Blatten: before the landslide
Last September I embarked on a hike that ended in the Lötschental Valley, Switzerland. Taking advantage of the Lötschental Card I took the bus along the valley to visit some of the ancient villages there. One of those villages is Blatten, which was sadly destroyed by a devastating landslide on 28 May 2025. I've posted some photos below of the village to serve as a reminder of how special this place was.
Words and photography by Olly Beckett
Sadly the landslide swept away peoples' homes and livelihoods, along with centuries of history. Some of these wooden buildings date back almost 500 years, now they're buried under up to 100 metres of debris.
Fortunately the residents are a resilient people and have reacted positively to relocating the town to nearby hamlets. The fearsome creature in some of these photos is the Tschäggättä, a monster which torments the valley during the Carnival period in February, up until the night before Ash Wednesday. This tradition is strong throughout the valley, hopefully Blatten's mask maker will soon find a new workshop and life will soon return to normal.
I walked into the Lötschental Valley from the Lötschenpasshütte, many of the lovely staff were residents of Blatten. If you'd like to support them you can find information on how to do so here.
