"It's about our tradition" - Culture clash over the cowbell: how two couples from the city are stirring up a village in the Swiss Alps
Cows wandering across the pastures with their gently tinkling bells are as much a part of the Swiss landscape as the holes in the cheese. But just as the holes are under threat from modern milking technology, modern life is also making it increasingly difficult for cows to ring their bells. In the municipality of Aarwangen in central Switzerland, traditionalists are not prepared to accept this.
If they had known what they would unleash with their complaint, they might have left it alone: Because they felt disturbed by the "noise" of cowbells, two married couples from Aarwangen wanted to ensure that the 15 or so cows grazing near their homes were no longer allowed to wear bells at night.
Aarwangen residents to vote on bell ringing
He was quite surprised by the complaint, says Aarwangen's mayor Niklaus Lundsgaard-Hansen to the AFP news agency. Although he himself lives near the affected pasture, he was not even aware "that cows make a lot of noise". Only now did he know that people could be disturbed by the noise
The reaction to the initiative by the two noise-sensitive couples was fierce. A counter-initiative to protect the ringing of cowbells at night was launched, which intends to put the issue to a vote by the local population. For the initiative to be successful, the support of ten percent of the voters in Aarwangen, around 380 of the approximately 4800 inhabitants, would have been enough. However, 1099 signatures were actually collected. "That's enormous," says Lundsgaard-Hansen. The vote on cowbell ringing is now expected to take place in June.
GPS trackers replace cowbells
Cowbells were once used to find the animals on the mountain pastures, but today there are GPS trackers. But few people want to do without this emblem of idyllic country life. Last Wednesday, Unesco added the Alpine season - the centuries-old tradition of driving cattle up to high pastures for the summer, accompanied by numerous rituals - to the list of intangible world cultural heritage.
Some city dwellers seeking peace and quiet in the not-too-distant countryside, on the other hand, are annoyed by the audible side effects of country life. And Aarwangen, with its 19 farms, is only half an hour from Bern and an hour from Basel and Zurich. However, complaints about cowbells are not only heard there. There are also complaints about the noise of church bells, which ring every quarter of an hour in many Swiss communities.
"It's about our tradition"
Such complaints are usually met with fierce resistance - as in Aarwangen: "It's about our tradition," says Andreas Baumann, the originator of the pro-cowbell initiative. "Cowbells are part of the DNA of the Swiss, and here in Aarwangen we want to preserve them."
Regardless of the outcome of the planned referendum, however, the 15 cows in the municipality could have their bells taken away at night if the authorities believe that they exceed the permissible noise level. A court decision is expected shortly.
Rolf Rohrbach, who runs a nearby cattle farm, has little sympathy for the townspeople's problems. The gentle tinkling at night lulls him to sleep, he says: "I then know that my cows are at home".
The two couples who felt deprived of sleep by the bells have since drawn their conclusions from the rebellion of their fellow residents of Aarwangen: one of the couples has now withdrawn their complaint, the second wants to move away.
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- Despite the introduction of GPS trackers, many Swiss residents, like Rolf Rohrbach, fiercely defend the traditional use of cowbells, viewing them as an essential part of their culture and heritage.
- The ongoing 'culture war' over cowbells in the Swiss Alps, initiated by two city dwellers who found the bells disturbing, has now expanded to include a local vote in Aarwangen, with over 1000 residents supporting the protection of nighttime bell ringing.
Source: www.stern.de
