Construction work on the Gotthard railroad tunnel began in September 1872. A few weeks later, blasting also took place next to the Lion Monument. Not for a tunnel, however, but for a wine cellar. The owner of the land, Josef Wilhelm Amrein-Troller, saw great opportunities in the emerging tourism industry and in view of the opening of the Gotthard tunnel. But things turned out differently: peculiar holes were discovered in the exposed sandstone rock, which were identified as "glacier mills". An absolute sensation at the time! Zurich geology professor Albert Heim encouraged Amrein to preserve the swirl holes and the erratic blocks in them as evidence of the Ice Age and to show them to the public.
The picture shows astonished guests watching the retrieval of an erratic boulder using a pulley. There was no electricity in the city of Lucerne at that time. So mechanical aids were used to retrieve the erratic boulder, which weighed several tons, from the glacier basin. The recovery work is said to have taken four years. However, the Lucerne Glacier Garden was opened on May 1, 1873, just five months after the first glacier pot was discovered.
