Bye.

How dare they?

They cannot stop it , everyone might forget the leaches exist and stop giving them money for talking to imaginary man in the sky.

Why should a centuries old tradition change just for you? If it really bothered the villagers it would have stopped by now. Clearly, apart from you, it does not bother them and they want them to stay!

I understand how the noise can be excruciating for some but I find traffic noise and poor noise insulation inside an apartment complex to be far more detrimental to quality of life.

You are assuming too much without knowing details. Anyway,

When I opened this post was to share my complain and also to check if other colleagues are facing the same challenges. Unfortunately I’m seeing some responses trending to attacks and unnecessary belligerency.... I was wondering if you speak with people outside the virtual world with this tone.... this isn’t nice.

I’m done with this.

A little bit of searching would have told you that this whole topic has been done to death on many occasions before, and given you a clue as to what sort of reactions you might get with such a complaint.

There's even been major press stories about it e.g. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42347033

This is an issue that pops up at least once a year on EF. The Swiss tend to think of their church bells more as an iconic hallmark of living in Switzerland and less of a Christian calling.

Historically, church bells were used as a means of communication to wake up the farmers, tell time in general and let residents know what kind of mass it is. Time and bells are quite Swiss, which is why anyone complaining about the bells will lose the argument.

Your times don't match normal standards, but the principle is reasonable.

Many of the bells in our area seem to follow the normal quiet times rules - first ring at 07:00 and last ring at 22:00.

I still think it warrants an annual thread. If anything else, it's an inofficial poll to see if posters have changed their minds on the topic and to remind us that not everyone finds church bells endearing.

Move to a modern and well-insulated flat. Newer walls and windows make the job too damned fine. Sometimes I open a bit the window to listen something from outside, otherwise I just listen to the fridge and dishwasher.

I kind of remember that the reason that there are many pubs near churches in the UK are because the guys would only go to the church if they could go to the pub afterwards - sorry, maybe I went to the wrong school.

If you pay Swiss taxes, tick the “not religious” box if you don’t want to pay the church taxes!

The best place to live is near a church that doesn't match the denomination of the cantonal church or near one of these independent cult churches. The cult churches don't have bells. The non-matching church doesn't have the regular bells but will ring them for wedding and funerals so it's far less annoying.

I moved to a neighbourhood with a catholic church in a protestant canton. I hear the church bells very rarely and it's absolutely fantastic. I'm more likely to hear the shooting range on Saturdays and Sundays.

We live right next to a Church, as our house was the Vicarage for 4.5 Centuries. Bells just twice a day, 12.00 noon and 10pm. Thursday evening at 7pm- and very rare weddings and funerals. And the great joy is that we have large green Church grounds in front of us with massive majestuous trees 100s years old, and we know it will never be built on. Hurrah.


We have an apartment next to a large Church in England- it rings 4 bells every quarter, then the hour- so at midnight, 28 bells- as loud as Big Ben. And 1 to 1-5 hrs bell ringing practice on a Monday evening - right in line with our bedroom on second floor. So no, it is not 'just a Swiss thing'.

It's not so simple, you'd have to write a letter and unregister yourself from wherever you were baptised.

Where is that defined in the tax rules?

I don't believe the tax authorities are going to challenge your religious views, if you decide to stop being religious or just stop donating to the church that's surely up to you.

Thank the Lord I've not been christened, baptised or had a bah mitvah then!

Are there 24/7 church bells ringing away in the rich people's neighborhoods?
I don't claim to know, but there might be an existential answer to this question somewhere there.


That sort of noise would conjure up repeated images of Panzerfaust without fail.

It differs by Canton. Just like everything else to dowith taxes.

lol, no, not at all. They are great bells from the Loughbough Foundry, and absolutely in tune. On Monday evening, we always opend the balcony doors as it sounds so lovely- and the vibrations from bells are actually very good for you I actually pay to go and relax at the sound of crystal and Tibetan bells on a regular basis