Nothing seems to drum up controversy and hard feelings in Switzerland like an attempt to silence the country’s cows and their traditional bells. Now it’s led to an official referendum in one town.
The complaints usually start from new arrivals or vacationers in rural areas, and the reaction is clearly marked by mutual prejudices. This time, it began with two couples in rental apartments in the town of Aarwangen, overlooking a field where a herd of fifteen cows graze overnight. The renters asked authorities to require the farmer to take the bells off overnight.
Aarwangen’s mayor was deaf to their complaints, it seems, telling press agencies that “My first reaction when I heard about the complaint was one of surprise. I wasn’t aware that cows made a lot of noise…”
The response from other villagers was less muted: over a thousand people in the village, more than 20% of the population and more than twice the number needed, signed on to force a referendum on the bells. The referendum will take place in June, and is likely to pass, affirming in law the right of cows to sound their bells.
Ironically, only last week, rituals related to Alpine farming, including driving cattle up to high mountain pastures for the summer wearing the decorative bells, were added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.
