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SOCIAL LIFE

Social life in Switzerland: 10 things the Swiss do in their free time

Have you ever wondered what Swiss people get up to after work and at the weekend? We have put together 10 of the most popular leisure activities of the Swiss – and some are completely free of charge.

Published: 20 March 2023 16:04 CET
Updated: 24 March 2023 14:40 CET
Social life in Switzerland: 10 things the Swiss do in their free time
What do the Swiss do in their free time? Photo by Maurício Mascaro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-dancing-inside-building-801863/

Hiking and picnics

Not surprisingly, given Switzerland’s magnificent landscape and easy access to various hiking trails and breath-taking views, hiking and picnicking are among the Swiss’ favourite outdoor activities and make for a great not-so-lazy- Sunday afternoon pastime.

In fact, hiking happens to be the most popular sports activity in the country with 97 percent of the Swiss population enjoying a hike frequently, regularly, or occasionally. Of that, 57 percent of people aged 15 and over hiking on the regular. This corresponds to around 4 million Swiss people!

But while the average age of Swiss hikers is 50 years, enthusiasm for hiking is also evident in 15- to 29-year-olds, the youngest age group, with a recent increase recorded among young women.

Hiking is in fact considered a lifetime sport for the Swiss and many keep it up well into their old age as one of the very few sports to be practiced by people over 74 years old.

Meeting friends

According to the Federal Office for Statistics, meeting up with friends is equally high (97 percent) on the Swiss priority list with the majority choosing to meet up after working hours (5 pm to 6 pm).

Once work is wrapped up for the day, the Swiss like to head out for a casual dinner with a friend, blow off steam with some shopping, enjoy a round of pool, or simply get together for a coffee.

However, since the Swiss take punctuality and work ethic very seriously, don’t expect to be partying well into the night on a weekday.

Get fit

Speaking of breaking a sweat, there has been a real fitness boom in Switzerland in recent years and 92 percent of Swiss take their fitness seriously enough to practice it now and again, regularly, or religiously.

While some early risers will squeeze in a quick workout before work, doing so at a gym will be nearly impossible – unless your manager proves extra generous.

Switzerland’s gyms tend to open after 8 am and close at 9.30 pm during the week, which is why you’re more likely to find the Swiss working out after work, either right before dinner, or a good while after.

Some Swiss also like to hit the gym early on a Saturday morning anywhere between 8.30 am. and 12 pm.

Village, district, and club festivals

Three quarters of the people living in Switzerland take every opportunity to be a part of their community by partaking in smaller festivities hosted by villages, districts, or clubs (Vereine).

The latter are great if you happen to be a member of a local social or sports club and are typically held over the weekend.

Card and board games

While you can always invite a few friends over for a board game night on a Friday, many Swiss choose to sign up with local card game clubs, such as all-time favourite Jassen – Switzerland’s national card game – to face more serious competition

READ ALSO: Jass – What is Switzerlands national card game?

Typically, meet-ups take place during the week anywhere from 7pm until 10pm or on a Saturday afternoon from 2pm onwards.

A total of 76 percent of Swiss people listed card and board games as an activity they enjoy doing in their leisure time. So, next time you’re looking to befriend a Swiss, why not suggest a round of Monopoly?

Festivals

Some of Switzerland’s largest festivals have also made the list with seven out of ten people in the country joining large scale celebrations such as the August 1st (Bundesfeiertag), Fasnacht and various music festivals.

Cinemas

Cinemas are a firm weekend favourite for the Swiss, but unlike in many other European countries that show entire movies without any interruptions (barring the odd cellphone!), in Switzerland most movies break up in the middle allowing the audience to use the loo and buy (more) snacks.

Though the Swiss love late night showings on a Saturday, many also visit the cinema on a Monday or Tuesday. Depending on the canton, district, or town you reside in, many Swiss cinemas grant a 20 percent discount on Mondays or Tuesdays because that day is dubbed the official ‘Kinotag’ (cinema day).

Zoos

According to a 2020 study by the Verband der Zoologischen Gärten, a third of Swiss zoo visitors (33 percent) had been to a zoo in the past 24 months. Almost half (47 percent) visited a zoo two or three times in that time and 12 percent said they had been to the zoo roughly four to five times. Zoo Zurich counted 1’270’000 visitors in 2021 alone.

Needless to say, the Swiss love their zoos and when asked where that love originates 26 percent of visitors said their admiration for zoos is fuelled by a need to protect and care for the wildlife.

Another 23 percent of visitors said their motivation for going so frequently is to learn more about the animals, while 22 percent think zoos are vital for children.

As with hiking, most Swiss people leave their zoo visits for the weekend or whenever their kids are off school.

Botanical Gardens

Switzerland has an array of wonderful botanical gardens where visitors are enchanted by thousands of native flowers and plant species. Around 48 percent of the Swiss population enjoys frequenting the country’s botanical gardens, particularly during the icy winter!

In Zurich, you can visit not one but eight botanical gardens with the most popular being the Botanischer Garten der Universität Zürich. The garden welcomes visitors from 7 am until 7 pm during the week (March – September) and 8 am – 6 pm in the winter months for free.

Though particularly popular on the weekends, many Zurich city dwellers pay the garden a visit at lunchtime to marvel at its over 7,000 different plant species and enjoy an inexpensive lunch at the university’s canteen. Pssst, the latter is intended for students and researchers, but anyone is welcome!

Night clubs

This one may come as a bit of a shock, but a few select Swiss, namely 37 percent, do like to live it up in a night club from time to time! If you’re looking to dance the night away, remember that Swiss night clubs generally don’t open before 11pm and the party definitely doesn’t start before the clock strikes midnight.

Those looking to make the most of their money may still want to arrive early as most clubs shut their doors at 4am.

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SWITZERLAND EXPLAINED

From condoms to vaccines: The most controversial rulings by Switzerland’s highest court

The Swiss Federal Court, the highest judicial authority in the country, has ruled on some highly contentious issues over the years.

Published: 20 September 2023 15:11 CEST
From condoms to vaccines: The most controversial rulings by Switzerland’s highest court

Before we get to actual cases, it is important to understand how Switzerland’s justice system is set up.

There are different court levels.

When people file their cases with the legal system, their first contact are district courts, which group together judiciary authorities by local areas.

Many Swiss towns are too small to have their own courts, so a district court is just that — a court that covers several neighbouring communities.

If, say, you become involved in a civil lawsuit, a divorce case, or any kind of litigation or dispute, the case will be first be heard at the district court.

Most often, its rulings are final.

However, if you are not happy with the verdict of your district court, you can appeal it within 30 days, at which point your case will go to the higher judicial level, that is, the cantonal court.

Each canton has its own high court — Switzerland’s second most important judicial entity hierarchically.

Besides criminal cases, cantonal high courts hear civil claims, and there are also courts on cantonal level for administrative cases.

The next is the Federal court, the highest judicial authority in Switzerland.

Headquartered in Lausanne, it is the final instance on all appeals against decisions of the highest cantonal courts, as well as the three other federal courts, which deal with criminal, administrative and patent cases, respectively.

This chart shows how the judicial system is organised in Switzerland. 

READ ALSO: What you should know about Switzerland’s courts

This means that by the time a case (that is to say, the appeal) comes before federal judges, it has already been ruled on by lower courts.

This is what happened in these three recent controversial cases as well.

The condom

You might think that taxpayer-funded federal court should not spend its valuable time (and public money) on a case involving a condom, but it has done so nevertheless.

As Swiss media reported, on September 14th, the highest court ruled on a case that has been heard in the lower courts in Zurich since 2017.

It involved a young man (19 at the time), who took off his condom during sex with an 18-year-old woman, without, however, informing her or asking for her consent to do so.

This practice is called ‘“stealthing’ in English.

The woman filed a complaint in a district court of Bülach (Zurich) and, after a series of rulings and appeals through higher courts (see above), ended up before the federal tribunal.

The case took so long because it had many twists and turns.

Stealthing is not punishable by Swiss law, which is why both the district and cantonal court acquitted the young man

The Federal Court  also acquitted him, but reassessed the case from the perspective of sexual harassment. That ruling had stuck, and the young man must now pay a 2,500-franc fine, in addition to 7,200 francs in court costs.

Forced vaccine

In the most recent case, which The Local reported last week, the Federal Court sided with the man who wanted his ex-wife to be forced to vaccinate their two children against measles.

The mother, an anti-vaxxer, had refused to do so, and the long-winded battle between the parents, which made its way through the lower courts, eventually landed in the federal tribunal.

As it had done in several previous similar cases when parents didn’t see eye to eye about vaccinating their children, the court followed the  public health guidelines, which are clearly in favour of childhood immunisations.

Therefore, judges sided with the father, giving the mother an order to immunise her children against measles.

Parents can be made to vaccinate their children court ruled. Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

Assisted suicide

In another recent case, from June, the court acquitted a Swiss doctor, Erika Preisig, who was charged with homicide for helping a mentally ill patient die in a Basel assisted suicide clinic. 

Previously, predominantly people suffering from physical ailments could benefit from voluntary suicide, which is legal but well-regulated in Switzerland.
 
However, Preisig was charged because she had violated the previous Federal Court ruling, from 2006, which required a psychiatric evaluation on the patient before helping them die.

In June, the court overturned its old decision, finding that although Preisig had not obtained a psychiatric report, she had studied the medical records, had intensive discussions with the patient, questioned relatives, and obtained a second opinion. The mentally ill person was understood to have made a well-considered decision and was capable of judgement. 

The Federal Court had therefore confirmed that Preisig could assume, even without a psychiatric expert opinion, that the patient had a permanent wish to die, as she suffered from an incurable, permanent, severe mental impairment.

READ ALSO: What to know about Switzerland’s latest court judgement on assisted suicide

Naturalisation

While obtaining Swiss citizenship is a long and complicated process, and rejections at communal level are often made arbitrarily, the Federal Court had sided with applicants on several occasions.
 
For instance, in 2018, the court ordered the commune of Trimmis in canton Graubünden to grant Swiss citizenship to an Iranian refugee who had lived in the community for 30 years. 

It reversed a ruling made previously by the lower court, which sided with local authorities who denied the man the right to become Swiss.

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