For many years, Christmas time is a special experience at the central station in Zurich. The Christmas market invites you to browse and linger with its 150 stands, and the Christmas tree, standing 15 meters tall, is decorated with thousands of crystal ornaments making the eyes of children and adults shine. In 2016, another highlight was added with Europe’s biggest chandelier. This year, we were once again allowed to take on the transportation and unloading of this gem.
On Sunday, 11 November 2018, travellers were astonished when a semitrailer and a boom truck from CAMION TRANSPORT drove into the station concourse at 10 p.m. In two hours, the components of the chandelier were carefully unloaded with help of the boom truck and the base frame was assembled. The crane operator demonstrated his precision and steady hand when handling the décor, weighing 1,8 tons.
The following two evenings, MK Illumination and the Swiss Federal Railways took charge of the technology and the installation of the chandelier on the ceiling of the Wannerhalle. The 18 meters high chandelier with a diameter of 6 meters has 25,000 LED-lights, arranged in a spiral pattern, from which every single one can be controlled individually. Since 2017, a touchscreen positioned at the central meeting point allows passers-by to design the chandelier individually, allowing variations of colour, pattern, and animations.
On Wednesday, 14 November 2018, our special car with a crane also delivered the Christmas lightning for the train station of Genève. Here, detail work was as necessary, not only because of the valuable cargo, but due to the dimensions of the entry into the station building being the biggest hurdle. Our crane operator mastered this challenge with equal skill.
We would like to thank all those involved fort this smooth operation.
A video of the interactive chandelier:
Europe’s largest chandelier in Zurich main station
