Literature
The naturalised Swiss writer Hermann Hesse is the most famous 'local' author. A copy of his novel Siddartha used to be found in the backpack of every questing Westerner heading on the hippy trail to India. German-Swiss dramatist and novelist Max Frisch was one of Europe's most respected authors in the 1950s. His best-selling 1957 novel Homo Faber was filmed in 1991 by Volker Schlondorff and released under the title Voyager. The 18th-century writings of Rousseau, who lived in Geneva, played an important part in the development of democracy, and Carl Jung, based in Zürich, was instrumental in developing modern psychoanalysis.
Music
Swiss folk culture includes yodelling, playing the alp horn and Swiss wrestling. We suggest you don't indulge in any of these after a night in a Swiss tavern.
Language
Switzerland is a linguistic melting pot with three official federal languages. German (most commonly the dialect known as Schwyzertütschis spoken by about 66% of the population, French by 18% and Italian by 10%. A fourth language, Romansch, is spoken by 1% of the population, mainly in the canton of Graubünden. Derived from Latin, it's a linguistic relic that's survived in the isolation of mountain valleys.
Food
Switzerland doesn't have a great indigenous gastronomic tradition - instead, Swiss dishes borrow from the best of German and French cuisine. Cheeses form an important part of the Swiss diet. Emmenthaler and Gruyère are combined with white wine to create fondue, which is served up in a vast pot and eaten with bread cubes. Rosti (crispy, fried, shredded potatoes) is German Switzerland's national dish. Fresh fish from the numerous lakes frequently crop up on menus, especially perch and trout. Swiss chocolate, excellent by itself, is often used in desserts and cakes
Dances
Have a look at this pdf-file for information about the dance Dr Gsatzlik (Der Kzahtlik)
To read the file you need the free software Adobe Reader from Adobe or another pdf-viewer.
The Adobe Reader you can find on the homepage from Adobe under Support - Downloads.National Anthem
To listen the national anthem click here.