Nolla reisst den Berg in die Tiefe

"Have you really been there, on grandfather's arms, as the rüfe rolls down the ravine? Can one remember the dull rumbling, the quake under one's feet; or do you only know all this from grandfather's stories? [...] Pieces of land, Börter, then the whole slope, sliding, getting into a slip, slowly, barely visible at first, hardly any trembling in the branches, then, if you look a moment later, suddenly faster, begin to throw yourself up, throw over, alders and firs, wedged, Mikado sticks are thrown into confusion, stones, splintering wood, fences and bent trunks, whose exposed rootstocks protrude from the blue-black porridge in vain looking for support in the clawing rain-hatched air, dancing over wuhre down on the mudslide [...]»

Trees, rocks, houses, nothing on the Heinzenberg was safe from the raging mountain stream Nolla. The Nolla is a stream with extraordinary violence, which shaped the landscape extensively and taught the inhabitants of Heinzenberg and Domleschg to fear. At high water levels, the Nolla carried as much debris as debris or alluvial wood from the Heinzenberg that it literally piled up in front of the valley floor to a dam wall until the force of the water tore these ramparts back with it and thus triggered a strong tidal wave.

In the past, there have always been extreme events, which led, among other things, to massive floods in the Domleschg with effects as far as Lake Constance. The first documented eruption occurred in 1585. Subsequently, accumulations of outbreaks and decades of rest alternating again and again.

In order to stop the damage effects of this dreaded torrent, the stream construction began in 1870. Mainly subsidized by the federal government, the Nolla was tamed until 1901 with 70 barriers and pre-barriers, drainage canals and a 2575 meter long drainage canal.

Further measures such as the afforestation of the Nolla state forest and the emptying of the Lüschersee were added. All these interventions were able to significantly improve the situation, but to this day barriers have had to be replaced or new ones built.