Switzerland Culture and Traditions

Switzerland Culture and Traditions

What defines Switzerland Culture? Most likely, visitors see us as a chocolate snacking, cheese eating, alphorn blowing and a yodelling nation, ruled by perfectionism and timed by precision watches; a law-abiding nation that takes seriousness very serious and sleeps with guns under their pillow in well-ordered and efficient Switzerland :)

The diversity of Switzerland Culture - alpine descent in Schüpfheim

Keeping traditions alive - Alpine descent in Schüpfheim

Of course, there's always a little truth in every stereotypical cliché. Though neither Alphorn nor yodelling are exclusively Swiss, nor is chocolate for that matter, though the Swiss - who knew - set the standard in terms of quality for the latter. It is said that the origins of the Alphorn lay in Asia. Over the centuries though, we managed to find our own distinct folk music style that is typically Swiss albeit with distinct differences between regions.

So, what is typically Swiss?

The influence of so many different cultures makes it sometimes hard to tell.

Switzerland was inhabited by the Celt's in the West, the Helvetii (the most powerful Celtic tribe) in the North and the Raetians - a stubborn Roman alpine tribe - in the East. Switzerland's culture is shaped by all of them and the many different languages spoken in our small country make the mix even more interesting.

Remnants of the pagan culture still affect our seasonal celebrations, even though the protestant reformers did their best to change that. Just think of the Swiss spring customs of scaring off winter like the Sechseläuten in the protestant Zwingli city of Zürich and the Chalandamarz in the Engadin or the New Year custom of Silvesterchlausen in Appenzell.

The culture of Switzerland is multi-faceted and age-old traditions thrive. We don't just celebrate for the sake of tourism; we dwell in keeping ancient folk customs alive and wear our ethnic dresses with pride, albeit more and more only on special occasions.

Although we are maybe a bit on the conservative side, take our time to warm up to each other and visitors and slow in adapting to new trends, we got a bit bolder over the years in expressing our attitudes.Switzerland Culture and the Arts

The diversity of Switzerland Culture

"Unterwegs" (En route)

by R. Indermeier

Art at the Train Station, Thusis

Switzerland boosts a thriving arts scene and has a rich heritage of historical and contemporary architecture. Its central position in Europe, its neutrality and shared languages with neighbouring countries, made Switzerland attractive for artists and intellectuals who took refuge from political upheaval in their own country from the 19th century onward.

Art is part of our everyday life. In their leisure time, many Swiss pursue their artistic hobbies with fellow aficionados once a week in groups - from painting to carving, sewing to pottery, sing in a choir or play an instrument. From public installations to prominent art collections in approximately 980 museums, we are surrounded by outstanding works of art produced by a wide variety of artists.

Arts and culture programs are actively supported and promoted by Pro Helvetia, the Swiss arts council, and a foundation under public law.

The diversity of our country is also reflected in literature which is influenced by the four national languages as well as the vernacular literature in Swiss German.

The Swiss culture is distinguished by its diversity, as the country lies at the crossroads of several outstanding European cultures. Switzerland is also a multilingual country, as its national languages include German, French, Italian and Romansh. In addition, there are numerous dialects spoken in every region. Each canton has its unique cultural features. The culture, customs and traditions differ in different regions of the country, as each canton and municipality has cultural autonomy.

In the small country of Switzerland, there is also a distinction between the culture in the mountains and the culture on the central plateau. This means that the life in a mountain valley is different from that in the big city. Thus, over time and with the increase in tourism, some local customs have achieved national fame.

Therefore, nowadays Switzerland can boast with highly preserved and living traditions, as well as local customs. The Swiss Alps have played a major role in creating the history and cultural diversity of Switzerland.

This country is the perfect choice for the lovers of all kinds of arts. The cultural heritage of Switzerland is assembled in more than 600 museums, of which the Swiss people are rightly proud. The best known are the Swiss land-museum in Zurich, the Art Museum in Basel, also the Transport Museum in Lucerne, the Olympic Museum in Lausanne or the Red Cross Museum in Geneva. Each of these unique museums combines entertainment, fun and some useful information.

Switzerland’s culture is also famous for the arts and crafts: mainly, watchmaking. The industry of Swiss watches gained a respectable reputation during the past decades. The International Clock Museum in La-Chaux-de-Fond presents a vast collection of 4500 timepieces including more than 700 wall clocks. Although there might be noise coming from the ticking of these clocks, this museum is a relaxing place to visit.

The Swiss culture also represents the culinary of Switzerland, which surely makes it a real-life heaven for foodies. One can taste a huge number of national dishes as well as the regional specialties regardless of the canton they are visiting.

While talking about the Swiss culture, one needs to consider that they keep old-aged traditions not for the sake of tourism. They do keep those traditions alive with pride. They perform folk music and dances, wear ethnic dresses and to an extent may seem too conservative.

Switzerland has an enthusiastic music scene spread all over the cantons. Alpine folk music blossomed in unwritten form of skills and compositions. It passed from generation to generation during decades and even centuries.

Swiss folk music is generally lively dance music. The most popular musical instruments are accordion (Schwyzeroergeli), violin, bass violin, clarinet dulcimer (Jew’s harp). Of course, in this line we should not forget about alphorn, which formerly was also used as a signaling instrument among the herdsmen. As a rule, every village has at least a choir or a traditional music band.

Switzerland, with its cultural life and traditions, attracts more and more tourists every year. If you like combining discoveries with beautiful nature, then Switzerland is the right place to start from.

Clothing Styles in Switzerland