Mountains of Gold. Architectures of Swiss Banking, 1938–1971

Banks in Switzerland are believed to keep their hoards of gold safely in vaults in the city, protected by a monumental facade, thick walls, and glossy doors, but throughout the twentieth century they extended their architectures discreetly, deep into the Alps and beyond. This research argues that reassuring images of snow-capped Alpine pastures and peaks, accessible by ingenious railways and cable cars, have contributed to the establishment of Switzerland as the centre of the global gold trade.

From the unearthing from South African mines, to its refining, transport, and ultimately storage in Alpine bunkers, the architectures that facilitated this technological pastoral remain largely undocumented today, and the writing of its histories therefore dominated by popular myths. Building upon previous research on the trade of Swiss banks and industries with respectively Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa, this dissertation not only expands the scope of complicit actors, institutions, and geographies in the gold trade, but also presents a qualitative dimension to a dark, non-fictitious history through the description of its hidden authors, spaces, and landscapes.

This research is part of the project Switzerland: A Technological Pastoral, a collaboration between Prof. Dr. Laurent Stalder and Prof. Milica Topalović, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).