![Laufenburg hydropower plant on the Upper Rhine became operational in 1914 and is now under a preservation order and listed as a cultural property of national significance in Switzerland. Photo from 26 May 1953.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/laufwasserkraftwerk-laufenburg-1-300x225.jpg)
The power of water
The first attempts to harness the power of water date far back. Water used to provide the energy to run flour mills and looms. However, the resource only realised its full potential when hydropower began supplying the country with electricity.
![A hydropowered rye mill in the canton of Valais, 1903.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/muhle-wallis-300x209.jpg)
![Putting up the overhead lines for the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) at Sumvitg in Surselva, 1922.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/fahrleitungsmontage-sumvitg-rhb-1922-e0-1-300x205.jpg)
Dependency on imports
![Removal of a pipe from the funicular for construction of the pressure pipe. Amsteg hydropower plant is visible in the valley below. Photo from 1920.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/rohr-abladen-sbb-historic-300x203.jpg)
![Poster by Walter Diggelmann from 1936. Switzerland is depicted as a mountain nation with a lot of water. The prominent electricity lines running over the Swiss cross look like an injection. The entire country was to be powered by the “white coal” derived from hydropower.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/energie-wasserkraft-unser-nationales-gut-e0-212x300.jpg)
Hydropower: the Swiss myth
![The Grande Dixence dam in Valais is 700 metres long, 285 metres high and the Lac des Dix reservoir has a capacity of about 400 million cubic metres. Photo from 1962.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/grande-dixence-eth-bibliothek-2-300x210.jpg)
Construction sites and workers from abroad
![Tram from Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich, a common sight until the start of the 1950s, at the construction site of the Linth-Limmern power stations in 1960.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/stollentram-zuerich-linth-limmern-eth-297x300.jpg)
On 30 August 1965, massive quantities of ice fell from the Allalin Glacier and engulfed the Mattmark dam. SRF programme Antenne, 6 September 1965. Swiss Television
A hotly discussed issue
![Protest sign in Andermatt against the Urseren project, photographed by Ernst Brunner, 1945/1946.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/andermatter-protestschild-gegen-projekt-urseren-1945-1946-e-300x291.jpg)
![A victim of progress: the old hospice disappears to make way for the new Lake Grimsel, 31 August 1930.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/hospiz-grimselsee-eth-300x209.jpg)