The company Winkler Multi Media Events in Canton Aargau is one of the leading
Swiss event solution providers for multimedia and three-dimensional live
communication. They were recently entrusted with providing the equipment for the
opening ceremony of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
With a construction period of almost 17 years, and extending to 57 kilometres in
length, the world’s longest tunnel is regarded as the “Swiss project of the century’,
and has attracted many superlatives.
The construction, which is seven kilometres longer than the Eurotunnel, is the heart
of the new Railway Link through the Alps and connects the cantons of Uri in the
north portal Erstfeld in central Switzerland to the south portal in Bodio (Canton
Ticino). As a result, the travel time from Zurich to Milan has been reduced by one
hour to about 2 hours 40 minutes. For freight transport, the new Gotthard tunnel
brings greater capacity, faster connections and improved reliability. The new rail
tunnel is recognised as an outstanding technical and organisational feat worldwide.
At the opening ceremony of this “building of the century’ more than 1,000 guests
from the world of politics and local dignitaries, including distinguished guests from
neighbouring countries, arrived on June 1st at the foot of the Gotthard.
Theatre director, Volker Hesse staged a spectacle with 600 performers to
commemorate this ultra-modern new tunnel, featuring various musicians such as
Alphornblaser, das Armeespiel and local choirs. International artists came from
Chile, Spain, France and Germany and worked hand in hand with the non-
professional actors from the Gotthard region.
Lighting designer Rolf Derrer, for his part, set the staging with 140 GLP impression
X4 Bars and was impressed by the capabilities of the flexible LED Strips from the
Karlsbad manufacturer. The impression X4 Bars were placed above the bleachers
and served as street lights and striplights for the catwalk. There was one situated
behind the grandstand so that the celebrities on the podium could be seen in the
right light by the spectators.
“Rather than use fixed LED Strip Lights with no zoom, we proposed the X4 Bars due
to the extra zoom and tilt function. These functioned very well and were
immediately integrated into the setup,” stated Winkler technical project manager,
Roni Huber. “The X4 Bars were a real added value for the staging.”
