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Switzerland lies at the crossroads of several majorEuropean cultures. Three of the continent's major languages,German,French andItalian, are nationallanguages of Switzerland, along withRomansh, spoken by a small minority. Therefore, Swiss culture is characterized by diversity, which is reflected in a wide range of traditional customs. The26 cantons also account for the large cultural diversity.[1]
Not withstanding the regional disparities, theAlps have played an essential role in shaping the history andculture of Switzerland.[2][3] The region of theGotthard Pass became the nucleus of theSwiss Confederacy in the early 14th century. Nowadays, all mountain areas of Switzerland have a strong skiing and mountaineering culture and are associated with folk arts such as thealphorn andyodeling. Other Swiss cultural icons includeSwiss chocolate,Swiss cheese,watches,cowbells,banking, and theSwiss Army knives.
Folk art is kept alive in organizations all over the country. In Switzerland, it is mostly expressed inmusic,dance,poetry,wood carving andembroidery. There are also many regional and local rites demarcating times of the year. Yodeling, despite being stereotypical for Switzerland, is not widespread and is limited to only some mountain areas. The same is true for theaccordion, which is sometimes called by the nameSchwiizerörgeli, implying that it was a Swiss musical instrument, rather than the GermanHandorgel.
The alphorn, or the alpenhorn, is a trumpet-like musical instrument made of wood. The use of the alphorn is seen mainly in mountainous regions, can be very popular in some areas, and like yodeling or the accordion, it has become an emblem of traditional Swiss music.
The melodies of folk music vary between regions. Generally those in pastoral areas are floating and wide-ranging. In the inner and southern Alps, however, the melodies are more songlike, and of more limited range. Common and popular themes are about love and the homeland, but patriotic and pastoral themes, as well as hunting themes, are also commonplace.
The Alpine folk culture is characterized by very expressive dances. Small musical ensembles can be found in the more mountainous areas, particularly in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
The most common form of woodcarving ischip carving. Such carving is normally for the decoration of everyday objects, such as milk stools, neckbands for bells, wooden spoons, or walking sticks. Figure carving is also common, particularly of Nativity figures. In some areas, the façades of houses are richly decorated using woodcarving. This is widespread in theBernese Oberland region whereProtestant Christianity predominates. In Roman Catholic regions, this is far less common.
Embroidery is common on traditional clothing, particularly women's clothing. Embroidery is often limited to prominent points, such as cuffs, hats and scarves. Embroidery is also used for the decoration of fabric. In the past, embroidery was a home industry in the northeast and the east of Switzerland. Nowadays, embroidery is confined to tourism, as traditional clothes are no longer in use.
On certain autumn nights, children's processions with lanterns are common in Alemannic Switzerland. Lanterns (calledRääbeliechtli "turnip light") are hand-carved from root vegetables, generallyturnips, by removing the interior and putting a candle inside. TheRäbeliechtli is carved with designs such as the traditional sun, moon and stars. The lantern is then suspended by three chains. The children walk through the streets of their town with the lanterns and sing traditional songs. The custom originates with thanksgiving traditions at the end of harvest in November.[5] This tradition is very similar to the tradition of carving turnip lanterns for halloween in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man (where they call halloweenHop-tu-Naa, and have traditional songs), and parts of England and Wales. There the celebration is on 31 October to celebrate the eve of the Celtic New Year.
There is a strong architectural tradition in Switzerland. The Romanesque style of the 12th century can be found in the cathedrals ofBasel,Sion,Chur,Geneva,Zürich andSchaffhausen. This style, which is rich in expression, can also be found on many castles and fortresses around the country, many of which preserved in a good condition. The cathedrals ofLausanne andBern are in the Gothic style, and the churches ofEinsiedeln andSt. Gallen are in the Baroque style.
During theRenaissance, a large number of architectural masters gave their talents toItaly. Most of these came from the southern canton ofTicino. The Prisons near theDoge's Palace inVenice and theRialto Bridge inVenice were built byAntonio da Ponte. TheBridge of Sighs in Venice was built byAntonio Contino, andDomenico Fontana (1543–1607) designed the entireLateran Palace inNaples as well as the façade of theSt. John Lateran Church and theRoyal Palace in the same city. Fontana's nephewCarlo Maderno was an architect to PopePaul V.San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, the gallery of thePalazzo Spada and theFilippini monastery were built byFrancesco Borromini, andCarlo Fontana was responsible for the façade ofSan Marcello al Corso and theMontecitorio Palace; Baldassare Longhena, from Maroggia, built the church ofSanta Maria della Salute, theRezzonico and theWidmann palaces; all inVenice.
Gilardi and Oldelli families fromTicino set up architecture practices inRussia.Giovanni Giliardi built The Orphanage inMoscow, and his sonDomenico Giliardi was in charge of the rebuilding Moscow public buildings, including theUniversity, after theGreat Fire of 1812.Domenico Trezzini built many places inSt. Petersburg by the orders ofPeter the Great;Pietro Trezzini (not related to Domenico) continued the tradition in the 1740s.
Early in the 20th century, a new movement, called theStyle Sapin, was created by the architect and painterCharles l'Eplattenier in the city ofLa Chaux-de-Fonds. It was a variation ofArt Nouveau, and it became popularly known as theStyle Sapin, or pine tree style, since l'Eplatennier insisted that the best model for art and architecture in the region was the pine tree, along with the other native plants and trees of the Jura mountains.Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret), was a student of l'Eplattenier, and at the age of eighteen built his first house, a chalet with a pine tree decorative design, in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He became a major force in westernmodern architecture in the 20th century.
Distinctive architecture of high quality can be found around Switzerland. It is often considered as particularly innovative modern architecture.Mario Botta is a famous architect who influenced modern architecture. The architectsJacques Herzog andPierre de Meuron fromBasel received thePritzker Architecture Prize in 2001,[6] in 2009 the prize was awarded to Swiss architectPeter Zumthor,[7] and in 2021,Anne Lacaton a Professor atETH Zurich, won the prize with her partnerJean-Philippe Vassal.[8]
In the 16th centuryProtestantism had a strong influence on visual arts in Switzerland.Samuel Hieronymus Grimm was a well-known 18th-century watercolourist and ink wash artist, although he created much of his notable work while in England. There was almost no influence from Italian or French Renaissance. Chiefly in modern times did Swiss artists begin to emerge internationally.Alberto Giacometti is said to have derived much of his inspiration from theEtruscans, but became internationally known.Jean Tinguely fascinated people from all over the world with complex moving sculptures constructed entirely from scrap materials.Paul Klee is sometimes regarded as Switzerland's most original and impressive painter.
TheDada movement originated in theCabaret Voltaire inZürich in 1916.
Despite the relatively small number of internationally famous artists such asAlberto Giacometti andHR Giger, there are considerable art collections in renowned museums around Switzerland. These are not only found in the cities of Zürich,Basel andGeneva but also in smaller towns such asSchaffhausen,Martigny andWinterthur. The museums in the smaller towns pride themselves for their contribution to the arts, which exceed what is commonly found in provincial areas.
Graphic arts flourish in Switzerland, as does creative photography. Examples of this can be found on calendars, magazines and outdoor billboard advertisements.
In the field of literature Switzerland produced a number of very well known writers.Jean-Jacques Rousseau was fromGeneva. The critic and historianJacob Burckhardt was fromBasel. The house ofGermaine de Staël inCoppet was a centre of European literary life during the 18th century. Other writers includeGottfried Keller,Conrad Ferdinand Meyer,Jeremias Gotthelf andCharles Ferdinand Ramuz.Hermann Hesse andCarl Spitteler both won aNobel Prize for their works.
In the 20th century the plays ofFriedrich Dürrenmatt andMax Frisch impressed readers beyond the borders of Switzerland. There are a great number of regional dialects, especially in the German language. Even though standard German is commonly used for writing, there is a living dialect literature in many areas.
For children's culture there is the cartoon characterGlobi.
Switzerland is not commonly considered a leading musical nation. However, in the 20th century it produced a number of notable composers, such asArthur Honegger,Othmar Schoeck andFrank Martin, who have all gained international renown.Lucerne andVerbier both feature prestigious international classical music festivals in the summer: theLucerne Festival[9] and theVerbier Festival.[10] Other places have similar festivals, ranging from country and western to pop and jazz. TheMontreux Jazz Festival is particularly well known.
Swiss composer and musicianAndreas Vollenweider gained worldwide recognition with his harp music and has received a Grammy Award, followed by two Grammy nominations, one as recent as 2007. His 17 instrumental albums have sold over 15 million copies.
Newspapers have a strong regional character, but some are renowned for their thorough coverage of international issues, such as theNeue Zürcher Zeitung ofZürich andLe Temps ofGeneva. As elsewhere,television plays a great role in modern cultural life in Switzerland. The national public broadcaster,SRG SSR idée suisse, offers three networks, one each for the German, French and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. In the German-speaking part, television from Germany is popular, as is television from France in the French-speaking part and television from Italy in the Italian-speaking part. American movies and television series are influential in all areas.
Infilm, American productions constitute most of the programme, although several Swiss movies have enjoyed commercial successes in recent years. Maybe due to the multilingual culture, almost all movie theatres play movies in their original language with subtitles, and films on television are often broadcast in original and synchronized versions.
Switzerland has been associated with banking and other related banking services. Since the early 18th century, Switzerland has along, kindred history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality. Started as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified with the 1934Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. Considered the "grandfather of bank secrecy", has been one of the largestoffshore financial centers andtax havens in the world since the mid-20th century. Followingan international push to roll back banking secrecy laws, Switzerland has seen fluctuating levels of banking regulation.
Releasing client information has been considered a serious social and criminal offence since the early 1900s. Employees working in Switzerland and abroad at Swiss banks "have long adhered to an unwritten code similar to thatobserved by doctors or priests".[11] Banking in Switzerland has historically played, and still continues to play, a dominant role in theSwiss economy and society. According to theOrganization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2015, total banking assets amount to 467% of total gross domestic product.[12] Banking in Switzerlandhas been portrayed, to varying degrees of accuracy, in overall popular culture, books, movies, and television shows.
There has been a long tradition of Swiss scientists ever sinceParacelsus (real nameTheophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim) in the 16th century. Paracelsus introduced the field of chemistry into medicine in the 16th century. The Bernoulli family fromBasel is known for their significant contributions to mathematics over a time span of three generations.Leonhard Euler is another innovative mathematician.Horace-Bénédict de Saussure was a naturalist and pioneer in Alpine studies. TheFederal Institute of Technology in Zürich has produced a great number ofNobel Prize winners, while the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known asCERN, operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.Ferdinand de Saussure was an important contributor to the field oflinguistics. PhysicistAlbert Einstein, born in Germany, moved to Switzerland in 1895 at the age of 16 and became a Swiss citizen in 1901.
The close proximity to the mountains in all areas in Switzerland has greatly influenced the leisure of Swiss people. The growth of ski and mountaineering resorts in the Swiss mountains have caused the Swiss to become very sports conscious. Apart fromskiing andmountaineering, Swiss-style wrestling (Schwingen) is still popular in rural areas. Sunday-morning shooting sessions andHornussen (a kind of Alpine baseball) are two other traditional Swiss sports.Shooting,tennis,golf,ice hockey,football (soccer),basketball,handball,gliding,paragliding,sailing,swimming,volleyball,floorball,mountain biking, andhiking in the forests and mountains are all popular pastimes. Fishing is commonplace in the many lakes and rivers, but often a licence is necessary. Many mountain lakes freeze over during winter and are used forcurling, horse and dog racing, particularly aroundSt. Moritz.
Lausanne is headquarters for many international sport organisations, notably theInternational Olympic Committee, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport and some 55 international sport associations.FIFA is headquartered inZürich.
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