Hardened fronts in the melting ice: Switzerland and Italy fought over a hut on the Testa Grigia, the Graukopf, a rocky bulge at 3479 meters. Climate change has melted the glacier there – fueling the question of where exactly the boundary lies. The two countries have been discussing the possible border since 2018. Due to climate change, half of the Italian mountain hut was in Switzerland.
The reason for this is the so-called watershed rule. It states that in the mountains the watershed, or ridge, determines the border. The Testa Grigia hut would therefore be largely located in Switzerland today. Where there is no natural boundary, approximately 7,000 boundary stones mark the artificial boundary line. This is fairly certain. But the natural boundaries are constantly changing, due to rockfall, storms – or climate change.
In exchange, Switzerland also receives land
The new nature border suddenly got the hut boss into trouble. Since the mountain guide association wanted to renovate the hut, it was not clear where the plans for the construction project should be submitted: in Switzerland or in Italy?
As the “SonntagsZeitung” reports, the two countries involved agree: the hut remains Italian. The newly defined boundary largely follows the previous boundary stones. Only where the hut and an Italian weather station are located does it take a new course, which was determined in the negotiations. In return, Switzerland gets a piece of land a few kilometers away that used to belong to Italy, to which two ski lifts of the Zermatt mountain railways led.
The Federal Council will decide in 2023
To reach an agreement on the border issue, the border commissions of the two countries met in Florence in November 2021 for a multi-day exchange. “During the negotiations, a solution was jointly outlined,” says Sandrine Klötzli of the Federal Office of Topography to the “SonntagsZeitung”.
But now the competent authorities in Switzerland and Italy still have to approve the compromise of the border commissions. The corresponding application from the Federal Council is expected in 2023 at the earliest.
Switzerland is growing
A similar case occurred more than two decades ago on the Swiss-Italian border at the Furggsattel above Zermatt: with the retreat of the Theodul glacier in 2000, the border had to be corrected there. Since then, the chairlift station has been on Swiss territory.
At least when it comes to territorial gains, Switzerland as a whole should benefit from climate change: the glaciers are mainly on the northern slopes. As they melt, the watershed shifts south – the area of Switzerland expands. Alain Wicht, of the Federal Bureau of Topography, told Blick last year how much Switzerland can expand its territory as a result. (You)