway Company was the former private railway company that financed the construction of and originally operated that line.
Rigi Railways is a railway company that operates a group of railways on the mountain Rigi, located between two of the arms of Lake Lucerne, in Switzerland. They include two standard gauge rack railways, the Vitznau–Rigi Bahn (VRB) and the Arth–Rigi Bahn (ARB), along with the Luftseilbahn Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad (LWRK) cable car.
Greppen is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.
Lauerz is a village and municipality in the Schwyz District of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. It adjoins Lake Lauerz (Lauerzersee).
The Südostbahn – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Swiss railway company, and a 1,435 mmstandard gauge network in Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the original SOB with the Bodensee–Toggenburg railway (BT) at the end of 2001.
The Flims rockslide happened about 10,000 years ago in eastern Switzerland. It is the largest known landslide in the Alps, and the biggest worldwide whose effects are still visible, moving some 12 km3 (2.9 cu mi) of rock, about 300 times that of the historic Swiss Goldau landslide. The town of Flims can be found at the line where the slip surface disappears under the debris. North of Flims the rock face of Flimserstein stands 350 metres (1,148 ft) high whereas more westerly the slide surface is clearly visible. South of Flims is a huge hilly debris area that has been forest ever since, as this area is not suitable for farming, firstly for its shape and, even more for its lack of water. The river Rhine crosses this debris in a gorge called Ruinaulta. The Rhine still runs in debris, which shows that it has not yet reached the level it had before the incident. The highest hill in the debris area is almost 200 metres (656 ft) higher than Flims at the end of the sliding surface.
The Tauredunum event of 563 AD was a tsunami on Lake Geneva, triggered by a massive landslide which caused widespread devastation and loss of life along the lakeshore. According to two contemporary chroniclers, the disaster was caused by the collapse of a mountainside at a place called Tauredunum at the eastern end of Lake Geneva. It caused a great wave to sweep the length of the lake, sweeping away villages on the shoreline and striking the city of Geneva with such force that it washed over the city walls and killed many of the inhabitants.
Natur- und Tierpark Goldau is one of six scientifically managed zoos in Switzerland. It is situated in the area that was devastated by the Goldau landslide of 1806. The zoo attracted 859,000 visitors in 2013.
The InterCity are mainline trains in Switzerland connecting the country's major agglomerations, the range of services of which is located between InterRegio (IR) and EuroCity (EC). These trains are generally equipped with air-conditioned equipment, a CFF restaurant or a CFF bistro, a mini-bar service, a quiet area and a business area in 1st class as well as a family area or, occasionally, a family car in 2nd class.