 In 1944, the Swiss Council of States granted permission to build the proposed power station.The permission was to become effective on 1 February 1948, with construction to begin in 1952.But in 1951, the Neuen Helvetischen Gesellschaft (New Swiss Society), under the leadership of Emil Egli, got 150,000 Swiss citizens to sign a petition protesting the project; among the signatories were 49 famous citizens, including Hermann Hesse and Carl Jacob Burckhardt.