![Group of workers in front of the completed south portal of the Hauenstein base tunnel.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/titel-hauenstein-300x225.jpg)
A major project in tumultuous times
The Hauenstein base tunnel was opened in January 1916. In the middle of World War I. The story of a trailblazing feat of engineering, achieved in tumultuous times.
![Illustration of the two Hauenstein lines.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/hauensteinlinien-300x300.jpg)
![Workers in the bottom drift.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/tunnelarbeiten-300x182.jpg)
![Article in ‘Schweizer Illustrierte’ magazine, July 1914.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/si-hauenstein-208x300.jpg)
![Soldiers in the worker’s village of Tripoli, 1914.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/soldaten-1-300x171.jpg)
![The workers' village of Tripoli at the south portal of the Hauenstein Base Tunnel, around 1915.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/tripolis-300x215.jpg)
![The excavated material was used to fill up the Aare. The picture was taken around 1915.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/aare-300x208.jpg)
The Hauenstein base tunnel was opened in January 1916. In the middle of World War I. The story of a trailblazing feat of engineering, achieved in tumultuous times.