Mayor Matthias Bellwald in portrait

Matthias Bellwald only returns to Blatten as a pensioner. The former professional officer has only been the mayor for five months – and has already faced his first crisis.

He was relieved, says Matthias Bellwald, Mayor of Blatten (VS), on every occasion. Although the destruction of his village has been threatened by a landslide for days. Relieved because so far every single person has been safe. Because the emergency services have also returned unharmed in the evening.

Matthias Bellwald, born in 1962, wears a hunting green jacket this Tuesday afternoon, a black checkered shirt and hiking shoes when he steps in front of the media. He wears a pin on the chest: the leaf coat of arms. In between, he has the room, the journalists in the gymnasium of the primary school in Ferden (VS). Check with a strict view above the glasses edge, whether you listen to it.

An officer in the background

Bellwald speaks in short sentences. Clear and clear, one syllable after another. There are no long breaks, no hesitation, no « ums ». When Bellwald reports on the location of his village, it sounds like reading a military report: no word is too much.

That is no coincidence. For decades, Bellwald worked as a professional officer for the Swiss army. She took him to Vienna, St.Gallen, Chur and Bern.

He kept the second apartment in the Lötschental; stayed at home on weekends. He returned after retirement. Shortly afterwards, about a year ago, Bellwald ran as mayor. And was chosen quietly. He started the office just five months ago.

Bellwald actually lives in one of the hamlets that would be excluded from the evacuation. However, because the street remains closed and the hamlets are cut off from the rest of the valley, he also lives in Kippel, which is a bit lower in the valley.

« You try to do justice to trust »

It does a lot with one when this mountain that you have seen out of the window every day for years simply broke apart: « But I don’t speak for myself, but for our village, for the whole valley. »

Bellwald says again and again. Not if the village population goes through so much. In the first few days of evacuation, he communicates cautiously and wants to get an idea of ​​the situation himself. He replies evasively to personal questions.

« Good sleep and food management is important, otherwise the decisions will be worse, » he says, for example, if you ask him if he can sleep calmly. « One tries to do justice to the trust of the population » when asked about his steep entry as mayor.

And how his career as a professional officer prepared him for such crises: « I am currently working with so many militia people – they do an excellent job even without military training. »