Fireworks maker does rain dance for National Day

Customers can return unsold or unused fireworks to fireworks manufacturers for a full refund Keystone

Swiss fireworks producers spent the last few days leading up to August 1 praying for rain.

Pyrotechnics on Swiss National Day are big business, but dry weather forced authorities in many areas to impose a ban – much to the dismay of manufacturers.

But when swissinfo visited the Hans Hamberger Fireworks Factory a steady rain had brought a smile to the face of the company director, Kurt Abegglen.

“We’re hoping for wet weather over the next few days, and of course, clear skies for August 1,” Abegglen said, as he handed me an umbrella.

We then embarked on our tour of the factory grounds in Oberried on the shore of Lake Brienz.

Abegglen’s wish has come partly true. There has been more rain, reducing the risk of forest fires to the extent that some cantonal authorities have lifted the ban.

Pyrotechnics

Hamberger has contracts for 150 firework shows across the country, and thanks to the rain, Abegglen estimates that two-thirds of them will go ahead as originally planned.

Hamberger is Switzerland’s largest supplier of fireworks for August 1 shows, and sales for this single day account for half of the company’s annual turnover.

The bottom line is that National Day sales can make or break the company. Customers have the right to return any unused purchases for a full refund, from roman candles to cakes, cones and firecrackers.

The dry spell has made for one of the most eventful years in Hamberger’s long history.

Brilliant beginning

It began in 1863 when a local entrepreneur, Johann Rudolf Hamberger, came up with the bright idea of illuminating the Giessbach Falls with fireworks at night.

The falls, which drop into Lake Brienz, were then as now a main tourist attraction in the Bernese Oberland.

Hamberger made enough money from the shows to purchase the wide stretch of shoreline where the factory still stands.

Hamberger’s sales went through the roof when, in 1891, August 1 was declared Swiss National Day and fireworks became a key part of the celebrations, growing out of a centuries-old tradition of lighting bonfires on mountaintops.

The company’s success and lax safety standards proved a deadly combination in 1959 when an accidental explosion killed six employees.

Since then, Hamberger’s staff have worked in groups of two or three in a series of small concrete bunkers facing the lake.

Safety is of utmost importance today, yet the company is only a shadow of its former self.

Tough times

It was taken over by a German firm in 1989, and high labour costs have meant that it now imports 60 per cent of is fireworks from abroad, which has led to a reduction in its workforce from about 100 to 30.

Abegglen says he will not know the full extent of the financial toll the fireworks ban will have on the company until after August 1 when unused products are returned.

As a small consolation, Hamberger has been contracted to put on an especially large August 1 fireworks display in its home village of Oberried, which this year is celebrating its 700th anniversary.

Despite the dry spell, the show in Oberried is going ahead as planned.

swissinfo, Dale Bechtel in Oberried

Key facts

The Hans Hamberger Fireworks company is the largest supplier of fireworks to Swiss National Day shows.
The company, founded in 1863, produces about 60 tons of pyrotechnic mixtures each year.
It is estimated that the Swiss spend about SFr200 million ($147 million) on fireworks annually.
The lack of rain this year has forced several cantons to ban National Day fireworks because of the high risk of forest fires.