Swiss Culture

We usually aren't conscious of it in the States, but U.S. culture is greatly influenced by the Swiss. It is popular folklore that Swiss watches are more precise (perhaps), that Swiss cheese has holes in it (not always), and the Swiss Army knife is really versatile and functional (true). But what is not really known is that every male Swiss citizen is required to serve in the Swiss Army (and they really are issued a Swiss Army knife). Depending on what unit you're in, you could be asked to serve at least two weeks a year until you retire. Immanuel is in the infantry and he's had to do mountain patrol in the middle of the winter (not fun). All infantry are issued a rifle and Immanuel showed me his (yes, it was big). Although not everyone enjoys their army experience, the common wisdom in Switzerland is that the reason there has been over 500 years of peace in Switzerland is because of the presence of a strong military force.

The Swiss reputation for precision and order is well deserved. In Switzerland, the trains not only run on time, they leave exactly as scheduled -- to the second. Schedules and maps for public transportation are precise and detailed. However, it was explained to us that the Swiss don't really think of themselves as innovators. Instead they prefer to take an existing product and make it better. The Swiss watch is one example. Swiss chocolate is another. In fact, I was not aware that Nestle was a Swiss corporation which certainly helps the Swiss economy in terms of a keeping a positive trade balance.

Swiss graphic design also had a great influence on U.S. designers, especially in the 1960s and 70s. The Swiss sense of order as applied to the grid system and typography became known as the "International Typographic Style." Swiss designers like Armin Hoffmann and Wolfgang Weingart have many followers worldwide. But the greatest graphic arts influence is perhaps the typeface Helvetica which was first published in 1957. Originally named Neue Haas Grotesk, this typeface was designed with utmost economy -- the shapes of the letterforms visually convey a clean and straight-forward look that communicates trust and integrity. Often imitated, but never improved upon, Helvetica is still one of the most used typefaces in the world.

Another interesting fact is that Switzerland is one of the few direct democracies in the world. This means that the elected representatives of the legislature are required to vote the will of the people. So before elections, every citizen receives a detailed package in the mail explaining the issues being voted on in the next election. Immanuel says that the Swiss people are fiercely protective of their voice in the government despite the fact that changes in policies take longer to implement.

When traveling in the Swiss Alps, we also saw something interesting -- just about everybody had a Swiss flag flying on a flag post. At first we thought this must be a national holiday, or perhaps mountain people are particularly patriotic. Both assumptions were wrong, as it was explained to us that raising a flag simply signifies that you are home. This is important in the mountains for rescue operations in case of an avalanche. But the tradition survives even in the summer.

The traditional way of life in the Alps of raising cows for milk to make cheese is a dying art. Milk or cheese can be produced cheaper on flatter ground or imported from elsewhere. Yet the government still subsidizes this way of life so that small family farms can survive. Immanuel had a theory about this. He suggested that keeping these traditions alive is a smart decision in case of a major environmental catastrophe. After all, the ability of a country to feed itself is one of the basic tenets of survival.

Immanuel also told us of quirky Swiss habits such as das znüni, a morning coffee break right around 9am when people are just getting to work. Although on the surface, it appears that there's no work being done, das znüni is considered by many as an opportunity to connect with your fellow workers and talk shop informally.

As for Swiss ingenuity gone wrong, Immanuel told the story of recent earthquakes in Basel that were caused by the power company drilling for geothermal energy in 2006. Swiss engineers wanted to pump water into the earth in order to harvest steam to power electric generators. Instead, they caused a series of earthquakes measuring up to 3.4 on the Richter scale. The project was immediately abandoned at a cost of millions of Swiss Francs. A scary event for a city that was almost completely destroyed by the great earthquake of 1536.

Other quirky things we noticed was the fact the no one had screens on their windows. Despite the fact that everyone had these modern windows that opened in two directions, flies and bugs would get in the house whenever one opened a window. The solution? Fly swatters. But this didn't stop the stop the mosquitoes from coming in at night if you choose to leave the window open.

Another surprise was standing in line to buy train tickets at the station. With multiple windows open, one was forced to choose which line to stand in -- a crapshoot at best as we almost missed our train once because the lady in front of us was having such a good time chatting with the clerk. In the States, there would be one line for all the windows and the first person in line would get the next available clerk. A small thing, I know, but I was surprised at the lack of Swiss efficiency here.

The Swiss Alps

Immanuel was kind enough to take a week off and take us to the Swiss Alps. Our first stop was Schynige Platte which can only be reached by a historic narrow-gauge railway that was built in 1893. The well-preserved antique trains slowly climbed the mountain at 8 MPH until it reached its destination at 6500 feet. The view from the train was spectacular, but nothing could come close to our first hike up to the Oberberghorn peak where it felt like we were at the top of the world.

It was our intention to stay overnight at the railway-owned Berghotel, but we changed our mind at the last minute and traveled on to Grindelwald. Both Schynige Platte and Grindelwald were in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland which is one of the most touristed area of the Alps. However, Grindelwald does make a good home base as there are plenty of hotel choices and restaurants. It is also centrally located with easy access to several scenic train and gondola lift lines.

We opted to stay at the railway-owned hostel called Downtown Lodge for $36 per person which includes breakfast. The managers were very friendly and offered us all kinds of tips. Based on their recommendation, we took the gondola lift to a mountain top called First. From there, we hiked to Lake Bachalpsee which was still frozen. On the way down, we rented stand-up scooters and glided down the last third of the mountain on paved mountain roads.

After two nights at Grindelwald, we met up with Immanuel's friend Ywo in Luzern. Ywo's family has a cabin in Gitschenen, an untouristed area of the Alps. We took a short train ride from Luzern to Flüelen, then hopped on a Postal Bus around Lake Urnersee, then up a narrow one-lane road up to St. Jakob. At St. Jakob, we got on a small self-service gondola lift up to Gitschenen. That night we did a barbecue with homemade barbecue sauce and the next day hiked up to another mountain top. On the way down, we met up with a group of alphorn players who were serenading the cows. Now this was a perfect day.

Unfortunately Ywo and Immanuel had to get back to Basel. But we loved Gitschenen so much we decided to stay another night. So we moved down the road to a bed and breakfast. That evening we ate dinner at the local lodge and met up with the same group of alphorn players again. After dinner, the alphorn players brought out their accordions and clackers and soon the music started flowing again.

The next day, we took one more hike around the valley and then headed back to Basel. My two weeks in Switzerland was over, but Italy awaits.

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Basel School of Art & Design

Basel's Schule für Gestaltung was the home of world renown Swiss designers Armin Hoffmann and Wolfgang Weingart. Recently the school was swallowed up by the University of Applied Sciences/Northwestern Switzerland, but the independent spirit still thrives at the school.

Housed in a historic Bauhaus-inspired building, the school still provides the foundation classes for students entering the art and design professions. In addition, they also offer an international non-credit "Basics in Design" program taught in English.

My first contact with the University was a lunch with the head of the International Office in Olten. The Olten campus is also the headquarters of the University and they are located about 30 minutes south of Basel by train. There were two other American exchange participants in Switzerland and we all toured the campus and had a great lunch together. During lunch, we discussed the Swiss education system which differs from the U.S. in the sense that high school graduates do not go to college immediately after graduation. Instead, they begin work as a paid apprentice in the profession of their choice for up to two years. This way, the student can make sure that they have chosen the right profession before going to college and investing time and energy in their studies. In this system, there are very few drop-outs and most people complete their college careers with a degree.
After the Olten meeting, Immanuel set me up with an appointment with Professor Martin Wiedmer, head of the Institute for Research in Art & Design. As part of a masters program, Mr. Wiedmer's Institute collaborates with the other departments at the Academy of Art & Design and creates documentation for various projects like public art and performance art. His Institute also works with sponsors and donors to help obtain the funding needed for various projects. An example of a recent research project is the study and documentation of the power of images. We toured the historic building and afterwards, Mr. Wiedmer suggested a second meeting with Peter Olpe, head of the foundations program at the Schule fur Gestaltung.

Mr. Olpe and I met for about an hour and he shared the curriculum structure of the foundation program along with examples of assignments from his classes. We were also able to visit one class that was in session and I was able to talk with an American student. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Olpe suggested that I contact Rolf Thalmann, the curator of the Basel Poster Collection. Lucky for me, Mr. Thalmann was available that evening, so at 5pm I headed to a secret entrance at Spalenvorstadt 2 and rang the bell.

Rolf Thurmann welcomed us and spent two hours showing us examples from his collection. Mr. Thurmann has been the curator of this collection of 50,000 posters for 25 years, so he had intimate knowledge of his collection. Thurmann knew many of the poster designers personally and told stories that can't be found in history books. It was obvious from his energy and excitement that he personally cared very much about this collection and really enjoyed sharing his knowledge. At the end of our appointment, he offered us a rare book, Swiss Posters from Historism to Computer Design, authored by him and published by a Japanese publisher. This book, containing 450 examples, is currently the closest thing to a catalog available for the collection.

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Basel Museums

For a city of only 190,000 people, Basel has over 40 museums for visitors to explore. Yes, there is a very good art museum, but then every major European city also has a good art museum. So instead we focused on exploring the unique museums that only Basel can offer.

First on our list was the Basel Paper Mill, located in the same building as an original paper mill from the 1500s right off the Rhine. Because Gutenberg invented movable metal type in Mainz just up the river, his invention spread very quickly south and Basel became one of the first major printing centers in the late 1500s.

The museum has preserved many of the original printing equipment from the days of Gutenberg to today. Many of the exhibits are live demonstrations -- from the water-powered mill used to beat cotton rags "to a pulp" to the tools used in the cast-and-mold system of making metal type. The hands-on exhibits allow you to make your own sheet of paper, set metal type by hand and have the type printed on a letter-press as you watch.

Also unique to Basel is the Museum Tinguely which is dedicated to the lifework of Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), a Basel native best known for his kinetic sculptures. Whimsical and raw, his sculptures capture the spirit of fun and delight with child-like wonder. When we visited the museum, there was a special exhibit called "Art Machines/Machine Art" which featured a range of works inspired by Tinguely. Among my favorites include a very noisy musical machine and a mechanical arm that drew the same random lines repeatedly. Also included in this exhibit was a series of digital art generators.

However, the ultimate "museum" experience was by appointment only. The Basel School of Design has one of the largest collections of Swiss posters dating from 1880 to the present. The archives are hidden in the basement of the old Gewerbemuseum and viewings are available only by appointment with Rolf Thalmann, the curator. Dr. Thalmann was kind enough to spend two hours showing us selected originals from the collection, always explaining in detail the significance of each poster along with anecdotal stories that only someone who has been caring for these posters for 25 years would know. This is the kind of treat that graphic designers dream about and I feel very lucky to have been able to have this experience.

We also discovered that Zurich had a design museum and decided to take the train there for a visit. The featured exhibit was a very humorous show called "Wouldn’t it be nice… wishful thinking in art and design" where designers take their utopian concepts to the extreme.

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Arriving in Basel

In October 2007, I hosted Immanuel Willi when he came to the USA and now it is my turn to visit Switzerland. Flying to Basel was easy as I booked connecting American Airlines flights from Champaign to Chicago, then to London, then transferring to British Airways to Basel. The transfer in Heathrow's new Terminal 5 was seamless as all the airport personnel were extremely friendly and helpful despite being British. The British Airways stewardesses were also much friendlier than the grumpy ones on American Airlines. And best of all, there was enough time to have lunch at T5's Wagamama, a Asian noodle shop that's very popular in Europe.

My first contact with Swiss culture was arriving at Basel's EuroAirport. For the first time in my life, I did not have to wait for the baggage to arrive as they were already waiting for us at the baggage claim carousel as we got off the plane. Talk about Swiss efficiency. As expected, Basel's buses and trams ran on time. The routes and transfers were clearly marked and maps and schedules were posted everywhere. Even the money was well organized: smaller coins were worth less, larger bills were worth more. When stacking bills, one can see the value of the each bill in sequence since a number was also printed along the edge. Some sidewalks and the paths at train stations had raised grooves painted on the concrete so that blind people could easily find their way. I was also amazed at their very modern window design -- a system that allows for a window that can open from the side or from the top depending on the position of the handle. Yes, Switzerland's reputation for order, structure and precision was not exaggerated.

I was warned that Switzerland was very expensive, but it was still shocking to see the prices for myself. Even though the Swiss Franc was exchanging at 1-to-1 with the dollar, everything was at least twice what we would pay in the States. Eating out was painful: a cup of tea was $7, a plate of pasta was $30. Fortunately, Immanuel bought me a half-price subscription for transportation so taking the tram was a reasonable $2 a trip. There were sales at the grocery store, so eating in was not a terrible shock to the wallet. Wines in particular were very reasonable and very good.

Basel is a very cosmopolitan European city near the French and German border. But surprisingly, I saw a lot of Turkish and Eastern European immigrants as well. In fact, Turkish-style "döner" kebabs have established themselves in Basel as everyone's favorite fast food. Just about everyone spoke some English, so communication was not a major problem. But there were exceptions. For example, the grocery store clerks were mostly French people from Alsace which is right across the border. They commute to Switzerland to work and they spoke only German and French. In fact, one hears merci more often than danke in Basel. And at least once, a server smiled politely and offered "good appetite" in English.

To experience the local culture, Immanuel took me to Basel's Kleinhüningen 100 Year celebration festival. Kleinhüningen was a fishing village that was later incorporated into the city of Basel. Today it is a working-class neighborhood and the crowds at the festival reflected that. On Friday night, we saw Stiller Has, a local band with a very large devoted following. On Saturday night, we saw Das Pferd, an electric-drum-and-bass-punk duo that is Immanuel's favorite band. There was plenty of bratwurst and other types of sausages to eat along with lots of beer.

The Swiss are very tolerant people and Basel even has its own little red light district. In fact, upstairs in the same building as Immanuel's apartment are two brothels with fairly exotic names on their doorbell. However, panhandlers and homeless people are rare as there are numerous social services available to help the poor. Even dogs are allowed in most restaurants and on trams (but they have to pay half fare). As much as I admire the Swiss, Immanuel also admires the States. In comparing notes, Immnauel pointed out that in the US, all the doors open outwards for easy exit during emergencies. In Switzerland, there are no such standards and one can never quite predict whether a door will open inwards or outwards, sometimes causing traffic jams.

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