A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

I've been writing about the four official languages of Switzerland , especially Swiss German , quite a bit. It is high time that I introduce the least known language of Switzerland: Rumantsch (ling. "Romansh"). "I speak Rumantsch" (Engadiner Post) Rumantsch is spoken mainly in the Swiss canton of Grisons which is located on the south-eastern side of Switzerland next to Italy and Austria. According to a census taken in 1990, roughly 65'000 people were speaking Rumantsch regularly, of which 40'000 used Rumantsch as their main language of communication. In in 2000 this number shrunk to only 35'000 people. Not much if you consider the 7 million inhabitants of Switzerland.  Despite the small number of native speakers, have the mountainous and secluded areas of Grisons produced several different dialects of Rumantsch: Sursilvan Sutsilvan Surmiran Puter Vallader In the 70ies and 80ies Swiss linguist Heinrich Schmid developed a written...

Landsgemeinde Glarus (www.sf.tv) Switzerland is a direct democracy . It is probably one of the best examples of direct democracies all over the world. On the ground, this means the Swiss people can vote directly on any new law rather than having elected representatives vote for them. It also means that in addition to elections which take place every other year (federal and cantonal), the Swiss vote about 3 or 4 times a year on very diverse issues. That's a lot of voting! Direct Democracy par excelence In no other place is this direct democracy more visible than in the public voting of the two Swiss cantons Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus . Instead of voting per letter or in polling booths like the rest of Switzerland, these cantons rely on the Landsgemeinde to settle matters. What is the Landsgemeinde? Literally 'Landsgemeinde' means " community of a canton " which is also a good graphic description of what is happening. All inhabitants of a canton who...

In mid-January, winter is usually already halfway over. High time to spend some quality time in the mountain area of Switzerland. The Swiss alps are high enough to guarantee enough snow for winter sports even in relatively dry winters. We didn't expect much snow when I planned to spend a weekend with some friends in the grison village of Arosa . Little did we know that this weekend would be one of the snowiest of the winter so far. Good thing we brought along snow chains for the ride up to Arosa. At the latest from Chur onwards, there was simply no way to advance without them. Snow was falling non stop and streets, houses and cars were quickly covered in thick layers of snow. Yet, even with the snow it took us only two hours to drive from Zurich to Arosa. Hurray for small countries! Arosa - manwalk  / pixelio.de Arosa - perfect for skiing in the Swiss Alps Arosa is a beautiful village in the Swiss alps featuring about 2000 inhabitants and at least as many tourists on ...

Usually, this is a blog about Swiss life, Swiss food, places and people in Switzerland . I will make an exception to the rule for the wonderful German city Konstanz . It that lays right on the border to Switzerland and is so close to Switzerland one could almost call it a Swiss city. In fact, there are probably more Swiss people visiting Konstanz every weekend than Germans themselves. Konstanz is located on the shores of beautiful Lake Constance, one of the biggest in Europe. By now, the German city has pretty much merged with its Swiss neighbor Kreuzlingen. If it weren't for the signs, you almost wouldn't notice when you actually cross the border. It has a beautifully maintained medieval center with lots of old houses right at the lake front. There are many fun things to do in Konstanz all year round, with shopping probably being the most popular for Swiss visitors. During the holiday season and in the summer months there are special events that draw even more people to th...

Its been a bit of a cloudy and rainy weekend. Not exactly the weather to go outside and take a trip somewhere. Instead, I went on a trip through my collection of pictures and discovered this beautiful photo of the Rheinfall (the Rhine Falls). Rhine Falls The biggest waterfall in Europe is very impressive and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area! It is part of the Rhine river and is located between the Swiss cantons of Zurich and Schaffhausen. They are 150m wide and 23 high  but the size isn't the most impressive part of it all. What gives the Rhine Falls an aura of grandeur is the sheer amount of water falling down over the rocks: about 250 m3/s in winter and more than 600m3/s in the summer months with peaks almost double that. In the middle of the falls there is the now iconic rock of the Rhine Falls. It seems to withstand the masses of water rushing by its side without a problem. You can get there by boat and climb up the steep stairs to the top. It's a...