Lucy will also shine in Advent 2022

30.11.2022Kummler+Matter EVT

Amidst thousands of "Ahhs" and "Ohhs", the Christmas night illumination above Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich was switched on precisely at 6 p.m. on 24 November 2022. The event has become a fixed date in the pre-Christmas season, and all of Zurich celebrates this special moment. Tens of thousands of people visit Bahnhofstrasse every year to celebrate this moment.

As a result of energy-saving measures this winter, all major Christmas lights in Zurich will be switched off at 10pm rather than at midnight as usual. They will also no longer be switched on in the morning. In this way, the operating times and thus also the electricity consumption will be reduced by more than 35 %. Normally, the energy consumption is 1'300 - 1'500 kWh for the entire Advent season, depending on the switch-on date in November. This year it will be about 800 kWh. With the LED lights, the installation was already extremely energy-efficient before.



"Lucy", the Christmas lighting on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, is installed year in, year out by Kummler+Matter EVT. The blessing of light is installed at a lofty height, 16 metres above the tram tracks. To do this, the fitters get into position using a lifting platform, the "skyworkers". On Bahnhofstrasse alone, a total of 12 km of steel cables will be suspended from 250 wall anchors and countless strands of light with a total of 11,500 crystals and 23,000 LEDs will be installed.

 

A good 3 tonnes of material and 1,600 metres of electric cable are needed to supply power to the garlands on the longitudinal cables of the supporting structures. The work has to be done at night, on the one hand to avoid disturbing public traffic, and on the other hand because the number of pedestrians is too high during the day to be able to move the heavy equipment on the pavements. All in all, up to seven workers will be working on the installation of the Christmas lights for between three and four weeks.

 

The lighting professionals from Kummler+Matter EVT wish you a wonderful pre-Christmas season.