AFinally, there is silence in the room. Anton Mattle has just described how, as mayor, he sent two women from the Netherlands to the fire station where the bodies were put out after an avalanche accident. “Images like these remain,” he said. “If the responsible person lifts the shroud and the mother has to confirm that it is the child lying in front of her, then . . It still amazes him and the people of Galtür – 780 inhabitants, 3,800 guest places – that no one expected that an avalanche could hit the district right next to the famous Frühmessgut church. The parish church was consecrated in 1383. There is no evidence of an avalanche in the area in the carefully kept church records. The researchers also found no danger there in all their simulations. On February 23, 1999, this green zone was hit by a full force avalanche. 31 people died, six locals and 25 guests.

Anton Mattle, 60 years old, governor of Tyrol for just over a year, was mayor of Galtür in 1999. He asked to visit the village history museum located in the 345-meter-long and 19-meter-high avalanche protection wall and the Alpinarium located in the monument to the victims of the avalanche accident. There he talks about the disaster. Mattle is an articulate man. But in this conversation, he struggles with every word. Every sentence speaks of powerlessness. There is still despair, pain, sadness and suffering.