At the Montreux Christmas market on the edge of Lake Geneva, 170 miniature, light-festooned pine chalets sell the standard Swiss Romande fare of roast chestnuts, glühwein, crepes, piping hot fondue and raclette. Also in prominence are fresh pastry biscuits in the shape of stars, bells and hearts, pain d’épices and traditional Christmas men. The chalets’ craft sales are dominated by hand-knitted hats and scarves, handcrafted wooden toys, and artisan candles and soaps, as elsewhere in Europe. It’s all very kitsch.
It is the chocolate extravagances that stand out. They can be very elaborate creations, and among this chocolate jungle lurk numerous varieties of festive chocolate animals. They come in every possible shape and size, including flocks of white chocolate sheep.
What makes the market stand out is its setting: the lake, palm trees and the snowy Chablais Alps make it look like a movie set. At night, the Christmas lights reflect on the water and the view from the ferris wheel is wonderful. Every so often, a light-bedecked paddle steamer chugs by, festooned in steam on its way to the quay.
The Montreux market appears to spring from ancient tradition, but like many things in this country, it has actually been conjured up for tourists and dates back no more than 30 years. It is the perfect expression of modern Swiss tourism.
Santa Claus arrives after dark, his reindeer and sleigh suspended from a wire as secure as any cable car. The odd thing is that the sleigh trails flame behind it, produced by fireworks. The Swiss see nothing odd in this.
That’s because, during the festive season, they just love setting fire to things. The usually risk-averse Swiss, a people who hold the highest rate of insurance in Europe, suddenly throw caution to the wind.
The Christmas tree, for example, is viewed as essential for the home – not unusual, you might think. But they don’t cover it with electric lights. The Swiss prefer candles. On a tree. They then light these candles every evening, even after the tree has dried out in the superheated Swiss home.
Not content with this, the Swiss love for lighted candles at Christmas extends to placing them in advent wreaths, on window sills, and even on doorsteps. Every vacant space is game.
Yes, the effect is beautiful, but remember – the Swiss build their chalets out of pine, which makes Christmas literally incendiary. AXA, Switzerland’s leading insurer, says there is a terrible spike in domestic fires over the holiday period. The worst days are of course Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when the company receives twice as many fire claims as usual. There are about a thousand fires in Swiss homes during the Christmas holiday season.
A study from the University Hospital in Zürich shows that 89% of household fires resulting in serious burns involved Christmas trees and 11% were connected with advent wreaths. In all cases, the fire was induced by lighted candles. No electric Christmas lights were involved.
Even though Christmas trees are the usual cause, what stands out is that the majority of the fires occur in January, not during the days of Christmas itself, and are spread throughout the month. In other words, the risk-averse Swiss continue to place lit candles on tinder-dry trees well into the new year!
The Swiss Fire Information Centre advises that the public only use lighted candles on their trees for three days during the holidays starting from Christmas Eve, which is the night when Swiss families sit down together to eat their Christmas dinner. The meal is typically either raclette or fondue, both of which are heated at the dining table by naked flame, of course.
Looking at last year’s fire statistics, which show no improvement on previous years, I doubt that many of the flame-friendly Swiss will be listening to the fire department during this festive season either. I wish all my Swiss friends a safe, non-flammable Christmas.
Ivan Hutnik lives and writes in and out of Chablais in Swiss Romande
