Here we have the St. Gotthard Pass, which seems to have shrunk since the card was issued, as its given height now is only 2,106 metres. It is a route which connects Northern and Southern Switzerland, through the Alps, and it has been known for many centuries. However it was only usable all year round after 1220, when a bridge was built across the Reuss river, before that the river was too treacherous to cross for a great many months of the year.
The "St. Gotthard" connection only came along about the year 1236, after a small chapel dedicated to St. Gotthard of Hildesheim, the patron saint of traveling merchants, had been built on the southern side of the pass.
The men on our card may look like explorers, but look closely and they are armed with rifles. That could be a reference to the Battle of the St. Gotthard Pass, during which the Imperial Russian Army, in league with Austria, attacked French forces. They captured the St, Gotthard Pass on the first day of the conflict, the twenty-fourth of September, 1799, then continued in a northerly direction along the river, reaching Lake Lucerne on the twenty-sixth of September 1799.
This would also explain the other anomaly, that being that the card shows a more military tent.
Now I have to say that these cards are quite scarce, and my trawl of the internet has only unearthed two more, so if anyone can add any please do :
- Furka 2431 m.
- St. Gotthard 2111 m.
- Gemmi 2329 m.