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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

FACT OR FICTION: Does Switzerland really exist?

You may think, 'of course it does, I am sitting here right now'. But trying to convince doubters on social media that Switzerland is real may be a challenge.

Published: 10 May 2024 13:32 CEST
FACT OR FICTION: Does Switzerland really exist?
Yes, but it is REAL? Photo: Pixabay

We have already had the “Switzerland versus Sweden debate” and have proven that they are, in fact, two different countries.

We don’t know whether the same thing is happening over in Sweden, but here we have an online “community of people dedicated to proving that Switzerland does not exist”. 

And it is not just a handful of rogue individuals who have nothing better to do than bash the tiny (non-existent) nation.

Thousands of people have taken time to post “proof” on Reddit’s “Switzerland is Fake” thread that the Alpine country is just too good to be true; instead, the picturesque mountains, lakes, and castles have been “photoshopped” in what could be the largest conspiracy since the moon landing.

“They are putting AI generated fake cities in front of their fake mountains,” one person said, backing his claim by a photo.

Among other “fake” images of Switzerland is one showing a man “caught” spreading artificial snow on a miniature version of the Alps. 

And then, when an (allegedly) Swiss person tried to prove his existence, online doubters “unmasked” him as an impostor.

What certainly doesn’t help to dissuade this community, is a very real Swiss Miniature Park in Lugano, where the whole of Switzerland is displayed in a tiny version.

Is it all a scam? Photo: Swissminiatur media

It only feeds into the disbelivers’ arguments that everything about the country is fake.

‘Abolish Switzerland’

While the Reddit community’s insistence that Switzerland doesn’t exist is (hopefully) tongue-in-cheek, real attempts to “erase” the country from the world’s map have actually been made – some more successfully than others.

In 2009, the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi submitted a proposal to the United Nations to abolish Switzerland and divide it up along linguistic lines, giving parts of the country to Germany, France and Italy.

The motion was thrown out – officially because it violates the UN Charter, which states that no member country can threaten the existence of another – and unofficially, because the idea was, well, crazy.

But wait – there is more

In much more recent times, in March 2024, shortly before his trip to Europe, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken published a map that put Sweden where Switzerland should be – and Switzerland was nowhere to be found.

The error was quickly noticed and the relevant post deleted from social media – but not before users saw how the US had rendered Switzerland non-existent.

So does Switzerland really exist?

Unless and until proven otherwise by scientists (or Sweden), Switzerland is a real country – just take our word for it.

Member comments

  1. Amusing on one level – terrifying on another to see the depth of political and geographic ignorance, esp by those in high office!

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For members

LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

Children to laundry: The reasons your Swiss neighbour will get angry with you

Good fences may make good neighbours, but since most people in Switzerland live in apartments, such close living conditions often spark tensions.

Published: 28 May 2024 15:06 CEST
Children to laundry: The reasons your Swiss neighbour will get angry with you

For some residents in Switzerland, the dictum ‘Love thy neighbour’ is difficult to live up to, as a new study carried out by the Zurich-based Marketagent Institute reveals.

The main take-away from the survey is that nearly a third of people in Switzerland have had conflicts with their neighbours, and for 80 percent of respondents, the responsibility for the dispute lies — not surprisingly —with the other party.

On the positive side, most of those surveyed judged that they had a ‘fairly good’ or even ‘very good’ relationship with their neighbours — 46 and 22 percent, respectively. 

Only 6 percent consider it to be ‘bad’.

What are neighbours squabbling about most?

The most frequent bone of contention (for 45 percent of respondents) are noise-related disturbances.

Anything from barking dogs, screaming children, playing the drums, or loud parties can be a huge headache for people living in apartment buildings where walls are sometimes too thin for comfort. 

Non-compliance with the laundry room schedule or regulations — such as using the equipment on a day other than the one assigned to the tenant, or not removing fluff and hair known as lint from the dryer — is in a distant second place (22 percent).

Some friction also arises from issues regarding storage of personal belongings in common areas of the building.

And these problems don’t just occur between tenants.

The survey found that disagreements sometimes also arise between owners regarding property boundaries, such as fences, plants, etc.

How are these frictions resolved?

The survey shows that 43 percent of those questioned said they had sought dialogue with their neighbours — that is, an amicable resolution.

A quarter (24 percent) were “silently angry,” while 22 percent contacted their management company.

Only 7 percent called the police.

What do other surveys reveal about ‘neighbourly’ relations?

It seems that tensions of this kind — and how they are resolved — are based on where in Switzerland they occur (after all, everything here is canton-based).

A study by real estate portal Homegate looked at the most common gripes in different parts of the country.

It showed that French and Italian-speaking Swiss are more likely to have problems with their neighbours than those in German-speaking Switzerland. 

But the coast isn’t totally clear for German-speaking Swiss – in fact, the problems are a little closer to home. 

That’s because they are more likely to have problems with people living in their own household than those in Italian-language Ticino. 

Residents of German-speaking Switzerland are also more likely to have disputes with their landlords than those in the rest of the country. 

READ ALSO: What annoys Swiss people most about their neighbours 

What is a foreigner to do?

It is not always easy to fit into a local culture, especially an established, rule-heavy one like a Swiss neighbourhood.

If you come from abroad and don’t want to offend your new neighbours in any way, simply follow these rules:

READ ALSO: Nine ways you might be annoying your neighbours (and not realising it) in Switzerland 

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