瑞士小村庄居民投诉牛颈铃扰民
Two residents who recently moved to the small village of Aarwangen in the Swiss Alps, which has a population of just 4700 people, filed complaints with the village council about the constant ringing of cowbells. They asked for the cows’ bells to be removed at night so they could sleep. Long-term residents, and the village’s remaining farmers — just five or six, according to the village mayor — were mad at what they felt was an attack on their traditional culture. A petition (请愿书) was organized and soon had 1000 signatures. It read: “We, the Swiss want to preserve and maintain our lived traditions in the future”.
Cowbells have been used in rural Switzerland for centuries. They were once useful for tracking herds eating grass high on steep slopes in the Alps in summer. Older farmers say they can hear each individual cow by the sound of its own bell. Another resident, Mr Andreas Baumann, said cowbells were an essential part of the Swiss soul. “As soon as I hear them, I know I’m back home,” he said.
Aarwangen has seen many changes over the decades, with new homes built close to the meadows where the cattle eat grass. The village mayor said that most people who have recently moved are “not necessarily from cities, but from urban outskirts (郊区), and are ▲ with the agricultural way of life”.
This year’s battle is not the first time residents have complained about cowbells. In 2015, a Zurich appeals court ordered a farmer to remove the bells from his 27 cows from 10pm to 7am, since they were safe in a paddock (围场) and keeping the neighbors awake.
Next month, Aarwangen’s villagers will gather for a public meeting to vote on the future of their bells. They will decide how the sound of the bells can continue without breaking noise pollution laws. And what about the residents who complained? According to the news report, one of those who objected to the noise has withdrawn their complaint and the other has moved away.