After four decades of bitter village disputes, a controversial 13-foot marble sculpture called HEIE by Danish artist Jesper Neergaard has finally received its long-overdue dedication ceremony on Alp Chabissen. The 24-ton Carrara marble monument, which divided the Swiss village of Ennetbühl for generations, was ceremonially washed with 2,000 liters of water provided by the municipality, marking the end of one of Switzerland's most enduring art controversies.
The dedication ceremony was a powerful symbol of reconciliation, featuring an impressive procession up the mountain that included the mayor, the local yodeling choir Bergfründ, and the children of formerly feuding parties. The massive sculpture, standing at 4,460 feet above sea level, desperately needed cleaning after decades of neglect and vandalism. Over the years, locals had regularly defaced the artwork with cow manure, and many residents had called for its immediate removal after installation.
The sculpture's troubled history began in 1985 as an act of generosity. A Zurich couple, the Weingärtners, commissioned the work from their friend, Danish sculptor Jesper Neergaard, to celebrate their joint 60th birthday. They intended the piece to serve as a tribute to creation, expressing gratitude for a fulfilling life and emphasizing the importance of intercultural understanding. Paul Weingärtner spent an entire year traveling throughout Switzerland to find the perfect location for what he called a "metaphysical sculpture."
The chosen site on the remote Alp Chabissen hill, far from hiking trails, required the construction of a new road through marshy terrain. Initially, the village council unanimously approved the building permit, partly because the new road would benefit local farmers. However, once the sculpture was installed, it triggered massive conflict within the village community. Local newspapers published bitter letters to the editor, and the St. Gallen-Appenzell Nature Protection Association became involved in the controversy.
The hostility toward the artwork was so intense that the canton government required the planting of sycamore maple trees around the sculpture as a visual barrier, though only one tree survived. Locals used derogatory terms to describe the foreign artwork, and the sculpture was eventually subjected to a conspiracy of silence. Even today, no signposts direct visitors to the sculpture, and no plaques identify the artist or provide any explanation for the mysterious monument standing alone in the clear Alpine air.
The conflict particularly affected three men of the same age who had attended school together, transforming childhood friendships into adult animosities. Emil Wickli, son of the former president of the Ennetbühl citizens' community, reflected on how the dispute affected his father: "It really affected my father that something that had nothing to do with us could so vehemently drive apart men who had once been a group of boys the same age."
Local journalist Brigitte Schmid-Gugler documented the entire saga, first through newspaper articles for the St. Galler Tagblatt, then in a book, and finally in a documentary film titled "The Mystery of HEIE," created with Andreas Baumberger. Her long-term observation captured all the key players in the decades-long drama, including those who had since passed away. The film provides a comprehensive look at how a well-intentioned artistic gesture nearly tore apart a small Swiss community.
The belated dedication ceremony represents more than just recognition of an artwork; it symbolizes healing within the Ennetbühl community after 40 years of division. The sculpture, which was meant to celebrate creation and intercultural understanding, has finally achieved its intended purpose of bringing people together, albeit four decades later than originally planned.
