Thanks to courageous pioneers, the Schöllenen Gorge and the Gotthard Pass became passable as far as the Gotthard Tunnel, which made the journey even easier and shorter. This north-south link is of great importance not only for Switzerland but also for Europe.
1882 the Gotthard tunnel, then the longest tunnel in the world, was opened. Today, the tour Gotthard tunnel village Göschenen illuminates the history around this pioneering achievement and leads through the village, which is only known to a few people. But Göschenen has existed since earlier times. The village was first mentioned in a document in 1290. Only one year before the Rütli oath, by which the Swiss Confederation had been founded in the north of the canton of Uri.
Due to its strategic location as a passage to the Gotthard pass, many merchants, mercenaries and travellers passed through the village. The toll bridge is a last witness of the muleteer time. Tolls were levied there for the passage until the 19th century. The Posthorn sounded regularly during the era of the stagecoaches and also passed through Göschenen to continue the journey in the Schöllenen towards Andermatt, Hospental and the Gotthard Pass. Even the devil has left his traces: the devil's stone, which rises at the edge of the village, decorated with the flag of Switzerland and that of the canton of Uri. According to the legend, the devil wanted to destroy the bridge (Teufelsbrücke) that had been built in the Schöllenen, after the Urschner had outwitted him. However, he did not succeed, as an attentive elderly lady carved a cross into the rock with which the devil wanted to destroy the bridge. It missed the bridge and the rock landed in the valley.
