The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Nazi hikers questioned by Swiss police

Nazis
Those who flaunt Nazi symbols in Switzerland have nothing to fear under criminal law – for now. SRF

A group of around 25 men wearing uniforms of the Wehrmacht – the army of Nazi Germany – crossed the Wildhorn massif on Saturday and were questioned by Bern cantonal police.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The police had already received information on Friday, Deborah Zaugg, spokeswoman for Bern cantonal police, told Swiss public radio, SRF.

“The group consisted of around 25 people from various European countries and the United States,” Zaugg said. The police instructed them to take off their jackets with Nazi symbols in order to avoid possible clashes with third parties.

There were no consequences under criminal law, as the wearing of Nazi symbols is currently not prohibited in Switzerland, she said. However, the police did take down their personal details.

+ Swiss police officer dismissed after Hitler salute at WEF

Nazi symbols

A majority of Swiss parties, cantons and associations want to ban the use and distribution of Nazi symbols in public. The corresponding consultation on a special law by the government was concluded in March. Anyone who violates this in future will be fined CHF200 ($250).

+ Most Swiss authorities want to ban Nazi symbols in public

The government wants to ban not only swastikas, Hitler salutes and SS runes but also numerical codes such as “18” and “88”, which could be read as “Adolf Hitler” or “Heil Hitler”. The context should decide when such symbols are punishable.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Pharmaceutical companies do not plan job cuts in Switzerland

More

US tariffs: pharma firms not planning job cuts in Switzerland

This content was published on The additional investments in the US will not lead to a reduction in jobs in Switzerland. This is according to pharmaceutical giant Roche, which expects the number of employees to remain stable in the current year. The position of Novartis is similar.

Read more: US tariffs: pharma firms not planning job cuts in Switzerland

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

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.

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

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