Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Signau Campus

Construction of the new school facilities in Signau is progressing steadily. On November 5, 2026, Mayor Arno Jutzi placed a time capsule containing newspaper articles, information about the project, and drawings and photographs created by local schoolchildren into a specially prepared recess in the foundation.

Representatives of the municipal council and the school joined members of the architecture and construction management team for the ceremony. Work will continue over the coming weeks on the foundation slab and basement walls. Once sealed in place, the time capsule will remain a permanent part of the building’s foundation.

The tradition of laying a cornerstone, literally the «placing of the first stone»  dates back thousands of years. Similar customs can be traced to ancient construction practices, when coins, clay tablets, and other symbolic objects were incorporated into buildings to provide protection and bring good fortune. In later centuries, a hollowed stone filled with ceremonial items and contemporary records became the customary foundation deposit. These stones were often engraved and set in place using an ornately crafted mason’s hammer. Since the 1930s, however, waterproof containers made of copper or stainless steel have largely replaced the traditional cornerstone and are now commonly referred to as time capsules.

Image 1: Mayor Arno Jutzi (right) and School Principal Michael Gerber