History

Before the construction of the Gemmi trail, the Lötschen Pass was the most important connection between Upper Valais and the Kandertal. In the rock faces at the eastern edge of the glacier, clear remains of a paved packhorse trail from the early Middle Ages can still be seen.

However, archaeological findings show that the pass has been used for thousands of years. A bark container from the Early Bronze Age (2000–1600 BC), fragments of bows and arrows, wooden pieces (400–100 BC), leather remains and fabric fragments, as well as a cow skull dating from around the 15th century, were discovered in the area.

In 1519, Ulrich Ruffiner was commissioned to build a path for muleteers across the Lötschen Pass. For this reason, a transit shelter (Suste) was marked out at the pass summit.
 

After the Second World War, a military barracks was carried by the glacier up to the pass and opened in 1947 as the first Lötschen Pass hut. In the following years and decades, the hut was continuously extended and rebuilt until, in 2007, the former military barracks was transformed into a modern, spacious group accommodation. With its wind turbines and solar installation, it is considered the first energy-autonomous hut built to Minergie standard in Switzerland, something of which we are particularly proud.