Swiss landslide village habitable on Monday

GR: from Monday Brienz will be habitable again Keystone-SDA

Residents will be able to return to the Swiss mountain village of Brienz/Brinzauls on Monday as the landslide threat subsides.

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The current ban on access and evacuation will be lifted after 62 weeks, the municipality of Albula/Alvra has announced.

+ Why do Swiss mountains collapse? It’s complicated

The lifting of the access ban, which has been in force since November 17, 2024, is possible thanks to “the significant reduction in the landslide movements observed on the slope above the village in recent weeks”.

The risk from the unstable zone has been reduced to such an extent that it is once again possible to stay safely in the inhabited area.

+ One in six Swiss homes exposed to natural hazards

Inhabitants to return

Until Monday, Brienz/Brinzauls will be subject to a transitional ‘orange phase’ that allows evacuated residents and owners of second homes to gradually return to their homes and stay overnight.

From Monday at 6am, the ‘green phase’ will begin when inhabitants can fully return to live in their homes after more than a year, and the village will also be open to non-residents.

The surrounding agricultural areas will also be accessible again. The danger zone above the village will, however, remain forbidden, as the risk of rockfalls and landslides persists.

Single road access

Access to Brienz/Brinzauls will only be possible from the Brienzerstrasse via Surava/Alvaneu. The road between Brienz and Vazerol will remain closed to through traffic because it is too narrow.

Postbus route 183 between Lenzerheide and Davos will also once again run regularly through the village.

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Plateau Ost safer

The hamlet of Brienz/Brinzauls was evacuated again in November 2024. In 2023, a huge debris flow had stopped just short of the village. The volume of fallen rock amounted to 1.7 million cubic metres.

In October and November 2025, several small collapses had occurred that had made geologists fear the worst.

But the risk of rock detachment from the area known as Plateau Ost, which overlooks the village, abated, indicating that the landslide had largely stopped.

Translated from Italian by AI/mga

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