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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

How do the Swiss celebrate Ascension Day?

Ascension Day is on Thursday May 18th this year. Here’s how the Swiss celebrate it - and where.

Published: 16 May 2023 12:46 CEST
Updated: 18 May 2023 09:22 CEST
Zermatt, in southern Switzerland’s Valais canton.
Zermatt, in southern Switzerland’s Valais canton. Many people get out and enjoy the nature on public holidays. Photo by Joao Branco on Unsplash

In Switzerland, May 18th marks Ascension Day, one of the few Swiss nationwide public holidays – alongside Christmas Day and New Year’s Day – to be celebrated in every canton with a day off work.

Ascension Day, which is synonymous with the German and Austrian holiday Christi Himmelfahrt, is in fact equated with Sunday, so shops in Switzerland are closed all day.

How Ascension Day celebrated in Switzerland?

While most people living in Switzerland look forward to kicking off the extended weekend with a relaxing getaway, some traditions to celebrate Ascension day are still observed in many cantons.

Once upon a time, ceremonial processions to mark Ascension day, which would see the Swiss walk through fields and meadows, were prevalent in most Catholic regions across Switzerland.

However, today, only a few rural communities in Lucerne carry out these traditional Ascension day processions, known as Auffahrstumritt, in their original religious form.

The oldest, largest and by far most popular Ascension day procession takes place every year in Beromünster when around 1,000 people travel some 18 kilometres to meditate, pray and walk among like-minded people, listen to sermons by the clergy and/or receive blessings.

Each year, the procession – which lasts around eight-and-a-half hours – takes residents and visitors along a centuries-old path through various towns and villages. Following that, more people – sometimes up to 5,000 – join in for a large celebration to mark the end of the procession and in turn, Ascencion day.

Swiss city of Lucerne

The Swiss city of Lucerne. Photo: Geertje Caliguire on Unsplash

READ ALSO: When are the Swiss public holidays in your canton in 2023?

The municipality of Sempach and the city of Lucerne also maintain similar traditions.

In Liestal, an industrial town based in the canton of Basel-Land, residents celebrate a so-called Banntag (community boundary day) on the Monday prior to Ascension day.

On Banntag, all male Liestal residents, men whose hometown is Liestal, as well as all their male guests and school-age children of both sexes stroll along the boundaries of their municipality.

On the day, residents are divided into four groups based on their family ties and neighbourhood with a leader, fife, drum band, and fancy flag to boot.

The Banntag traditionally starts at 6 am with a shooting demonstration by the marksmen in the Rathausstrasse, following which the town gate bell is rung to gather the townspeople. At 8 am the groups then begin the 26-kilometre march along communal boundaries, followed by a few rounds of bar hopping in Liestal’s taverns.

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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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