Zurich’s “Six o’clock bells” ring in spring
There was method to the madness of the thousands of costumed men calling for the head of a cotton ball snowman in Zurich on Monday.
It was all part of the “Sechseläuten” (“Six o’clock bells”) festival run by the city’s once powerful guilds to drive out a persistent winter and welcome spring.
The festivities culminated at the stroke of six when a three-metre-high effigy of a snowman atop a pyre was set on fire.
It then took only 11 minutes for the explosive-laden head to blow off, much to the delight of tens of thousands of onlookers.
Legend has it that the quicker the head bursts apart, the better the summer will be.
The weather on Monday was anything but summer-like, with temperatures dropping earlier in the day to near freezing, throwing into doubt the effectiveness of exploding snowmen.
One man jokingly blamed the bad weather on the presence of so many British guests.
Lord Mayor of London
Robert Finch, the Lord Mayor of London, who led the British delegation, downplayed the accusation, and as the first ever foreign guest of honour, revelled in the spotlight.
He told swissinfo that he thought Sechseläuten was the Swiss version of the annual London pageant, the Lord Mayor’s Show.
Finch rode in a carriage at the head of Zurich’s Letzi guild in the procession, which included marching bands and thousands of guildsmen dressed in colourful costumes and uniforms.
The blacksmiths carried hammers over their shoulders, the bakers hurled sweets into the crowd and the butchers threw sausages.
Most guildsmen are no longer active in the trades or crafts represented by the guilds.
But they are continuing a tradition that remains popular today even though Zurich is now Switzerland’s financial capital.
Butchers, bakers and candlestick makers
“There are many different guilds in Zurich and many have brother and sister guilds in London,” Finch explained.
“London has 103 guilds and they are the old traditional guilds like the butcher, baker and candlestick makers. But the city of London, which I represent, is all banks and finance, so there are a lot of similarities.”
The Lord Mayor was invited to Zurich after hundreds of members of Zurich’s guilds took part in the Lord Mayor’s Show last November. Even the Böögg was taken along.
“I learned at the show how the British treasure their past, live in the present and look to the future,” explained Hannes Ziegler, master of the Letzi guild.
“This is something we in Switzerland have to emphasise much more and I believe that by opening our tradition to foreigners we will benefit our young members and help in the development of the guilds here in Zurich.”
Sechseläuten in its current form began shortly after 1866, the year the guilds lost the last remnants of their political power in Zurich.
Ancient law
The festival got its name from an ancient law regulating the working hours of the city’s craftsmen.
In the winter months, they put down their tools at 5pm because of the short days.
But when the days lengthened in spring, they were required to work an hour longer and had to rely on the ringing of the six o’clock bells to know when to stop.
Sechseläuten is now a public holiday in Zurich and judging by the crowd, not many passed up the opportunity to watch an exploding snowman.
swissinfo, Dale Bechtel in Zurich
Sechseläuten in its current form dates back to 1867.
It is a procession of Zurich’s guilds, marking the arrival of spring.
The festival culminates with the burning of an effigy of an oversized snowman.
For the first time, a foreign contingent led by the Lord Mayor of London, was invited as honorary guest.
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