24.04.2025

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Construction site with a bang 💥

Every year on the third Monday in April, when Zurich's most traditional folk festival celebrates the end of winter, Implenia is also in action. Our professionals and their experience are needed to ensure that the Sechseläuten Böögg is enthroned on the pyre and rings in the summer with a bang.

Mr. Sechseläuten from Implenia: Darko Galic has been responsible for the construction of the Böögg since 2020.

For 125 years, Implenia, or rather the former construction company HHH, has been an important part of the Sechseläuten festival: first and foremost, the construction services provider ensures that the Böögg stands safely and securely. "We are erecting the 12.7-metre-high main mast, including struts, on which the snowman will be placed," says foreman Darko Galic. He is responsible for Implenia's work for Sechseläuten for the fifth time. His team is also responsible for securing the Böögg with barriers, marking the emergency exits, the toilet cubicles on site and decorating the Zunfthaus zur Meisen with flags.

Sechseläuten briefly explained:

For non-residents of Zurich

Every third Monday in April, the Zurich guilds celebrate Sechseläuten and parade through the city in historical costumes. For five centuries, the big folk festival has been taking place in Zurich's city center, marking the transition from winter to spring.

The real star of the event is the "Böögg" – a 3.4-metre-high snowman weighing up to 100 kilograms and filled with around 100 firecrackers and fireworks. He is enthroned on a pyre and predicts the summer: the faster the Böögg loses his head in the explosion, the better the warm months will be.

A look back: construction of the Böögg in 1988

The Böögg is carried to the location by hand

Everything is being prepared at the site

The employees dig a big hole for the Böögg

The Böögg is erected with combined forces

A special mission

The Sechseläuten project is something very special for all of them: "While we are normally working on long-lasting buildings, here we are working on a spectacle that only lasts a few hours. And yet it is one of our longest construction sites: It comes back every year," says Darko Galic. He has taken over the baton from Daniel Erb, who was entrusted with this special task for over 30 years. Both have noticed that the workload has increased in recent years and the job has become more technical and complex. It's hard to imagine that the mast used to be brought in by horse and cart and that the burning pyre was only cordoned off from the public by a rope held by a handful of security guards.

More security and infrastructure

Today, much more is done for security and infrastructure. "We work almost exclusively with truck-mounted lifting platforms instead of ladders and more and more barriers and toilet cubicles are being added," emphasizes the foreman. There are now 170 barriers in total, which are transported by articulated lorry and distributed early on the day of the event - together with the 46 toilets. The team has grown accordingly: Implenia used to have around ten people on site, but now up to 16 people help out on Sechseläuten Monday.

Leaving nothing to chance

This requires precise planning, preparation and logistics. Implenia starts planning as early as February: after the kick-off meeting with all those involved, the material is ordered (especially the mast, which still needs to be prepared and dried), the team is put together, the suppliers are briefed, etc. Darko Galic leaves nothing to chance. "Proper work preparation, a highly trained team and reliable suppliers are the most important prerequisites for ensuring that everything runs smoothly logistically," he says.

After all, reputations are at stake

The worst thing that could happen? That the Böögg mast doesn't hold. "I don't want to be the one where people say: Oh, that one didn't work out," he says. "That would be bad for my image and that of the company." His predecessor Daniel Erb had a similar experience, who also says with a grin: "All you knew was that the Böögg had to be up and burning by 6 p.m., otherwise you had to leave the country."

@implenia ⛄️ Every year Darko and his crew set up the #Böögg for #Sechseläuten in #Zurich 💪 #implenia #construction #sächsilüte #baustelle #tradition #festival ♬ original sound - Implenia

Article from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung on 20 April 1993

Before he took on this task in 1995, the pole had fallen down twice in succession. From then on, a tube was sunk into the ground to stabilize the pole instead of simply placing it on the ground and bracing it. Incidentally, he came to his Sechseläuten career for a very simple reason: "I grew up in Zurich and with the Sechseläuten. Back then, I was told: You're taking over. And I thought it was cool that I could do it."

How the Böögg gets on the pole

The construction of the Böögg follows a tried and tested schedule: On the Thursday before the festival, Implenia erects the mast with the struts, before the snowman is placed on top – together with the Böögg builder Luki Meier and using a truck lift - on the morning of Sechseläuten. "All in all, our work on the festival day lasts from 6.30 a.m. to 11 p.m.," says the foreman. Even for him, who does most of the coordinating, this is quite exhausting. But his team is also on their feet all day, covering a good 15 to 20 kilometers.

A sideways glance: Incidentally, the mobile toilets are only removed the morning after the event, as many people gather around the embers of the Böögg pyre to grill a sausage and toast the coming summer together – no matter what the weather is like.

The Corona Böögg remains unforgotten

Darko Galic will always have special memories of the Corona Böögg In 2021, the snowman was erected for the first time not in Zurich, but far away from the crowds in the Schöllenen Gorge near Andermatt in the canton of Uri. "That was very special. When we were approached, my first thought was: I don't know how we're going to get all the material up there." But he and his team also mastered this logistical challenge. But even if everything runs as normal, it will never be a job like any other for him: "I really enjoy working with all the other people involved and I'm also a bit proud that I'm able to be involved here."