In Switzerland there are hardly any rivers left where engineering was not applied to control its flow. As a result the rivers have all been more or less tamed. This has had a great impact on nature too. Where there used to be a variety of fish, insects, birds and frogs many have meanwhile gone forever.

The government now invests quite a lot of money to keep nature reserves where the disappearing wildlife can survive. The picture shows a pond where a couple of rare frog species are given a new space to survive.

The second picture shows a kind of bucket with a net for the frogs to be able to leave. A plug will occasionally get pulled out to allow the bucket to go completely dry to simulate a natural river.

This location is not made known to the public so that tourists are kept out out for fear of them causing damage to the fragile eco system.

Since Corona people use much less cash than before. It is just so convenient to pay with a card or a phone that is wiped across a sensor at the checkout desk.

Nowadays there are more than a dozen possibilities to pay without using cash. (See picture).

At the same time many people are also aware that this convent way of paying without cash leads to increased data trails that are easily tracked. Many people are weary of increasing control mechanisms.

Switzerland is a direct democracy. A new political initiative has just been launched that insists that the government would not be allowed to abolish cash. In other words people should always have the possibility of paying by cash and not be forced to pay with a card.

The deadline for the initiative was Februar 17. A 100’000 signatures are needed for it to be valid. Around 157’000 were collected. So some time in the nearer future this initiative will be presented to the people in Switzerland. I think there is a fair chance that the Swiss will vote yes and accept this initiative.

Switzerland is still known to be one of the cleanest countries in the world. The Swiss are very particular about the environment. Traditionally everything needs to be proper and clean.

Household waste is meticulously separated and collected almost at your front door. In most places general waste is collected twice a week. In the city of Berne a particular bag has to be used where the price for a specific amount of waste is included in the price. Other places use labels to be stuck on the bag, thus paying for the service of waste removal.

However there are other regular collections too: during summer time biological or green waste (leaves, branches cut grass) is also placed in green containers and gets collected once a week. This service also is paid by label. On another weekly day paper gets picked up for free or metal and tin.

Empty batteries get collected at all shopping places along with empty plastic bottles. Glas gets separated into three different categories: brown, white and green. The collection of these items are free. Bigger shopping areas offer such glas collection points.

Every city also has collection points for bigger and bulkier stuff. You can bring the things you want to throw away to these centres. Again, stuff gets separated according to categories: general waste, glas, metal, batteries, organic etc.

People who secretly deposit waste will certainly face a huge fine, if caught.

There are written the regulations on how waste is handled. In the city of Berne they are available in the following languages: Albanian, Arabic, German, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish, Tamil and Turkish. That just offers a glimpse of the languages that are really quite commonly spoken in the city of Berne.

The general waste gets collected and is then burned in very efficient plants.

725 years ago (in 1291) the three cantons Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden swore an oath of Confederation. This was the beginning of Switzerland. Nowadays 26 cantons belong to the Swiss Confederacy.

The Swiss National Day is one of the official public holidays where people are off work.

I attended a celebration in Oberhofen at the lake of Thun. It started at 9 am with Alphorn blowing and swinging of flags. The peak was a speech held by a now retired very high ranking army officer. Mr Faustus Furrer noted how peaceful and blessed Switzerland is the midst of so many conflicts past and present in the world around us. He encouraged the listeners to hold on to the values that shaped our country. At the end the national anthem was sung which gives glory to God, who is blessing the nation.

In the evening many Swiss will enjoy a barbecue with family and friends. There are many fireworks taking place. The one on lake of Thun is famous. At 10pm the five big boats of the lake will pass by the bigger villages, stop and send beautiful fireworks into the sky.

The SIG SG550 is the standard Swiss Army’s assault rifle. It is the  weapon that many adult Swiss males keep at home. Officers and some specific troops are issued a pistol (SIG Saurer P220).

Every healthy 18 year old Swiss male living in Switzerland is conscripted and has to go through basic army training (RS, Rekrutenschule) that takes 18 or 21 weeks. After the basic training every year soldiers have to go on a three weeks repetitions course (WK, Wiederholungskurse).

Nowadays men who for some personal reason don’t want to join the Swiss armed forces have the option of serving with a longer civil service (serving in old people’s homes and hospitals etc). I remember the days when we were drafted, people refusing to join had to go to prison.

Women are free to join the ranks too. Their proportion is not big, but there are ladies serving in the same troops along with the guys.

The army weapons have to be practiced at least once a year at the official shooting ranges.

After having served a certain number of days and having reaching a certain age the soldiers are taken out of service. Many would opt to keep their weapons.

People keep their army weapons at home. The bolt has to be kept separately and should be locked away.

Switzerland has quite a liberal weapons law. It is relatively easy to buy a gun. There are around 2.3 to 4.5 million weapons privately owned. In that aspect Switzerland is probably not lagging far behind the US. However it is quite amazing that firearms are relatively rarely used to commit crimes. Unfortunately weapons are often used in suicides. Between 1996 and 2005 over 40% of suicides were committed with army weapons.

On the car registration plates as always the flag of the Canton is on the right (blue and white) and the Swiss flag on the left.

This canton is not one of the biggest but the most populated. It covers basically the city of Zürich with agglomeration. It’s population reaches 1.4 Mio.

It is located in the eastern part of Switzerland. Folks from that Canton are probably the most sophisticated in terms of fashion and trends. The people from Zürich speak Swiss German with their particular Zürich dialect. The standing joke is, that they are fast moving and rapid speakers, especially in comparison with the slow folks from the canton of Berne. In the canton of Berne people think that those from Zürich are somewhat big mouthed.

The canton is seat to many international companies of Swiss origin (ABB, Credit Suisse, Helsana, Migros, Sulzer, Swiss Life, UBS etc) or foreign origin (Bayer, BMW, Esso, GE, GM, Microsoft, Sony etc). This canton is the economic power house of Switzerland.

The university of Zürich and the ETH rank among the world’s top places of education.

The lake of Zürich and a few smaller lakes are part of the Canton, adding to its beauty.

On the last weekend of February the Swiss are called to cast their ballots on four different issues. The most controversial one pictures the peaceful Swiss (the white sheep) kicking out all foreigners who are criminal offenders (the black sheep).

For many decades Switzerland has experienced a steady influx of foreigners. In the 60ies a wave of Italians arrived who came for construction labour. Later refugees from Vietnam, Tibet, Sri Lanka, the Balkan countries, Africa and other countries applied for asylum. However there are also many Europeans (Germans, French, Italians etc) working in Switzerland (about 2/3 of all foreigners). According to the official statistics the foreign population is around 15% (others even claim 25%).

Foreign tourists are most welcome.

However, nowadays many Swiss are quite sensitive about the growing number of foreigners residing in Switzerland. And now, to make matters worse, scores of refugees are pouring into Europe. Many Swiss are really alarmed. They feel that our small country can’t cope with this huge influx. There are fears that the many Muslims arriving here will not integrate easily and cause trouble. Indeed, 73% of the prison population consists of foreigners. The billboard above reads: “Finally let’s achieve security!” (German: Endlich Sicherheit schaffen).

At the same time many Swiss are genuinely touched by the suffering and misery of the many new refugees seeking shelter in Switzerland.

The major political parties as well as the government are against this initiative. They say that there are enough laws in place to deal with delinquent foreigners and that such a new constitutional law would violate international law.

The Swiss democratic system is very direct! Any citizen can try to bring about a change in the constitutional law with a referendum or bring in a new one through a federal popular initiative. All that is needed are at least 100’000 valid signatures within 1 ½ years for an initiative or 55’000 valid signatures within a hundred days for a referendum. When that target is reached it takes a little while. But then the Swiss are called to cast their ballots on the issue.

For years the Swiss government wanted the country to join the EU. The Swiss have resisted these moves. That is certainly one area where the direct democracy has made a difference. However in reality the Swiss reject most initiatives or referendums.

This democratic process is one of the main reasons for the political stability of Switzerland.

Addendum: The initiative above was rejected by 58.9%.