Granite Eagle on Simplon Pass - stock photo

"Simplon Pass, Switzerland - May 13, 2011: Since middle ages Simplon Pass (2005 m), between Italy and Switzerland, was an important trade route linking northern and southern Europe. Nine meters tall granite Eagle sculpture, overlooking the mountain pass, was erected in 1944 by a Swiss architect and sculptor Erwin Friedrich Baumann. Eagle, a symbol of alertness, stands as a monument to the troops of the Swiss 11th mountain brigade who were manning this post between 1939 and 1945. At the outbreak of the WWII in 1939 the Swiss, fearing an invasion, mobilized an entire country in merely three days and have successfully kept the country out of the war."