Best in Travel is here! It was at the Unspunnen festival in Interlaken in when I really became aware of just how important Schwingen β or Swiss wrestling β is in Switzerland. The rules were bemusing, the crowd was riveted, and the whole thing culminated in the eventual winner being presented with a prize bull called Gottlieb. What, I asked myself, had I just watched? Matthias Sempach, a stacked, cm-tall thirty-something, was ushered over by the PR person of said watch brand β of which Sempach was an ambassador β after signing some autographs and having his photograph taken.
Documents from the later Middle Ages reveal that the sport was in ahem full swing by then, as towns and cities developed a penchant for alpine culture and staged Schwingen competitions at fairs and festivals. Shorts are crucial to the sport. Each player wears Schwingerhosen over their trousers, wrestling shorts made of jute and held up by a leather belt.
Points are given per bout, and the whole thing is adjudicated by a referee and two additional judges, who also decide who should compete against whom. The overall winner is the wrestler who picks up the most points, and his prize at the biggest events is usually a Muni a young bull , who dutifully poses for photos before returning to his pasture. Current national champ, Joel Wicki, at 1. People attend out of love and pride for this Swiss national sport, often to cheer on their local club members, who will have trained intensively to be there.
While Schwingen is the centrepiece, the festival also stages two other Swiss sports: Steinstossen stone-throwing , a sort of Swiss shot-put in which competitors see how far they can chuck boulders of various weights; and Hornussen , a golf-lacrosse-cricket hybrid which frankly has to be seen to be understood β and even then it might take you a while.
Alpenhorn players, yodellers and flag wavers complete the festival entertainment. Between the vast opening parade of people in traditional dress and the celebratory yet solemn closing ceremony and around ten days later, the festival dedicates each day to a traditional alpine sport, including Schwingen.
