The Matterhorn has always been a symbol of Switzerland and a place of strength and stability. Zermatt is convinced: society must stand together and be strong as the Matterhorn and let the storm pass. On behalf of Zermatt and the ongoing global pandemic, light artist Gerry Hofstetter has illuminated the mountain with global messages of hope nightly since March 24th.

Zermatt Matterhorn Light Projection

With “Light is Hope” as the motto, the Matterhorn has glowed with messages of love, solidarity and helpful hashtags as a way of expressing empathy to the world during this global coronavirus pandemic. The messages  have been projected on the mountain nightly since March 24th.

Reaching out to several countries to show their support, the mountain has reflected various country flags, below are just a few.

Hope, solidarity and gratitude
With the illumination, Zermatt wants to give people a sign of hope and solidarity in this difficult time of the Coronavirus pandemic. Just like the motto “Light is hope”. The village shows solidarity with all people who are currently suffering and is grateful to all those who are helping to overcome the crisis. This includes the medical staff, all those who ensure the logistics and the supply of the population as well as all those who stay at home out of consideration and adapt their daily routine and tasks to the circumstances.

Gerry Hofstetter
Gerry Hofstetter was quickly and easily won for the project. Since 1999 the light artist has been transforming buildings, monuments, landscapes and mountains all over the world into temporary art objects.

From home
The federal recommendations are clear: “Stay at home.” From home, all interested parties will follow the projections. The webcams around the Matterhorn transmit live images in high quality under zermatt.ch/hope. Thanks to the high light sensitivity of the cameras, the projections are much better visible on images than by the naked eye.

Thank you to Zermatt and Gerry Hofstetter for the images and information