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WEATHER

11 sure-fire ways you know it’s spring in Switzerland

From cleaning frenzies to leaping cows, here's how you know winter is definitively over in Switzerland.

Published: 29 March 2019 11:26 CET
Updated: 1 May 2022 10:14 CEST
Look past the bunny - it's the mower which tells you spring is here in Switzerland! Image: Viktorya Sergeeva/Pexels.
Look past the bunny - it's the mower which tells you spring is here in Switzerland! Image: Viktorya Sergeeva/Pexels.

Spring cleaning

With the arrival of warmer weather, the Swiss take the chance to clean their houses. But we’re not talking here about a light dusting down of a couple of shelves here. The Swiss version of spring cleaning is more akin to a military operation.

A proper ten-step programme begins with precision planning, some serious de-cluttering and the purchase of an arsenal of cleaning supplies – many of which are on sale to mark the high point of the domestic calendar.

Then it’s time to launch an assault on every possible surface in the house. Not for beginners.

Creepy robot lawn mowers

After their annual hibernation, spring is the time when Switzerland’s robot lawn mowers reemerge and begin the silent business of cutting grass that doesn’t quite need it yet.

Spooky.

Bring on the barbecues

With summer on the horizon (long may it live!), you can barely walk more than a few metres in Switzerland at the moment without tripping over a garden furniture catalogue.

This is the time when Swiss people traditionally spend big on lounge sets, deck chairs and barbecues to make sure they are ready for those days when it is actually warm enough to sit outside.

Those occasions also give men in Switzerland a chance to engage in two national pastimes – showing off their barbecues (the more space-age the better) and their ‘grill skills’. 

READ MORE: Can I have a barbecue on my balcony in Switzerland?

Smells like spring in Switzerland. Image: Aral Tasher on Unsplash.

Classic cars

If you are looking for a sure-fire sign that it is spring in Switzerland, all you need to do is wait for that magic day when the highways are suddenly full of classic cars (known as ‘oldtimers’ in Switzerland).

We haven’t yet worked out when it is, but it appears there is an official day at the end of winter when all of these cars are taken out of their secret garages and taken for their first spin of the season. Hot tip: a proper ‘oldtimer’ comes with its own separate vintage number plate which is also parked away during the colder months.

Leaping cows

You have to feel sorry for Swiss cows sometimes. They spend up to five months locked away in stalls. It’s no wonder they react like this when they are finally let out.

Traffic jams

While Pentecost, or Whitsunday, means little to people who don’t regularly attend church, the festival has a special meaning in Switzerland.

That’s when thousands of people jump in their cars and spend hours in traffic jams waiting to pass through the Gotthard road tunnel to the promised land – aka the southern, Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, where lakes, palm trees and ice creams await.

READ MORE: Ten strange Swiss road signs you need to know about

The great tyre changeover

Spring means changing the winter tyres on your car over to summer tyres. Or not, as the case may be. While this is a ritual for many people around Easter, there is actually no legal requirement to do so.

On the other hand, if you have summer tyres on your car and then cause an accident in winter, you are likely to run up against the wrath of the insurance companies. You have been warned.

Reader question: When must I change to winter tyres in Switzerland?

Spring decorations

Photo: The Local

The Swiss love to decorate: handicrafts are a national pastime and no café table is complete without an intricate object formed out of twigs, ribbons or even a bit of dried seaweed. And while winter is all about cute snowmen in the windows, spring is all about flowers, rabbits and chickens, or, even better, a combination of the three. 

Packing away winter clothes

Like spring cleaning, this is not a mission to be undertaken lightly.

While we don’t claim to be experts in this matter, a quick ask-around revealed the general idea to be that you wash your clothes first, pack the non-delicate stuff into plastic bins and hang your dresses up.

Hot tip: stick a large-denomination note in your winter jacket.

It will be a nice surprise when next winter arrives. Hot tip number two: don’t decide to donate your money-stuffed winter jacket to charity in the meantime.

Get on your bike (or walk)

Not surprisingly, the Swiss make the most of the better weather to get out into the country’s fabulous outdoors. Bicycles are serviced, huge bicycle markets and held, and Swiss trains are suddenly full of people in checked shirts and very sensible shoes (ie. hikers). Here are some travel tips on where to go this spring.

Asparagus time!

Spring heralds a special moment in the Swiss culinary calendar: asparagus time. The season for locally-produced white asparagus in Switzerland lasts from the middle of May to the middle of June.

During this time do not expect to eat anything else as entire days are given over to consumption of this delicacy. For tips on how to prepare asparagus, see here.

READ MORE: You are not Swiss until you try these seven weird foods

A version of this article originally appeared in April 2018.

For members

MONEY

Do adult children in Switzerland have to support their parents financially?

Usually, it is the parents’ responsibility to ensure their kids are well taken care of financially. But can Swiss authorities force the children to return the favour in times of need?

Published: 30 April 2024 15:31 CEST
Do adult children in Switzerland have to support their parents financially?

In most cases, once children are grown up and out of the house, they are (or at least should be) self-sufficient in terms of finances.

Parents too should breathe a sigh of relief that they are no longer obligated to pay for their children’s expenses, except perhaps for giving them some money here and there as a gift.

This is what happens in the best-case scenario.

But what if things don’t go according to this plan — for instance, if the parents find themselves in financial straits and can’t  afford to pay their bills?

Family obligations

Generally speaking, the truly needy people who don’t have enough income to pay for their basic living expenses will receive financial help from the government, in the very least in the form of the health insurance and housing subsidy.

READ ALSO: Can I get financial help in Switzerland if I’m struggling to pay the bills?

However, before doling out public money, authorities will see whether relatives should be made to help the struggling individuals pay their bills.

(In this context, ‘relatives’ means only those in the direct line of descent: grandparents, parents, and children.)

They will do it by checking the tax status of these relatives — how much they earn and what other financial assets they have — to determine whether, and how much, they should be paying toward their parents’ expenses.

Obviously, you will be expected to pay up only if your own financial situation allows it; you will not be forced to part with your money if you have very little of it yourself.

 ‘Favourable financial circumstaces’

Based on a Federal Court ruling, if the adult child  lives in ‘favourable financial circumstances’ they are required to help out their struggling parents.

The Court defined ‘favourable financial circumstances’ as income and assets allowing a comfortable life.

‘Comfortable life’, in turn, was defined by the Swiss Conference for Social Welfare (SKOS), as a taxable annual income of 120,000 francs for a single person, and 180,000 francs for married couples.

“If you have minors in your household, the limit is increased by 20,000 francs per child,” according to AXA insurance.

It goes on to say that you can deduct an exempt amount from your taxable assets.

“Your annual depletion of assets is deducted from the remaining amount. This means that if you are obligated to provide financial support, you are permitted to use part of your assets yourself each year; you don’t have to devote your entire assets to providing support.”

At between 18 and 30 years of age, this is 1/60th per year; from 31 to 40, 1/50th per year; 41 to 50, 1/40th per year; 51 to 60, 1/30th per year; and from the age of 61,1/20th per year. 

Are there any exemptions to these rules?

Aside from not having sufficient funds, you could be exempted from paying if, say, your parents, or parent, have not lived up to their own financial obligations toward you.

In Switzerland, parents are required to  provide financially for their children until the age of majority, and even beyond that if they are still studying or undergoing vocational training — typically, until the mid-20s.

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