“Mr Schmid holds a bachelor’s degree in history and geography from the University of Lausanne and is a connoisseur of the city of Lausanne,” said the university in a press release on Tuesday. The medieval history enthusiast will succeed Renato Häusler, who has held the post since 2002 and is retiring.
Like his predecessor, the new watchman will call out the hours from 10pm to 2am, 365 days a year. He will be assisted by a team of one watchman and five replacement watchmen.
The first written mention of Lausanne Cathedral’s watchmen dates from around 1405. At the time, its mission was not only to call out the hours but also to warn of attacks or fires, a preventive role that has since disappeared. Lausanne is one of the last places in the world to house a historic watchtower, whose daily activity has never been interrupted since it was established in the Middle Ages.
The European Brotherhood of Watchmen lists 58 towns in nine European countries where this tradition is still practised, mainly in Germany and Denmark. In Switzerland, it still exists in Lausanne, Schaffhausen, Bischofszell and Stein am Rhein.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
How is your country dealing with the return of stolen artifacts?
Western nations like Switzerland often have to deal with the process of recovering or returning looted artifacts which have been illegally imported. What’s the situation like in your country?
What do you think Switzerland’s Alain Berset can bring to the Council of Europe?
The former interior minister is to become the first Swiss Secretary General of the Council of Europe – which issues should his five-year term focus on?
Swiss helicopter rescue pioneers safe autopilot approach system
This content was published on
Swiss air rescue company Rega has received approval for a new kind of instrument flight system for approaching a hospital.
Algerian to face trial in Switzerland for ties to Islamic State
This content was published on
A 51-year-old Algerian man has been charged by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office for involvement in the banned terrorist group.
Sylvain Saudan, ‘skier of the impossible’, dies aged 87
This content was published on
The Swiss father of extreme skiing pioneered descents from the Alps to the Himalayas – and became the sport’s first star.
Hayek family buys additional Swatch shares for nearly CHF11 million
This content was published on
Following the acquisition of registered shares worth over CHF20.6 million on Monday, the Hayek family made another purchase on Tuesday.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.