The most famous mountain peak in the Alps, the Matterhorn, was illuminated with the colors of the Hungarian flag last week, on April 24th at 11 pm to express their solidarity with Hungary during the coronavirus epidemic.
The mountain was illuminated with the Hungarian colors as part of a five-week long initiative between March 24, 2020-April 26, 2020, when the Swiss Zermatt Tourism Association projected various messages and country flags daily onto the most photographed peak in the Alps.
Tag 3 der Matterhornbeleuchtung #StayHome #zermatt #matterhorn pic.twitter.com/ZJ2uyd5fCn
— Zermatt – Matterhorn (@zermatt_tourism) March 26, 2020
They said that
the coronavirus has created a grave crisis for the entire world population. With the illumination of the Matterhorn we have provided hope and shown solidarity.
The association projected words such as “hope,” “solidarity,” and “thanks,” national flags, and cantonal coats of arms, as well as symbols such as a heart, an earth globe, or mountaineers reaching out their hands to one another. All in all, Zermatt projected over 80 images on its local mountain.
Thank you very much for your feedback to the action #hope. We send you much love. ♥️ #Zermatt #Matterhorn #StayAtHome pic.twitter.com/N3gAbPS1k5
— Zermatt – Matterhorn (@zermatt_tourism) March 31, 2020
A Hungarian reader of index.hu, named Adam, wrote to the tourism association on Friday and asked if they would be able to project the Hungarian flag on the mountain, and he received the answer that they will try to fulfill his request. It worked, and the peak was illuminated in red-white green for a total of twenty minutes, between the projected Austrian and Polish flags on the Matterhorn as well.
The Matterhorn, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy, is the seventh highest summit in the Alps and Europe at 4,478 meters. As it can be seen from the photos, the peak was a truly beautiful sight illuminated in the colors of the Hungarian flag:
© Light Art by Gerry Hofstetter / Foto Michael Portmann
featured photo:Michael Kessler, light art by Gerry Hofstetter