Grüezi!
The Gemeindehaus and this barrel are actually visible in yesterday's post (directly to the left of the Villigen sign). People in villages, towns and cities in Switzerland are organized in municipalities, known as Gemeinden in German, communes in French. The Gemeindehaus is where people register as residents, pay their taxes, cast their votes in the many elections and referenda, among other things. Our recycling/trash drop-off for metal, glass and things like cooking oil is located next to the building. PET bottles, light bulbs, batteries, etc have designated bins at the supermarkets and paper is picked up curbside - kerbside for British English speakers - four times a year. Regular trash and "green" (that which can be composted) material are picked up once a week and once a fortnight, respectively. Every Gemeinde has different policies, different local tax rates, etc etc. (Map)
Grüezi (hello) is the greeting that you'll hear in most Swiss-German communities. Grüezi mitenand is used to address groups, the mitenand coming from miteinander: jointly. In German speaking parts of Valais (Wallis), you're more likely to hear Salut zusammen, an interesting mix of French and German.
Addendum: The sign on the barrel is the Signet or logo for the Villigen Gemeinden, very similar to the Wappen or flags. It depicts three 5-pointed stars, three hills and a bear's foot. No, I don't know why.
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5 comments:
In my experience Salut,or Salü (sounds like 'solly' or 'Sally') as it seems to be pronounced by the German speakers, is almost always a familiar term. I hear it a lot when walking with my wife in the village she grew up in. After over two years here in CH, I often just say 'Hello' to people. Everyone in that village knows who I am anyways. :-)
That's a good observation, I have experienced that around Villigen as well.
In Wallis though, I have almost never heard Grüezi, expect when I've been the one to say it. I'll have to pay more attention on our future visits.
What's the symbol on the barrel mean Z?
Richard: Answer added as addendum to the post.
Oof, I can't believe I wrote "expect" instead of "except" in my response to Greg.
So, good evening and salut! (quite familiar in French too).
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