Louis Favre 1826–1879

Louis Favre became famous for building the Gotthard Tunnel. But he didn’t live to see the defining moment of his life’s work – the breakthrough: on 19 July 1879, Louis Favre died of heart failure during a tunnel visit, at the age of 53. The breakthrough of the Gotthard Tunnel took place a few months later, in February 1880. Nevertheless, Favre was symbolically represented at the breakthrough with a photo and an accompanying text. Favre, a self-made, self-taught engineer with no formal training, led this globally unique project using modern tools at the time, such as pneumatic drills and dynamite. His work is still regarded as a milestone in tunnel construction and in the development of Swiss transport infrastructure.