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What the Swiss get up to on the day of rest

We see children, women, men, with or without dogs, sledging, washing cars, mopping, in the forest, in the allotment – or simply doing nothing at all. 

What these large-format photographs all have in common is that they were taken outdoors, on a Sunday afternoon, in black and white and appeared from 2002 in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. 

The exhibition of past Sunday afternoons, “Sunday afternoons in Switzerland”, can be viewed on a 3km long walk along the bank of Lake Lauerz in canton Schwyz, central Switzerland, until October 31. On display are 190 of the almost 700 pictures, taken by 165 Swiss photographers, which over the past 13 years have appeared in the NZZ am Sonntag. 

The images paint a profile, a reflection of Switzerland and reveal what Mr and Mrs Switzerland – whether in German-, French- or Italian-speaking Switzerland – get up to on Sunday afternoons, on the day of the week that as a rule they don’t have to do anything. 

(Images: NZZ am Sonntag, Text: Gaby Ochsenbein, swissinfo.ch)

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR