The Schwingfest is an annual event in our region. It is a festival of traditional wrestling, regarded as the national sport of Switzerland, and the important thing this year is that it took place IN OUR VILLAGE, Frauenkappelin. Naturally I had to attend; Ursula is less than enthusiastic of these traditions.
The wrestling takes place on 5 woodchip mounds arranged about the field enclosed by the four large stands that were erected in the fortnight leading up to the event.
1. View from a stand prior to the start. An overcast cool day, ideal for the event.
The event took place over two days, a Friday and Saturday on a farm just outside the village, 5 minutes’ walk from us. Of course, it was not all wrestling, that was the daytime activity. In the evenings there was a disco that went on to the early hours. Neither of us attended this part of the festivities.
At the event young women in traditional dress acted as helpers, giving help and information wherever and whenever needed
2. Ushers intheir very fetching traditional Swiss costume
The rules of Schwing wrestling are somewhat arcane to the outsider. The participants put on a pair of heavy leather breeches and held up by a stout leather belt. This is important. The two wrestlers hold each other by this belt and by the breeches, bend over, and when the referee is satisfied, the bout begins.
3. The wrestlers setting themselves, watched by the referee. Once he is satisfied, he leaves the ring, starts the stopwatch and watches from the side for any infringement of the rules, whatever they may be.
The aim is to throw your opponent onto his back, so that both of his shoulders simultaneously touch the ground. Should either of the wrestlers be forced off the woodchip circle, the watch is stopped and they return to the centre, set again, and continue. A wrestler in danger of losing will struggle to reach the grass and stop the bout. There are doubtless other rules which are not obvious to the onlooker.
Each wrestler fights five bouts during the day and the two with the highest number of points face off in the final round. If neither of the wrestlers has his shoulders make contact with the ground, points are awarded for throws.
It is a simple sport with that can be traced at least as far back as the early 17th century. No doubt a means of allowing farming youth to display their physical prowess and work off excess energy after farmwork had finished.
There are Schwing clubs with women’s teams, but not at the festivals, yet. (Swiss women only got the vote in 1971 after all. You can’t rush into these things.)
Now you all understand Schwing wrestling, we can move on to the actual event
Day one was for the youth, not well attended except by proud parents and relatives. However, the contests were fierce and the contestants ranged from young children to quite large teenagers.
4. Starting young, the future lies in the youth
The bouts were enthusiastic, as were the parents and on the whole all went well. There was one incident where a young boy appeared to injure his neck and he was carried off on a stretcher with a brace on his neck. His mother was, needless to say, very concerned, but, I think, all went well as the ambulance was not needed.
5. Desperately scrambling for the safety of the grass
Day 2.
The second day came cool and lightly overcast, perfect conditions for physical exertions. The stadium rapidly filled and by the start of the wrestling I guess there were about 5000 people there. All four stands were filled and the grass boundary was packed four or more rows deep, standing room only.
Wrestling was the main attraction, but not the only one. There was all the fun of the fair as well. For the adult and almost adults there were the beer and food tents. But for the younger there were several different attractions.
There was a Test Your Strength, particularly popular with young women
6. Test your strength with one mighty blow
There was wonderful stall for the youngsters. A real life digger where, supervised by a driver, the young children practiced scooping up a log and depositing it in a container. All the small girls and boys loved it, you can imagine.
7. All the fun of the fair. Digging for the future!
And for the “Grown Ups” there were the refreshment tents in all directions, beer and sausages mainly, but tents where full meals were served.
8. One of several beer tents. (The Frauenkappelen “industrial park” in the background).
But back to the serious business of wrestling. Before each bout the wrestlers choose their breeches from where they hang.
9. The breeches awaiting their wrestlers. Choose your colour and size.
And then let battle commence, under the gaze of a watchful referee. First the throw, and then turn him on his back if you can. The afternoon wore on with throw and counter-throw, and more and more beer consumed by the enthusiastic spectators.
10. The throw, and now, how to turn him on his back?
Of course, it is not all fun and roses. Like the children’s event, there were injuries, but with the bigger bulk of these men, the injuries are potentially more serious. One man seemed to break a collar bone, the snap could be heard around the ground and he went off clutching his shoulder.
But the next was more serious. He went down hard on his head, and stayed down, not moving.
11. The medics struggled to get a neck brace on.
It took a while but eventually they managed to slide a stretcher under him and he was carried off to the ambulance. No announcement was made and I don’t know what the outcome was. But it looked serious.
12. And off to the waiting ambulance
Neither incident seemed to perturb the crowd or the other wrestlers in any way and the bouts continued without interruption.
In the middle of the afternoon there was a short break to introduce the dignitaries to the crowd. They were tastefully borne around the arena on a trailer drawn by a farm tractor. They made several rounds of the arena, to some applause.
13. I don’t know what their position is. Possibly the board members of the Schwing Association, but that is just a guess.
And then we had a male voice choir, dressed in traditional costume, singing traditional Swiss songs a capella.
14. Male voice choir. Hands in pockets seemed to be de rigueur.
For both these entertainments the wrestling was paused and the wrestlers took the opportunity to freshen up at the carved wooden horse trough.
15. The horse drinking trough is now in the village just up the road from our apartment.
And then it was back to the serious business of wrestling, and after an afternoon of thrills and spills, the third place was decided.
16. The winning throw for third place. The man underneath was turned on his back as he hit the ground
For some reason, not at all obvious, he took off his leather breeches. He was handed a hammer and a nail and he nailed the breeches to a rough plank.
17. Proudly displaying his leather breeches. Perhaps they were special.
The sawdust was watered again, in preparation for the final bout of the day.
18. Watering took place several time during the afternoon and again for the final bout.
The bout only lasted a few minutes before the winner got in the decisive throw
19. The winning throw
The winner was hoisted aloft and presented to the cheering crowd…..
20. The Winner
before being presented with his prize. A pedigreed bull.
21. The winners take-home prize.
Look at that mighty beast. Those are not little men leading it, 5ft 10’ I guess, 1.80 metres. The bull was led around the arena, shown off to the crowd, before being led back to its stall.
And so, the 2023 Schwingfest closed, except for the post-wrestling party that went on until 3am.
As I noted earlier, women also take part in the sport, but I do not know of any tournament for women. Perhaps next year…..