Anicia Kohler ● When the Mountain Comes

‘When the Mountain Comes’ gives a voice to the people behind the headlines. Anicia Kohler travelled through Switzerland, visiting people from mountain villages such as Kandersteg, Brienz, Blatten, Gondo and Bondo. In their interviews, those profiled speak of days filled with worry and painful loss – but also of love, friendship and solidarity.

Many of them have often been in the media and are now being given the space to tell more of their stories: about their childhood in the village, and the centuries-old awareness of the mountains, which are both a source of protection and a danger. What is it like to live with this constant threat? How do you get used to it – or do you ever get used to it at all? And when disaster strikes: do you leave, or stay and rebuild?

The answers are as varied as the people themselves – and yet they all speak of the community, which is now drawing even closer together, and of the traditions and festivals that are now being cherished more than ever. Of carrying on with life.

Anicia Kohler was born in Biel in 1982 and lives with her family in Köniz in the Bern region. She is a writer and composer; she writes for businesses and the media and composes music that often emerges from intensive research and conversations.

She has long been fascinated by everyday life, culture and music in and from Swiss mountain villages. In 2022, her book *Die Wände hoch aufs Dach* was published, featuring 27 conversations about nature, art and the sense of home; it was released by the record label CYH and received an in-depth review on SRF 2 Kultur.

The book is published by Aris Verlag