Five things about living in Switzerland that will surprise you
Some aspects of Swiss life, rules, and practices may be surprising — or even shocking — to new arrivals from more conservative or less regimented countries.
Taxpayer-funded prostitution
The ’world’s oldest profession’ is not only perfectly legal and considered as a ‘regular’ service industry, but public funds are sometimes used to pay for sex workers’ comfort and safety.
For instance, in a 2012 referendum, 52 percent of Zurich voters approved the municipal plan to, um, erect 25 ‘sex boxes’ — basically, garage-like structures — where the city’s prostitutes could ply their trade in private, away from downtown’s gritty areas.
The boxes are under 24-hour surveillance, have a social worker on site, and include a laundry, shower and café.
The sex boxes are financed by taxpayers' money. Photo by AFP
Total cost of the project was CHF 2 million to build the structure, and another CHF 800,000 was earmarked for annual operation costs — expenses that voters apparently thought made a lot of street sense.
Nudity
Walking (or perhaps riding a bicycle or e-scooter) in the buff is also legal in Switzerland, as it is considered an important element of ‘personal freedom’.
While Swiss penal code does not expressly say public nudity should be practiced, it does not prohibit it either. It only bans ‘public indecency’.
After some people in the canton Appenzell complained that a hiker with no clothes on walked past a family with small children and a Christian rehabilitation centre, a court ruled that cantons can ban public nudity, but few did.
The dignity of plants
Before you pick a flower on an Alpine meadow, think twice.
There’s actually a regulation called “The dignity of living things with regard to plants”.
Although the law is written in a 'legalese', difficult to understand language, one of its articles clearly states that “decapitation of wild flowers at the roadside without rational reason” is strictly forbidden.
This applies to all humans passing by the flower, whether naked or clothed.
If you pick this flower for no valid reason, you are breaking the law. Photo by AFP
READ MORE: Five Swiss laws that foreign residents are bound to break
You must have buddy for your pet
The Swiss Animal Protection Act says that small domestic animals like rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs tend to get lonely without a companion, so they must be kept in pairs.
This law is included in Switzerland’s Constitution, so it is not a joke.
In fact, the Swiss are so serious about animal welfare (along with plant welfare) that the canton of Basel may actually launch a referendum granting "fundamental rights to life for non-human primates". (No word about rights for human primates).
For animal lovers, this vote is no monkey business.
Quiet in the bathroom!
This is not a law but rather a more or less common practice among tenants in Swiss apartments.
To be a good and considerate neighbour in Switzerland means not flushing your toilet after 10 pm. This may relate to all kinds of noises being forbidden after 10 pm.
Of course, much depends on how thin your walls are, how often you use the loo at night, and how finicky your neighbours are.
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Taxpayer-funded prostitution
The ’world’s oldest profession’ is not only perfectly legal and considered as a ‘regular’ service industry, but public funds are sometimes used to pay for sex workers’ comfort and safety.
For instance, in a 2012 referendum, 52 percent of Zurich voters approved the municipal plan to, um, erect 25 ‘sex boxes’ — basically, garage-like structures — where the city’s prostitutes could ply their trade in private, away from downtown’s gritty areas.
The boxes are under 24-hour surveillance, have a social worker on site, and include a laundry, shower and café.
The sex boxes are financed by taxpayers' money. Photo by AFP
Total cost of the project was CHF 2 million to build the structure, and another CHF 800,000 was earmarked for annual operation costs — expenses that voters apparently thought made a lot of street sense.
Nudity
Walking (or perhaps riding a bicycle or e-scooter) in the buff is also legal in Switzerland, as it is considered an important element of ‘personal freedom’.
While Swiss penal code does not expressly say public nudity should be practiced, it does not prohibit it either. It only bans ‘public indecency’.
After some people in the canton Appenzell complained that a hiker with no clothes on walked past a family with small children and a Christian rehabilitation centre, a court ruled that cantons can ban public nudity, but few did.
The dignity of plants
Before you pick a flower on an Alpine meadow, think twice.
There’s actually a regulation called “The dignity of living things with regard to plants”.
Although the law is written in a 'legalese', difficult to understand language, one of its articles clearly states that “decapitation of wild flowers at the roadside without rational reason” is strictly forbidden.
This applies to all humans passing by the flower, whether naked or clothed.
If you pick this flower for no valid reason, you are breaking the law. Photo by AFP
READ MORE: Five Swiss laws that foreign residents are bound to break
You must have buddy for your pet
The Swiss Animal Protection Act says that small domestic animals like rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs tend to get lonely without a companion, so they must be kept in pairs.
This law is included in Switzerland’s Constitution, so it is not a joke.
In fact, the Swiss are so serious about animal welfare (along with plant welfare) that the canton of Basel may actually launch a referendum granting "fundamental rights to life for non-human primates". (No word about rights for human primates).
For animal lovers, this vote is no monkey business.
Quiet in the bathroom!
This is not a law but rather a more or less common practice among tenants in Swiss apartments.
To be a good and considerate neighbour in Switzerland means not flushing your toilet after 10 pm. This may relate to all kinds of noises being forbidden after 10 pm.
Of course, much depends on how thin your walls are, how often you use the loo at night, and how finicky your neighbours are.
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