The apartment that we live in, here in Basel, has a childrens playground to the side of it. Every evening, the kids are enjoying themselves on the play equipment - no problems.

There is also an area which has been used as a football pitch since the playground was first installed (about 18 months). The ball gets kicked against the windows of the (empty) ground floor office and a wall which borders the gardens of the apartments. To retrieve the ball when it gets kicked over the wall, the kids climb over a gate or over a (now ruined) chain-link fence. It's not a major problem - kids will be kids and I'd have done the same sort of thing when I was young.

The problem we have is that the football is going on until 10pm at night, almost every night including weekends.

Now, I'm not usually a moaning old git, but 10pm is just crazy. It's bloody annoying to hear the scittering noise of the ball on the tarmac and crash of the ball hitting the wall along with the kids shouting. We live a few apartments along but there are some the are directly above the area and it must drive them mad. The kids are school age and I can't understand why their parents would allow them out so late ??

Normally, I would go down and tell them to sod off after 9pm, but my German isn't good enough. So who should I approach to get this sorted out ?

Ask the police.

The children probably won't listen to strangers and their parents are likely not to care much.

I would start by posting an introduction. Then either drink heavily ask your question in Free Beer. Whatever it is , make it chilled.

dave

You are seriously advocating calling the police to stop kids perfectly legitimately playing in the summer evenings on a playground ?

Sad.

dave

I think you should go down and tell them nicely: ''Sie dürfen nicht nach 21 Uhr Fussball spielen!'' You are not allowed to play football after 21h00... if I am not mistaken...

If it does not help then I would try to find out who is one of the parents and request their children simply not to play at this time of the day. They usually understand English pretty well and their response should be positive...

BTW: By law they should keep quiet after 22h00

So we should all adhere to your self-styled 9pm curfew ? Even if there is some obscure regulation it would be small minded to enforce it. I am surrounded by church bells that drive me mad, but I chose to live here, they were here when I arrived, and they will still be here when I leave.

dave

Is it so serious that one should call the police first, without trying to talk to the kids first and later their parents in case it doesn't help?

I remember when I was a kid and naughty for that matter, the appearance of blue uniformed seriously looking cop made me having nightmares at night...

Police help keep the peace.

Considering how the Swiss dislike noise, why not? (A man in his castle is entitled to some peace and quiet in the evenings, no?) I'm sure if you're the OP, you could be annoyed as hell and want to do something about it, too, and not wax lyrical about the joys of childhood footie after dusk or call practical advice sad.

Sure you can go ask the parents and all that, but remember what happened to the man who had to deal with kids ringing his doorbell?

Just a friendly word with the police and from the police can do wonders in a society that respects law and order. No one else can help or will help the OP.

__________________
The ham is back in Cham, Zug canton.

Warum nicht?

... can always suggest a reasonable good night to sleep time past fairytale on TV...

BTW: I stay in the area in which I am also surrounded by church bells, railway at the back with every few minutes sound-wishing trains go-past and from time to time neighbours manage to drop something heavy on the floor with audible bang... All so cool because I play TV so loud that it all becomes insignificant

Practical advice ? I can think of lots of practical advice. Do you want it proportional and reasonable , or selfish and cowardly ?

The kids are doing nothing wrong pre 10pm. The rule cuts both ways. I can wax lyrical about personal freedoms, local busybodies, unreasonable people usw if you like ?

The are playing football on an area designated for the purpose. Just because you don't like their choice of evening entertainment , what gives you the right to curtail it ?

If it really does bother you go and ask them to at least play a little quieter.

dave

Yeah, what Dave says.

I had a problem a few years ago when I first moved to my current location. The kids were playing football (no problem) but they were repeatedly kicking it against the outside wall to my apartment. It sounded quite bad inside so I went out and asked if they could go somewhere else as my kid was trying to get to sleep. They went away without a bad word and the problem was solved.

You have to remember that there isn't a great deal for kids to do in some areas, so please don't come down so hard on them when they aren't actually doing anything wrong.

It should be positively encouraged! Switzerland's nachwuchs need all the practise they can get if they want to lift their footballing history out of the bottom drawer and into the trophy cabinet...

I had a problem a couple of years ago with kids playing next to my flat we live on the ground floor, they kept kicking the ball (by accident) against my windows, so i went outside, and asked them nicely please could they play on the next field, which was a 1 minute to walk to, no flats nearby, and a bigger playing field, and they did, so i would just ask them nicely. Calling the police is a little over the top if it is only kids doing normal kiddie things.

....nicht genau 21h00 aber 22h00 ist gut genug

http://www.justlanded.com/english/Sw...ntal-contracts

====House rules & regulations ====A lease will also contain general rules which apply to you as a resident tenant. In many apartment blocks with numerous tenants, these rules are often summarized in a separate document ( Hausordnung/ règlement d’immeuble). Among other things, they can stipulate the following:

• No excessive noise between 22:00-06:00 and 13:00-14:00. Note that your Swiss neighbours will probably take this rule very seriously and will expect you to do likewise!
• No showers or baths between 22:00-06:00.
• Restrictions for children, i.e. no playing on the grass.
• A rule stating that you’re not allowed to leave your shoes in front of your door.
• Stipulations about the separation of different types of garbage.
• Rules for commonly used rooms such as the washing machine room.

Take into account these rules form part of your contract; breaking them can give your landlord the legal right to kick you out of the apartment. This can come as a bit of a shock to foreigners coming from less ‘regulated’ countries. So do not be surprised if your housewarming party causes complaints from your new (and now very angry) neighbours. A personal introduction on your move in can help here, though it’s not standard in Switzerland.

Crikey! I never heard that one before - the flats of friends I've visited, plus most of the flats in our building have even got standard Ikea shelves housing a variety of shoes, trainers, slippers, wellies and whatnot.

It is odd seeing as it is definitely "de rigeur" to take your shoes off before going into someone's flat.

Dave. I reckon this is one area of life where you (luckily) lack experience. I have suffered with a similar situation and I can tell it can ruin your life if you let it. You even smile when it rains as you know the kids will stay indoors.

- Ask the kids nicely to play somewhere else. I usually ask then where they live, and when they tell me I ask then to play the games there. Often the kids innocently tell me that their parents won't let them play like this near their home.

- In the end moving may be the only answer. NEVER live near a playground! (or railway, autobahn, nightclub, tramline etc etc)

- If damage to property is involved, the property owner should advise the police...

__________________


************************************
Fed up of smoking? 10 tips to quit in 10 days

Yes, we often hear those "kids" from our place as well.

OK, I stand corrected, people. (In mitigation, allow me to say I had in mind the plight of the man who had to deal with bell-ringing kids and their hostile parent.)
Thank you.
And 'thank you' to AbFab for giving more details of the 'other side of the story'.



After more than a year of moving to our flat and planting our shoe case outside our front door, we received a letter from the building owner saying we cannot keep the shoe case there. Too late! The way the coat thingamajig was set up inside precludes putting a shoe case next to it.

In the meantime, most of our neighbours have decorative trunks, plant thingies and such outside their front doors.

__________________
The ham is back in Cham, Zug canton.

Sorry to disappoint you, as I do have experience of this, as well as railways, bells, time signals, trams, shagging neighbours, arguing couples, fireworks, drilling , dragging bodies, neighbours parties. Not all at the same time obviously, but it's part of life in a built up area.

There seems to be too much of the "who can I complain to" which as well as being bad English is also a bad kind of attitude for what is a normal part of community life.

Some people laud the 10pm rule, other hate it. There are even provisions for peaceful lunchbreaks in many house regulations ! The fact is you are living in a country governed by rules that forbid noise after 10pm. Before 10pm, most reasonable noise is acceptable and objections are difficult to sustain.

So, as a couple of more reasonable people have suggested, if it really bothers you go and talk to them , trust their good nature and preserve some good feeling.

dave

__________________
Enjoy what people say you cannot do. Check out my profile for Fun Switzerland Chat.