During the time of Advent (the four Sundays leading up to Christmas) the whole country gets into a Christmas mood: shops sell Christmas gifts, decorations, chocolates and small fur trees.

This is also the season for beautiful concerts.

I attended a concert at the „Peace“ church in Bern. The church choir was performing, enhanced with a chamber orchestra and 4 soloists.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier „Messe de Minuit“ (Midnight Mass) and other baroque Christmas music was played. It was a delightful and powerful performance.

There was no entrance fee required, but people could give a free will offering.

Tucked behind Brienz (about 30’ from Interlaken) is the open air museum of Ballenberg. A number of traditional old houses from different parts of Switzerland were taken apart and then built up on the grounds.

„Take an exciting journey through history with more than 100 original, centuries-old buildings from all regions of Switzerland. Watch a blacksmith at work at the anvil, learn how cheese is made or explore the world of animals at the Museum. Enjoy the fun side of Ballenberg with a barbecue party, relax in our flower and scent gardens or follow in the tracks of history on a horse-drawn carriage ride.“ Quote

At the moment a theatre group performs a play with the name of „Rötele“ or red head. Because of the color of her hair she was often laughed at. But as the play follows her through her life and choices she makes she turns out to be a solid, wise and respectable lady. The poor lady tenaciously and faithfully clings to her plot of farming land without making any negative compromises and thus in the end wins a lot of respect.

125 years ago (in 1898) the brass band of Zäziwil was established. The village of Zäziwil is near Bern, but already very much part of the Emmental farmer community.

The program of their 125th anniversary concert was quite stunning in terms of quality. The music ranged from classical, to modern to international.

The Zäziwil brass band was started when there were already many other associations catering to diverse interests. This brass band has sustained very strong Christian values that it still shares today.

Switzerland has a rich history of associations dedicated to specific purposes. In the 18th century many reading associations were formed were new books were read together and discussed. There was a spirit of curiosity and exploration, and a hope for further reform movements. So different associations catered to these interests.

In the 19th century many more associations were started around the shooting range that was part of almost every village in the country, the army (where every male was part of), patriotic history, sports, students and music.

Today there are more associations of all kinds than ever: sports, culture, science, catering to the needy etc. But people are also busier than ever. To keep the Zäziwil brass band going for a 150 years is quite an amazing deed.

At the center of the Christian faith are Good Friday and Easter Sunday (following a lunar calendar they are usually celebrated sometime in March or April).

Good Friday remembers that the Jew called Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross in Jerusalem around 2000 years ago. Christianity claims that Jesus, as the son of God, paid with his life for our sins. He took our place on the cross and thus redeems all those who put their trust in him.

Three days later, on Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. The Christian perspective is that Jesus is the prototype of a risen person with a resurrection body that is perfect and can not decay any more. All those who have put their trust in him will be raised up with the same kind of body at the last day when Christ returns as the judge and savior.

So when Christians die in the Lord, their hope is clearly that one day they will be raised to eternal life in God’s new creation together with all those who are followers of Christ.

A quarter of the people living in the Switzerland are foreigners. And quite many come from very diverse cultural and religious backgrounds too. Switzerland tries to be accommodate to these developments.

A good example is Christmas. In the past Switzerland used to have Christmas holidays. These days this holiday season is now just called winter holiday.

In the past Christmas decorations often reflected the original story of Christmas according to the story in the Bible with shepherds going to look for the baby Jesus, the wise men from the East following a star to meet the new born and the baby Jesus lying in a manger.

In order to tone down Christmas suddenly the old Christmas symbols get replaced by new images or motifs such as this Yeti figure of Coop supermarket on the picture, or penguins, reindeers etc that are free of any Christmas story content.

Switzerland is in the process of losing some of its identity in order to become more inclusive.

Brissago is a village only about 2km away from the border crossing into Italy. It exhibits very much the Southern charm. The locals speak Italian with their particular accent. Typical „gelati“ (the Italian ice cream) and cafe are available everywhere.

The steep mountain slope behind the village has almost a sub-tropical flair. The village is located at the lowest altitude of Switzerland with only 197m above sea level. The climate is very mild. Generally this Southern canton is a bit warmer than the rest of the country across the alps.

The tiny natural island of Brissago hosts a wonderful botanical garden with plants from all over the world. It is a short boat trip away from Brissago or the close by bigger and also delightful town of Locarno.

In Switzerland starting with December 25 most people are off work until January 2. Kids enjoy a two weeks Christmas holiday. Everything is closed on the major dates of December 25 and 26 as well as December 31 and January 1. These dates are official public holidays.

People enjoy this festive season and often celebrate in their wider family. Quite a few people also travel abroad. The atmosphere is comparable to the Chinese Spring Festival! But in contrast to China here shops and businesses are all closed and hardly anybody is found walking the streets.

Now in December outside it’s often really cold. But inside our homes it is warm and beautiful. Typical Christmas cookies are baked. And the kids are getting excited for Christmas when finally they get their long anticipated gifts.

In Switzerland and Germany the four weeks leading up to Christmas are called Advent (latin: arrival – celebrating the arrival or birth of Jesus Christ). On the first Sunday of Advent (either end of November or beginning of December) a first candle is lit on an advent wreath. By then the house also gets decorated for Christmas. On each consecutive Sunday another candle is lit. When the fourth candle is lit Christmas is just around the corner.