Zug is a cherry canton, and to mark the opening of the cherry season, the “Chriesigloggä” (cherry bell) of St. Michael’s Church rings out while people of all ages sprint through the city’s cobbled alleys holding long wooden ladders.
This all goes back to an old Swiss tradition when locals used to rush off with 8.1-metre ladders through the Old Town to start picking the cherries grown on nearby common land. These days the “Chriesi-sturm” (cherry charge) is run just for fun and is followed by a massive lunch and the start of the traditional cherry market.
Swiss football boss wants crackdown on individual hooligans
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The head of the Swiss Football League says he prefers a harsher approach to individual hooligans rather than collective punishment measures affecting all fans.
Amherd: Council of Europe is ‘as urgently needed as ever’
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The Swiss government emphasised on Sunday the vital role of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, 75 years after it was founded.
Swiss minister: Italy will back Switzerland in EU talks
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Bern can count on the backing of Italy as it re-enters talks with the European Union on future relations, Viola Amherd says.
Student protestors at University of Lausanne continue pro-Palestine sit-in
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Since Thursday, a hall on campus has been occupied by students calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a ceasefire in Gaza.
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Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel: president of Swiss universities rejects academic boycott
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Luciana Vaccaro, president of Swissuniversities, the umbrella group of Swiss universities, is not in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
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Swiss farmers expect meagre fruit harvest after losses
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“We are talking about historic crop losses,” said Hubert Zufferey of the Swiss fruit growers’ association on Wednesday. Switzerland’s apple farmers are expected to take a CHF42 million hit amounting to about a third of their crop and cherry farmers will likely harvest just a quarter of their normal 3000-ton crop, according to the association.…
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The 600-year-old tradition has nothing to do with evil spirits or terrifying fertility rituals but, perhaps surprisingly, with avalanche protection. In the Middle Ages Andermatt, in central Switzerland, was covered in trees, but as the local population worked their way through these – to build houses and to keep warm – the threat from landslides…
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Visitors to the cow shows being held in Appenzell in eastern Switzerland will be amazed not only by the ornately decorated bovine headdresses.
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Farmers bring along their barrels of fermented fruit, the “mash”: first he distils the apples and pears, then cherries, and finally fruit with stones. This year there are no quinces – the harvest was bad. As for the quality of the final product, Heinz Wuffl says he can’t work magic. The aroma of the schnapps…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.