Religion and Everyday Life
Church bells: Church bells ring (almost) everywhere in Switzerland, often several times a day, but especially for services in Christian churches on Sundays and feast days. The church bells are an acoustic reminder of a time when the people, the country and the Church were still more or less a (Christian) entity and the bells called the whole population to prayer.
Feast days: Nationwide Christian public holidays like Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, Whitsuntide, Corpus Christi, Assumption Day and All Saints’ Day, go back to the time when the Church and the State acted in unison and the authorities imposed bans on dancing and other forms of amusement on certain “holy days”. There are also different regulations concerning local feast days in the various regions of Switzerland.
Sunday rest: In general, shops are closed on Sundays, although there are exceptions at railway stations and in tourist areas.