THE MOUNTAIN’S BREATH – Sven Gerhardt

The life’s work of Jan Spee

THE MOUNTAIN’S BREATH (DE ADEM VAN DE BERG) is an outstanding publication by the Dutch graphic designer Sven Gerhardt. The book is about the limestone tunnels of Sint-Pieterberg, near to the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands. In the Middle Ages people found out about the great building material characteristics of limestone and started excavating the mountain’s caves by hand. Over the centuries more than 200km of tunnels up to 8m height have been dug until the quarry was closed in 2018.

Gerhardt instantly got hooked when he discovered the caves and the mountain’s story a few years ago. Researching its history he discovered the tremendous archive of Jan Spee, who started photographing the tunnel’s walls in the 1960s. For hundreds of years quarry workers, everyday people, soldiers, artists, monks, priests, and alike did leave their marks on the underground walls. Before they got lost for ever due to cement excavation in the oldest part, he documented these traces in more than 3000 photographs, mapped the labyrinth and created an index of the drawings.

Honouring Spee’s life’s work the 416-paged oversized softcover compiles the most interesting documentations of his archive combined with historic sources that allow to get to know the place’s origins and history in 16 chapters. From oil lamp ceiling drawings to religious wall paintings, common name and date inscriptions as old as 1551 or amazingly build sculptures: THE MOUNTAIN’S BREATH offers detailed insights into this cultural-historical treasure underneath the ground. If you are interested in any kind of traces humans leave on walls, this gem compiles countless super interesting examples.

416 pages, 23,6 x 33,6 x 3,7 cm, softcover with cover flap and fold-outs
Edition size: 800
Language: Dutch/English
Release date: 2025
ISBN: 978-94-93363-03-8
Publisher: The Eriskay Connection