Today, the Gotthard is one of the most important Alpine crossings in Europe. The film tells the exciting story of its development - from the small path through the high mountains to the longest railway tunnel in the world.
Once, traders and pilgrims crossed the pass on foot in about 30 hours from Flüelen to Bellinzona. In the 19th century, the carriages of the Gotthard Post connected people in the north and south with daily postal traffic for the first time. In 1872, construction work begins on an ice track on the Gotthard. Building contractor Louis Favre, signs a risky contract: in just eight years he wants to build a 15-kilometre tunnel through the mountain massif. He pays a deposit of eight million francs. It will be forfeited if he exceeds the construction time. Soon rockfalls and water inrushes jeopardise Favre's ambitious plan.
 Today, global warming in particular poses major problems for people living near the Gotthard. Specialists are using a wide variety of methods to try to mitigate its effects and better predict its long-term consequences.
Above Andermatt, for example, the Gurschen glacier is to be saved from melting by a 10,000-square-metre fleece cover.
A permafrost researcher is studying the effects of global warming on the stability of the mountains at the Gotthard. She hopes to use her data to better predict large landslides in particular, which can devastate entire villages. 
In Ticino, a very special lake offers scientists an insight into the history of the origin of life on our planet. Some hope to find the answer to the question of eternal life here.