When you move into a flat in Switzerland, you’re given a tenancy agreement. Sometimes you’ll also be given the building’s house rules, the famous ‘règlement de maison’ or ‘Hausordnung’. If you read it, all well and good. If not, sooner or later you’ll learn the hard way – usually when a neighbour knocks on your door looking rather displeased.
The rules vary slightly depending on the canton and the building, but the general outline is as follows: quiet hours at night from 10 pm to 7 am, a midday quiet period between 12 noon and 2 pm, and Sundays are days of complete rest. That means no DIY, no vacuum cleaning, no washing machine, and no music that can be heard through the wall. In many buildings, using the washing machine is strictly prohibited after a certain time, even on weekdays.
In Spain, you’re used to a completely different relationship with noise. A loud television at 11 pm isn’t a nuisance. Having background music on whilst you’re cooking on a Sunday isn’t considered rude. Here, however, it can be. And your Swiss neighbour, who hears it only very rarely, is unlikely to tell you so directly. First, they’ll mention it to the building manager. Then a letter will arrive. And once enough letters have been received, a process begins that could result in the termination of your tenancy agreement.
There’s no need to go to extremes. It’s enough to know that in Switzerland, silence has official hours, and that respecting those hours isn’t a matter of personality but of living together harmoniously. You’ll either find this out sooner or the hard way. Better sooner than later.