Yodelling rejected as university subject in Zurich
The Swiss canton of Zurich is not introducing yodelling as a university subject. On Monday the cantonal parliament voted against the individual initiative of a parliamentarian.
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening:
Yodelling rejected as university subject in Zurich
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
The individual initiative was supported by just one vote. It would have needed 60 votes.
Parliamentarians from left to right emphasised the importance of yodelling and its deep roots in Swiss culture. However, Martina Novak from the centrist Liberal Green Party summarised that yodelling did not fit into a state-funded main subject.
Thomas Forrer from the left-wing Greens said he had grown up with the Steiner Chilbi – “I like yodelling” – but he was surprised that the state was being called upon for a problem that had long since been solved. The offer already exists in Lucerne. “Why should Zurich compete with Lucerne in this matter?” he asked. There is no need for double funding, he added.
In Lucerne, it has been possible to study yodelling as a major subject since 2018. Last year, the first yodelling student completed her Master’s degree. Yodelling has also been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since December 2025.
+ Swiss yodelling makes UNESCO intangible world cultural heritage list
The initiator of the initiative is Stefan Basler from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party. He is an active yodeller himself and has been a member of a yodelling club since 2011.
He wrote in his individual initiative that new yodelling clubs were now the exception rather than the rule. The trend is more towards a decline, he said. According to Basler, however, it is not just a lack of young talent. Conductors are also in short supply, he said.
He therefore wanted canton Zurich to introduce a yodelling course at one of its training centres, especially for conductors.
More
Yodelling for beginners
Adapted from German by AI/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
External Content
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.