Lausanne, Switzerland has one of the few remaining night watches in Europe, with the watchman calling out the hours each night from 10 pm to 2 am since 1405, and warning of fires or other disturbances with his cry of “This is the Watchman! The bell has tolled 10. The bell has tolled 10!”
On January 1, the call will go out in a new voice, with Alexandre Schmid taking over a job held for the past 22 years by Renato Häusler, who has retired. Along with the job, Schmid, who holds degrees in history and geography, inherits a big black hat and a lantern to carry out from the bell tower to speak.
The job runs 365 days a year, with one assistant watchman and five replacements to spell him as needed. In older days, when most buildings were wood and communication was by word of mouth, the watchmen had a critical role in fire protection; there were thousands of them across Europe. Today, only six other cities in Europe retain the tradition.
