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EveryParampara

Traditions of Zurich

A lakeside city where the guilds burn a snowman at the Sechseläuten to hasten the arrival of spring.

Zurich, on the northern end of the lake of the same name, is the largest Swiss city. Its guilds, Zünfte, keep up a tradition from the Middle Ages: the Sechseläuten, held on the third Monday of April, when a cotton snowman called the Böögg is burnt on a pyre to predict the summer.

Zurich: Zunfthaus zur Meisen , Münsterbrücke and St. Peter church in Zürich
Photo: Ikiwaner, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sechseläuten

The guilds parade in historic costume with horses, bands and floats, and at six o'clock the pyre is lit. The time taken for the Böögg's head to explode is said to predict the summer's weather: the faster, the hotter. Children's parades take place the day before. Fondue and Zürcher Geschnetzeltes are served at guild halls.

At the table

Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, sliced veal in a cream sauce with rösti, is the local dish. Swiss chocolate, cheese fondue in winter and raclette are national favourites. Birchermüesli was invented here by a doctor. Basel and Zurich share the tradition of the New Year's St Berchtold's Day.

Signature traditions of Zurich

SechseläutenThe spring festival.

Also part of it, and being written: Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (The veal dish.), Rösti (The potato dish.), Fondue (The cheese dish.).

A trail idea for Zurich

  1. Old Town Walk the lanes.
  2. Lake Zurich Swim in summer.
  3. Grossmünster See the church.
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇨🇭 Zurich, SwitzerlandSechseläutenSächsilüüte Zurich's spring festival marked by guild parades and the burning of a snowman effigySeasonal 🇨🇭 Appenzell, Switzerland and 5 moreYodeling A singing style switching between chest voice and falsetto, kept as a folk tradition across the Alps and globally.Performance 🇨🇭 Zurich, SwitzerlandSwiss traditional costumeSchweizer Trachten Distinct regional festive dress worn across the cantons of SwitzerlandDress

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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