The Postbus conquered the Gotthard 100 years ago
The first Postbuses travelled over the Gotthard Pass in June 1922. The catalyst for the legendary leisure tour was actually an economic crisis, similar to what has occurred with the coronavirus pandemic. Transport historian Kilian T. Elsasser knows the backstory.
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19th century
In the 19th century, up to 60,000 people were still braving the important north-south route over the Gotthard by mail coach every year. The Gotthard railway made the pass one of the most important transalpine routes from 1882. Mail coaches crossed the Gotthard for a total of just 40 years. However, the era of spectacular travel by mail coach from Flüelen to Camerlata has not been forgotten. Rudolf Koller immortalized the mail coach in 1873 with his painting “St Gotthard Mailcoach”, which now hangs in the Kunsthaus Zurich museum. Today, a historical mail coach maintained by an association carries tourists over the pass every summer. “And any regularly staged open-air theatre in Andermatt and Göschenen must have a mail coach,” says transport historian and Gotthard expert Elsasser.
Army trucks converted into Postbuses
