Energy sources from the heath

The history of peat extraction in Switzerland begins with the overexploitation of local forests, the associated shortage of timber and the increasing population towards the end of the 17th century. This means that the extraction of fuel from the heath starts relatively late. It is known from Northern Germany and the Netherlands that peat was extracted and processed there much earlier.

Peat consists of incompletely decomposed and preserved plant remains and is a precursor to coal. After drying, the peat can reach an acceptable calorific value.

In the city of Bern in 1737 the so-called Wooden room for the first time using peat instead of wood. This committee ensured that the population and businesses received the firewood and construction wood they needed. The first attempts at “peat extraction” were made Lörmoss, a few kilometers northwest of Bern. The material, which was also called ‘underground wood’, was then used as a heating material in the upper and lower hospitals.

However, the shortage of wood persisted Wooden room was therefore forced to harvest additional heathlands. A 1786 decree stipulated that more peat should be given to the needy in the city instead of wood and that government buildings should be heated with peat. This further increased the peat requirement.

The wood room had to look again for new heathlands and was… Schwarzenegg, located northeast of Thun in the right Zulgtal, found what you were looking for. This area is characterized by traces of the last ice age. Numerous moraines extend over the hills on the border between the Emmental and the Bernese Oberland. This created many cavities in which, partly thanks to the clayey, impermeable subsoil, a large number of heathland landscapes could arise. The city of Bern now received approximately 1,500 loads of peat annually from one of these moors.

The area that was actually intended for peat extraction was in the west of the canton: the Grosse Moos, the enormous swamp area located on the edge of the Jura Lakes. Here, the neighboring communities started extracting peat at the beginning of the 18th century, mainly for the population’s own use. The first Jurassic water correction from 1868 to 1891 resulted in the draining of approximately 400 square kilometers of heathland.

The time to further promote peat extraction was ideal, as the onset of industrialization and the rise of railways and steamships as means of transport required more and more fuel. The golden age of peat extraction had begun.

Even before the water correction was carried out in 1857 Bernese Turf Association (BTG) founded. Their main purpose was to mine and sell the powerful peat deposits in the Hagneck area. But society was also able to acquire exploitation rights in many other places.

Transporting the large peat harvest soon required mechanical support. The company bought a paddle steamer and had the peat transported by rail. In 1864 she concluded a purchase agreement with the Bernese State Railways for approximately 8,000 fathoms of peat annually. The railroad used the purchased fuel to run its twelve steam locomotives.

Schwarzenegger peat also found good sales: the steamship company had converted some of its ships on Lake Thun to burn peat and was now a grateful buyer of the fuel. The company even had its own heath, the Untermoos in Wachseldorn. Due to improved transport options through the use of steam power, peat soon faced new competition: coal.

As late as 1850, coal still trailed peat when it came to energy sources used in Switzerland, with a 3 percent share (9 percent share) and played no role in the Swiss energy landscape. Due to the rapid expansion of the railway network, coal imports, especially from Germany, increased sharply in a short time. Foreign coal, unlike domestic coal, was cheap and of better quality. At the turn of the 20th century, coal accounted for almost 80 percent of Switzerland’s gross energy consumption.

Although the importance of peat rapidly declined due to the triumph of coal, it was still extracted in smaller quantities and used for heating purposes, especially in rural areas. Until 1889, ships burning peat sailed on Lake Thun. In the ensuing times of crisis, when coal imports fell sharply, peat mining experienced a renaissance and intensified accordingly. During the two world wars, more than 2.5 million tons were extracted and recycled in Switzerland.

As a result, and with continued draining for land reclamation, many swamps disappeared completely over the course of the 20th century. Only with that Rothenturm initiative In 1987, in order to “protect the Swiss heaths”, peat extraction was finally banned in this country and the remaining almost 10 percent of the original heathlands in Switzerland were permanently protected.