Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

Here are the latest news and stories doing the rounds in Switzerland on Wednesday!

Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

In the news – bomb-spotting and nursing gripes

• In 2020, some 60% more unexploded bombs were found across Switzerland compared to previous years. The haul of 1,055 objects was likely due to Covid-19, an army spokesman said today: not only were more people out and about in nature (where they could stumble across such things), but during the lockdown more people also cleaned out their garages and attics (where such things are also to be found, apparently). The army expects the current glut to be temporary, and that longer-term trends will settle back down.
• A long-term study by the Zurich school of applied sciences finds nurses are broadly happy with their profession, and 90% of them plan to stick with it. However, they aren’t so satisfied with specific aspects, according to the survey published today. Many said salaries were too low, and that they wanted a better work-life balance. The findings, which are not a surprise, come a month before a nationwide vote on a proposal to improve working conditions in the healthcare sector.

© Keystone / Walter Bieri

NZZ takes a trip to Swiss Covid-sceptic bastion

Unteriberg in canton Schwyz (central Switzerland) is not only the “most conservative” of the country’s 2,172 municipalities; it’s also the district most opposed to the government’s pandemic policy. In June, when the country voted for the first time on the Covid law, a whopping 88% of Unteribergers were against it – that’s 18 percentage points higher than the neighbouring municipality just up the hill. And for the next vote on the Covid law, on November 28, some of the locals want to top that score, they tell the intrepid NZZ reporter who visits the area todayExternal link.

By the tone of the piece, the bemused big-city journalist sounds like he had a good time. He conveniently visits on the day of the “Stöckmärcht”, an annual local festival, where “Häxlis” (green vodka and mint tea) and coffees laced with plum brandy are aplenty. He chats with locals “sick to the teeth” of measures imposed by Bern, and who say the recurring vaccination campaigns just make them less and less willing to get the jab. All in all they seem to cordially welcome the NZZ, despite the fact that, as one of the “natives” says, every few months a “journalist from Zurich” is coming down to try to figure them out.

And does this one figure them out? Why is Unteriberg, situated just 50km from Zurich, so overwhelmingly opposed to the efforts of well-meaning, hard-working officials to keep them healthy? Unfortunately, this remains unanswered, if not unanswerable. The closest we get is the assertion by a long-time (and vaccinated) resident who says typical Unteribergers are freedom-loving mountain folk who tend to be opposed to any authority telling them what to do. To get them to take a vaccine, you’d have to ban it first, he says. Helpfully, in case some desperate official in Bern is looking for tips, the journalist explains that this is a joke.

Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

Mafia presence in Switzerland, mapped

Following the Aargauer Zeitung External linkyesterdayExternal link, Blick External linkwrites todayExternal link about the “widespread” mafia presence in Switzerland. The information isn’t new; however, the extent seems to be wider than assumed, particularly in German-speaking parts of the country. Blick doesn’t give too many details about what these mafia members actually do; some just work here, normally and regularly, it seems. But the paper does publish a map, based on information from the Federal Office of Police, showing the areas where they have been detected – almost everywhere. In fact, the only regions still free of Cosa Nostra seem to be Jura, Obwalden, Uri, Schwyz, Glarus, and the Appenzells. At least they’re not a rural lot, these mafia…

© Keystone / Gaetan Bally

The best pastry of them all

Have you ever thought, while eating your croissant, “yes, this croissant is good, very good, but might there be a better croissant somewhere? Might there be a place you could go to get the best croissant in the world? Might there be a person, some person, who is the best croissant-maker in the world?” Is it even possible to make such a distinction among all the millions of pâtissiers around the globe? It seems it is, and each year an award is given to the world’s best pastry chef, and this year, the winner comes from culinary hotspot Zofingen in canton Aarau. RTS writes todayExternal link that David Schmid is the first Swiss ever to grab the prize, which is based on various criteria, including holding the right qualifications and having published a book. Congratulations maestro!