Page 56 - Bulletin, Vol.82 No.3, October 2023

Glacier was much higher a few hundred years ago, in fact it was as high as the current
mountain peaks that surround it. If you look closely, you will also see crosses in some
places, and you might wonder why.

There are several explanations, one of which is to mark the level where the Glacier
should stop. Indeed, if you look at the Glacier today, it is well below the observation
points, but in the past it was at the same level, or much higher and endangered the
surrounding villages.

There is an interesting spot near the village of Fiesch and Fieschertal, where the two
peaks meet, and there's a spot in the middle that's lower down and where you can even
get close to the Glacier (but be careful, don't adventure on your own. It is indeed
possible to get close to it at that location, but only with a guide, or only if you are an
experienced hiker for level T3-T4 hikes).

It is a very powerful place, now at waist level, but in the past it was maybe 100-150
metres higher, and in the summer, when the Glacier was melting, it would overflow and
parts of the Glacier like big icebergs would float into the huge nearby lake called
Maerjelensee. Today, this lake is small and it is hard to imagine how the Glacier could
have submerged it. But if you look closely, you will see distinctive marks reflecting the
level of the Glacier as it rose.

And on several occasions, the Glacier flooded the valley and totally destroyed the
nearby town of Fiesch, as well as part of the town of Fiechertall, killing animals and
destroying houses. The impact of the rising ice was so destructive that villages erected
crosses to prevent the Glacier from growing, as there was a risk that all the surrounding
villages would be flooded. But the Glacier continued to grow and rose higher and
higher. It was then that the villagers, in total despair, decided to turn to the Pope for
help. It was in 1678 that the villagers wrote to the Pope asking him to make a vow that
the Aletsch Glacier would stop growing. They prepared a petition and sent it to the
Vatican via the priest of Sion. Pope Innocent XI issued an Intention to protect the
villagers and stop the Glacier from growing. As a result, the villagers obtained a
blessing from the Vatican with the aim of improving the effectiveness of their prayers to
make the Glacier recede.

It is believed that since then, the Glacier has never flooded Fiesch or Fieschertal again,
and that it never rose above the crosses. But it was still so high that damage was still
caused. So, to reinforce the vow, the villagers began to organise a special prayer every
year, as well as a procession to reduce the threat of the mass of ice, and thus reduce
the danger of flooding. As a result, every year on 31 July, large numbers of people
gather at dawn in a small church in Fiesch for prayer. They then make a traditional
procession to a chapel in the Ernerwald forest to ask God to protect them from the
threat of the Aletsch Glacier. This is a somewhat secret procession, which takes place
to this day.

Given the current state of the Glacier, their prayer seems to have been heard far
beyond their hopes!

AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 82 No.2, 2023-10 54

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