Annual testing of alarm warning systems takes place in Switzerland on February 1
The portal Swissinfo.ch has compiled the most obvious oddities from the sphere of everyday life and politics in Switzerland. Although, of course, this list should by no means be considered exhaustive.
1. Annual testing of alarm warning systems
Every year in Switzerland, testing of alarm warning systems for the population is carried out as part of maintaining the overall civil defense infrastructure in the country. Other countries also have something similar, but if in the Netherlands, comparable in area to Switzerland, there are about 4.2 thousand sirens, then in the Confederation there are more than 7 thousand. A video about this event has even been produced by the Swiss Ministry of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports.
2. The Swiss and their weapons
Did you know that almost every Swiss person has a weapon at home? The fact is that after completing compulsory military service, every Swiss citizen has the right to take home their standard-issue weapon along with a certain amount of ammunition. Recently, however, ammunition must be stored separately from the weapons in cantonal arsenals. In addition, the weapon owner is required to undergo test shooting every year.
By the way, this is precisely why it is so difficult to obtain Swiss citizenship – because with it, a person also receives great rights, including the right to bear arms. Speaking of rights: the weapon in a Swiss person's home plays the role of a symbol of their republican civic virtue, along with the tax return and the right to vote and be elected.
3. Iodine tablets against radiation as a gift from the canton
In Switzerland, as is known, there are currently five nuclear power plants in operation, and one of them, the Mühleberg nuclear power plant, is located quite close to Bern, the political center of the Confederation. Therefore, the authorities of all cantons on whose territories the reactors are located regularly send free packages of "fresh" iodine tablets by mail.
And in the canton of Bern, every newcomer who arrives for permanent residence receives not just tablets, but a detailed map of the canton and instructions on how to behave in the event of a radiation alert. Surprising? In our opinion – simply smart!
4. Bunkers in the mountains and houses
At one time, Switzerland implemented a program for 20 consecutive years to create a sufficient number of places in air-raid and radiation shelters in the country. This program was completed in 1989, right at the end of the Cold War. Since then, Switzerland can boast a rather strange record – in this country, almost every resident can count on a place in a shelter.
Currently, all these civil defense structures are used for purposes other than their intended use: they are turned into storage rooms, wine cellars, and even data centers. That is why mountain bunkers built deep in the Alpine mines during World War II are now in particular demand. In them, the Swiss hoped to fend off German and Italian invasions, and today, servers quietly hum in these depths, storing particularly important client information.
5. Three-phase electrical socket
Many people, when first arriving in Switzerland, unexpectedly realize that such an indispensable, familiar, and unobtrusive everyday item as an electrical socket is arranged in Switzerland according to its own special standards, different from European ones. Irons, kettles, vacuum cleaners, and microwaves brought from home suddenly cannot be plugged in. And you have to buy special adapters first.
By the way, this is also only found in Switzerland – apartments here often have sockets placed high up near the ceiling, sometimes even out of arm's reach. What do you think these sockets are for?
6. Information on packages in several languages
Switzerland is a small country in area but very diverse, including linguistically. According to the country's constitution, there are "national languages" (Landessprache) and "official languages" (Amtssprache).
The concept of "national language" emphasizes language as a cultural and historical phenomenon. These languages are German, French, Italian, and Romansh. The concept of "official language" emphasizes language as a technical tool for communication with specific practical purposes. Therefore, at the federal level, only German, French, and Italian are "official languages."
This means that, in particular, parliamentary debates are conducted only in these languages, and translations of these debates and major printed documents are made at the federal level. All everyday forms and documents sent to citizens by federal authorities are usually written in these three languages. In the canton of Graubünden, according to the Swiss constitution and the canton's own constitution, Romansh can also take on the character of an "official" language, but only in this canton, where just over 35,000 Swiss people live for whom Romansh is their native language.
And that is precisely why all publicly important signs and notices in Switzerland are made in at least three official languages – German, French, and Italian. However, many food producers, for example, voluntarily and, of course, where possible, add other languages to the packaging, often even Russian. Unusual? Yes, indeed unusual, but in Switzerland, living in a situation of constant multilingualism, it is easier to learn foreign languages, and in general, it greatly expands personal horizons.
7. Drinking tap water is normal
Switzerland holds 6% of the freshwater reserves on the European continent while occupying only 0.4% of its territory, so it is no coincidence that the Confederation is often called the "water tower" of the Old World. Switzerland has about 1,500 lakes on its territory, most of which formed after the last ice age.
Lake Neuchâtel is the largest lake among all water bodies whose shores belong only to Switzerland. Lake Geneva is the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe. The sources of the rivers Inn, Rhone, and Rhine, the largest rivers in Europe, are also located in Switzerland. Most precipitation in the country falls as snow in the Alps. The condition of glaciers and snow cover in the mountains directly affects the state of the country's largest waterways. The flood season on rivers occurs in spring and early summer, when intensive melting of snow and ice begins in the mountains.
And most importantly – when a restaurant offers you a "glass of tap water," you should not be offended or think that they are trying to deceive you. The fact is that in Switzerland, essentially mineral water flows from the tap. And you can drink it without any problems. True, it is very saturated with lime, so you need to take very good care of the kettle, preventing scale buildup.
8. Public transport stops the size of a palace
Swiss people are modest; it is not customary to flaunt wealth and prosperity here. But one thing they do not skimp on is transport and transport infrastructure. Look at the building built on the outskirts of Bern. No, it is not a duke's palace or a residential building; it is just a tram stop, for almost the most popular form of public transport in Switzerland.
This "pavilion" has inside a small kiosk with newspapers and various small items, as well as technical rooms related to ensuring the functioning of the tram route. There is a comfortable bench; while waiting for the tram and being under a reliable roof capable of withstanding the fall of a small plane, you can look at the latest posters. And also, being very economical, the Swiss do not mind if, for example, such a stop is brightly lit all night, even in the absence of trams and passengers. And finally, if you think this is a very large stop building, you are mistaken. There are much larger ones in size.
9. Bells and their deafening chime
Swiss people are people who love peace and quiet. However, you should not think that in this country you cannot move at all and that everything is forbidden. When signing a lease agreement, a tenant, for example, also signs the rules of the daily routine in the building, which, by the way, clearly states that, for example, playing musical instruments loudly at home is quite possible – but only for one hour before lunch and one hour after. That is logical! What is strange is that the Swiss have absolutely nothing against church bells, which ring whenever they want and sometimes so loudly that you cannot hear yourself or your interlocutor.
Some bell towers even chime every quarter of an hour, which is annoying at first, then it even helps, especially in the morning, not to oversleep for work, and then you simply stop hearing the chime. Some, however, cannot stand it and file a lawsuit, especially if they think that due to the constant ringing of bells, property prices are falling. Such processes last quite a long time, are expensive, and at best lead to some compromise solutions. Meanwhile, earplugs are in steady demand in stores. Strange? You bet!
10. Bern is not the capital of Switzerland
And finally, the last thing. Every country has its capital, the city where the government, parliament, and other authorities are located. But Switzerland has no capital. Although Bern promotes itself on the tourist market as the "capital of Switzerland," it legally does not have capital status.
Bern is the capital of the canton of the same name, but as for all of Switzerland, it actually has many capitals. Zurich is the business capital, Geneva is the international capital, Basel is the chemical capital, St. Gallen is the university capital. Bern is the city where federal authorities were placed after the civil war of 1847 and after the creation of modern federal Switzerland in 1848 as a compromise.
Lucerne, by the way, actively claimed the role of the country's capital, and this is felt even now; you cannot deny this city its capital charm. However, the Catholics lost the civil war, and Lucerne had to part with its capital status (now it is only the capital of the canton of the same name). In Bern, parliament and government merely rented, so to speak, a "corner," later building for themselves the imposing Federal Palace building. But Bern never received legal capital status, which is probably the best symbol reflecting the essence of Swiss statehood.
Joe Fey.
Translated by Igor Petrov.