Happy Birthday to Switzerland

      I started writing this on August 1, which is Swiss National Day. For us, this means that Eric was home from work on a Wednesday, which is a great treat, and that the grocery stores were closed (less of a treat). I was curious, though, about what the day means for the Swiss. My first assumption was that the reason that August 1 isn't called Independence Day is that the Swiss have always been -- politically as well as socially -- independent. That, it turns out, is only sort of true; parts of Switzerland were occupied by the Hapsburgs in the 1300s and overtaken (briefly) by Napoleonic France. What is true, though, is that National Day isn't celebrating independence. In fact, it's actually celebrating interdependence. What happened in 1291, is that the leaders of three groups -- the people of the valley of Uri, the democracy of Schwyz, and the community of the valley of Unterwalden (all of which are in what is now central Switzerland) -- got together and made an agreement. These typically Swiss gentleman were apparently not particularly interested in extending their territory or conquering any other people groups. According to the Federal Charter of 1291, what they wanted was: "the proper establishment of quiet and peace." And on that modest yet worthy platform was founded the Swiss confederacy. Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden became the first three Swiss cantons.
      Later on (in the 1350s) Glarus, Zug, Lucerne, Berne, and Zurich joined up. Others joined through the years, ending with Neuchatel, Valais, and Geneva in 1860. Now Switzerland has 26 cantons, all dedicated to preserving quiet and peace, mostly through the liberal use of traffic cameras and a police force extremely responsive to noise complaints. The national goals have expanded, of course, to include cleanliness, hedge conformity, and unity in cheese production. Efforts in the early 20th century to add "Service with a Smile" to the national charter were rejected in a referendum, though the sparing use of a subdued "Bonjour," or (in German-speaking cantons), "Guten Tag" was approved.
       The communities around Geneva each have their own August 1 celebration. We headed over to check out what was going on in Onex.

Here's a carnival for the kids at the Onex Mairie (City Hall).

And here's the soup supper, band, and platform for the reading for the 1291 Charter.

       We have been in the area long enough that we actually saw someone we knew at the celebration -- a German couple from church, who were there with friends, to whom we were introduced. The whole place smelled like raclette cheese and fireworks, which, in a typically Swiss fashion, were confined to a barricaded pen and monitored by the police. The band played some inspiring music, and the mayor prepared to read the 1291 Charter. It all seemed festive but staid, as befits a celebration of peace and quiet.
        When the sun went down, however, the mood changed. We were home by this time and, by standing on the street in front of our home, we were able to see a 360-degree fireworks display coming from the communities of Lancy, Bernex, Plan-les-Ouates, and Plainpalais. Americans, of course, love their fireworks on July 4, but I have yet to see a U.S. fireworks display that compares to the European ones. When the Swiss come out of their shells, they really come out. The pyrotechnics continued until about midnight, when the raucous dance music started. We turned on the fan, put the covers over our heads, and tried to sleep. There is a limit to my enthusiasm for patriotism-by-association.
       The next morning, I went outside, expecting to see the shells of burnt-out bottle rockets littering the neighborhoods. I didn't see a stray paper wrapper or cardboard tube. The spirit of the Swiss had returned.