As a symbol of vigilance, it was created to commemorate the "Wacht am Simplon" during the Second World War.
The eagle is over 9m high and is made of roughly hewn stones. It was built according to the plans of the architect and sculptor Erwin Friedrich Baumann from Faulensee. Based on his consideration that solar radiation has an intensive effect at an altitude of over 2000 m above sea level and that the free-standing solid masonry could potentiate the heat towards the core and have a destructive effect on the outer layers when they subsequently cool down, he arranged a walk-in cavity in the centre of gravity of the concrete core. A model and documents on the construction history of the Simplon Eagle are exhibited in the museum of the infantry fort in the Gondo Gorge.
The eagle is over 9m high and is made of roughly hewn stones. It was built according to the plans of the architect and sculptor Erwin Friedrich Baumann from Faulensee. Based on his consideration that solar radiation has an intensive effect at an altitude of over 2000 m above sea level and that the free-standing solid masonry could potentiate the heat towards the core and have a destructive effect on the outer layers when they subsequently cool down, he arranged a walk-in cavity in the centre of gravity of the concrete core. A model and documents on the construction history of the Simplon Eagle are exhibited in the museum of the infantry fort in the Gondo Gorge.
On the pedestal is the following inscription:
"IN THE FREEDOM OF THE MOUNTAINS, IT STANDS, A HARD GRANITE MOLD: A MEMORIAL OF FIDELY FULFILLING DUTY, A PERMANENT DUTY TO BE WILLING AND WATCHFUL FOR OUR FREEDOM."
