Local traditions and culture in Switzerland

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Travelling from France and into Switzerland, it wasn't long until I hear the "ding, ding" in the fields.

Ah! I said, Swiss cow bells, Now we know we are in Switzerland!

Of course, everywhere we went, we heard them, and not only on Cows, but on Sheep too!

June, and Summer arrives, the snow has melted and it is time to take the Cows to the Mountain's, time for the Farmer to strap on a Bell. We saw many different sized Bell's, the huge ones like in my photo must be terribly heavy for the Cow to carry around. I must say I felt sorry for the Cow! They do not wear them all year round.
Did you know a bell can cost up to $1000?
And......Did you know .....
That a Farmer may put his Cow's in a Cable Car to move them quickly to the bottom?

This is a tradition dating back to the 14th century.

If you are lucky and here in Switzerland at the "right" time, this is after the snow has melted, you may see the "Alpaufzug", a procession through the village into the high pastures. The cows are decorated with floral wreaths woven through the horns, and the best milk-producing cow in the village leads the procession wearing the largest bell. The bells are made in various sizes, and cows are awarded bells according the milk production of the year.
I think that is what my Bells in the photo were for.

Le pays ou les vaches sont reines...
In our Alps, we have a exceptionnal breed of cow : la race d'Herens. These cows naturally fight in order to establish a hierarchy within the herd. These combats take place without any provocation. In springtime when the animals are released from their winter barns and during the journey up to the alpine pastures, they challenge each other to see who will be their leader.

You can assist to these fight in local contest around Wallis in Spring or on Alps in Summer (inalp):

02.04.2006 St-Maurice
09.04.2006 Aproz
17.04.2006 Raron, VIFRA
23.04.2006 Raron
29./30.04.2006 Orsieres
07.05.2006 Les Hauderes
14.05.2006 Aproz
24.09.2006 Raron
01.10.2006 Martigny, Foire du Valais

I going middle of June to assist to an Inalp, so fresh photos will be added.

Look for a typical Swiss tradition event...

by admiring the flags tossing...

by hearing a yodelling or an Alphorn concert on the Alps...

by practicing an Alpine Wrestling (Schwingen)...

by throwing the mythic Unspunnen stone...

by playing Hornussen (Baseball Swiss Style)...

by wearing a national costume...

by discovering Jass (card game)...

Carnival in Lucerne is chaotic, ever-changing and exceptionally vital.
Although steeped in traditions that can be traced back over more than 600 years of written history, Carnival today is somewhat different to what it was around 30 years ago. Some of it's roots go back to ancient Germanic heathen customs when people tried to drive away evil spirits by making a lot of noise and wearing masks, whose horrible appearance would frighten away even the demons of winter.
Nowadays the motto is : The Weirder, the better. So it's not unusual to meet a bogeyman, a monster, a skeleton, a werewolf or a man carrying his head under his arm.
The carnival is dominated by large bands called "Guggen" which walk around the streets playing joyful cacophony music.

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The Ibex ( Steinbock ) is an animal living in the upper part of the mountains in the alps and you will also find it in the coat of arms of Kanton Graubuenden. You willharly ever be able to see an ibex when climbing or hiking in the alps, because they are very shy and will run away whenever you get closer than just a few hundred meters. For that reason it is always nice to see a sculpture of an ibex like the one in my 1st photo, you will see it in Pontresina opposite of Hotel Walther, the giant hotel at the south end of the village.

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Going by the historical post-carriage over the Gotthard-pass is certainly a really great experience and in my case I would even say that following this carriage in my car and taking photos at some great places would even make more sense than sitting inside the carriage. Take a look at their prices in the link below, 680 sfr per person, that is really quite much and it is even more expensive when there are less than 8 persons in the carriage.
Just imagine, THAT was the way that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe travelled from Germany to Italy twice.

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This is the first time I saw something like this and I saw it at the top-station of Diavolezza, where everybody could just help themselves : all of these instruments and tools are ment in order to tighten the screws of the alpine equipment.
From Diavolezza there are various hiking- and climbing-routes down to the valley and a perfect equipment is essential for them! When you enlarge my last photo you will see a group of glacier-hikers in the landscape.

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Romans or Raethoroman is the name of the 4th official language in Switzerland (besides german, french and italian) and it is spoken mainly in the valleys in the south-east of Switzerland, mainly in Kanton Graubuenden.
You will find many inscriptions in Romans there, BUT everybody will speak at least german and mostly also french, italian and english.
All over Switzerland everything that is sold has inscriptions in all 4 languages, just take a look at the sugar-packet that you get with a coffee in a restaurant, you will find the word sugar printed there in all 4 languages and that is also the way how swiss people will learn the expressions in the other languages in an easy way.