A Scourge of Liechtenstein

In the Principality of Liechtenstein, there were three traditional scourges - the Rüfen, Rhein and Reblaus. The Reblaus was a pest that often devastated the vines and grapes from which the famous Wines of Liechtenstein were made. Advanced viticulture techniques have controlled this pest. In the past, the Rhein flooded several times a year bringing devastation, famine and disease. After extension dam, dyke and canal building in the 19th and 20th centuries, the raging river was tamed. The Rüfen is still a danger.

Rüfen are steep narrow stream beds or chutes on the mountain slopes of Liechtenstein. Over the centuries, after every storm torrents of water with great quantities of rocks and boulders rush down these chutes causing great damage and taking lives. In addition to the Ruefen, there is the ever-present danger of landslides and rock falls. The weather does not help sometimes. 1999 and 2000 were years with particularly heavy rainfalls resulting in a number of Rüfen, rock falls and landslides.

In February 1999, eleven holiday houses in the Malbun Valley were totally destroyed by a landslide. Fortunately no was killed or injured as authorities had evacuated the area twelve hours before the slide.

On Thursday, 9 March, 2000, a small rockslide came down between 8:00 o'clock and 8:30 o'clock north of the Tobelbaches on the Rotenboden Gaedami road. The authorities after investigating the area, quickly closed that section of the road for fear that a further rockslide would occur. On Monday, 13 March, after a geologist checked the slide area, a bypass was opened and work began on clearing the slide.

A rockfall happened in April 2002, near Steg in the Samina Valley. In the village of Nendeln you can follow a footpath through the forest to the well-known Nedler landslide. In bad weather, there is an acute danger of falling rock in the Upper Planken area. Some rock falls have hit the sides of houses, causing damage.

With the development of Liechtenstein from an agricultural based economy to its present highly industrialized situation, the intensive use of available land for industry, building and recreation increased the potential danger from natural disasters. Nearly the whole of the steep mountain slope that most of Liechtenstein lies on is a potential landslide area. Today the Principality spends great sums every year to control the damage and save lives.

The potential is best recognized in the Triesenberg -Triesen Slide, which is being studied by scientists seeking to find ways to predict and prevent massive landslides. The village of Triesen sits on the remains of an old landslide. According to an old legend tells of a Roman town called Trisuna that was buried under a huge landslide centuries ago. Some experts thing that the Triesenberg -Triesen Slide covers the destroyed town. The whole area, including the villages of Triesen and Triesenberg, is slowly creeping down the mountainside towards the Rhine River. This creeping, a few centimeters a year is being monitored by POLIMI - Department of Electronics and Information Sciences, Politecnico of Milan,Italy, IMGI - Institute for Meteorology and Gepophysics, University of Innsbruck, Austria and GEOTEST, Zollikhofen, Switzerland.

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