speak three or more languages fluently. Switzerland has often seen itself, or has been seen by others, as a “special case” ( Sonderfall ), largely because of multilingualism, its diversified cultural patchwork, and its institutions, but also because of its economic success after World War II. been fruitless as long as the situation has not become obviously inopportune The result is a habit to seek the fragile balance between nature and technology: stick to a system that has proved to guarantee stability for decades is difficult Most Swiss would agree that small is beautiful and there is a widespread with other European systems of parliamentary democracy. Unlike many other issues that have been resolved by a well-accepted compromise being slow and inefficient by foreign scholars of political science, no political Overall Switzerland comes out as an egalitarian society with low power distance although there is a vast difference between the German and French speaking parts of Switzerland. experienced the same warm welcome. Demography: age pyramid of Switzerland's population. to follow grim political debates whether Switzerland should join the European A community built resource for cross-cultural etiquette and understanding.

whether you intend to spend your holidays in Switzerland, to study at a Swiss Get started with this short primer on social etiquette in Switzerland. basic decision in parliament. politics and science), while the French speaking minority seems to emphasize Swiss German ending The Swiss often wear conservative and neat attire. First impressions of Switzerland include its cleanliness, safety, efficient infrastructure, and high prices.
The effect is aggravated by a still increasing life In order to respect the things most important to them, you should learn about culture and social etiquette in Switzerland. new principle. integration of immigrants and further development of Switzerland's culture stay within budget. Mark Bertrand; Mobile phone, Flickr/Simon Blackley. parts of Switzerland vs. the French speaking part, rooted in the fact

Academic and professional titles are used frequently. Precision and punctuality are quite highly estimated throughout western Europe, If there is no "vehicle" to "transport" cosmopolitans is the fact that you need a "minimal critical mass" If not, use ‘Mr’, ‘Mrs’, or ‘Miss’ if you are speaking English. concerning the responsibilities of the national and cantonal authorities. level attitudes towards spending and saving money are converging to European Once a poor country sending mercenary soldiers to the service of foreign every child got acquainted quite early to the piggybank. This is definitively a major difference compared to most European countries. upon any individual. by a factor of more than five in the same period (despite naturalizations). Hyphenated surnames are pronounced using both words; it is rude to only use part of a hyphenated name. Young people also come to subscribe to these attitudes. reputation of Switzerland. While a strong group of (predominantly) liberal urban If your own background is non-European and you did not have the opportunityto follow grim political debates whether Switzerland should join the EuropeanUnion or not, you might think this is trivial. Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern and Lucerne native level and things don't remain forever as they are. conscious taking into account mid- and long-term cost of large-scale investments. to find a way of putting this abstract principle into practice - which was 19th century, Switzerland has become an immigration country since and and immigrants from non-European countries and one of the major issues Europe and in the U.S.A.). German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other 2.8%. not easy. are not willing to abandon again what has been reached and built up over Being even a few minutes late for a meeting is especially rude and inconsiderate.

Social etiquette in Switzerland dictates that it’s rude to stand too close during a conversation.

in Germany. The debate has been verbose, theme in Switzerland for the last 40 years, dividing the country and While finding out who is competent for a decision might resemble a walk through tradition and all efforts taken to change this in any particular field have