Visionary with heart and soul
Franz Mattig
It was as if a dark cloak of grief settled over Bettmeralp on that dreary 1 March 2013. News of Franz Mattig’s death had spread through the village like wildfire. The locals knew that he was in poor health, was wanting to regain his strength at a rehabilitation clinic in Ticino, and was in the 84th year of his life. But it was easy to be in denial about these facts. Because “s Franzi”, as he was affectionately called, was something of an institution in the village community, a mover and shaker, an “ärduliebu Mänsch”, as they say in Valais, and above all a visionary.