Hiking in Switzerland – Gabrielle and Urs: 2025

December 5, 2025

St.Nicholas Parade: Popular Local Tradition of Central Switzerland

Friday December 5th, 2025 -- In several places in Central Switzerland, St.Nicholas Day is celebrated with a traditional parade called "Klausjagen" on the eve of St.Nicholas (Dec.6th) which includes cracking of bullwhips, brass instruments playing a repetitive 3-note tune, hundreds of locals swinging large cow-bells on their thighs in a very loud and consistent primordial rhythm, and most importantly, the display of the bishop-hat-shaped headdresses lighted by real candles to showcase the intricate, hand-made designs (religious in nature) that glow like stained-glass windows. It is not sure where this tradition has its origins, but is most likely over 1000 years old, based on pagan rituals of driving out evil spirits of darkness.

The most famous of these parades is in the town of Küssnacht on Lake Lucerne, which now attracts over 30,000 people every year. (There are smaller and more familiar such parades in several towns all around Lake Luzern and some other places in Central Switzerland, but the "Pièce(s) de Resistance" (so to speak) definitely are the Bishops Hats (Iffelen), over 200 of them carried through the town at night, where the town lights are turned off to enhance the full effect of this beautiful display). The parade lasts 2½ hours with several breaks, as the head-dresses are heavy and so are the bells. (A deafening procession of over 1000 men, residents of the village only). When the parade is done at 10:30 p.m., the participants spend all night in local pubs until early morning when they head home, ringing their bells once again.

Additionally, the town of Küssnacht has organized a children's parade at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, most ringing the bells, several cracking whips (not easy to get that cracking sound and requires lots of practice) and the smallest ones proudly wearing the headpieces they crafted in school. Of course St.Nicholas (Samichlaus) joins the parade, accompanied by his assistants called Schmutzli, all in black.

As I had been spending the week in my Aunt's former house in the same village, I was able to attend both events, and even though those head pieces are magnificent, I have to admit I enjoyed the children's parade more, as 1) there were fewer spectators, and 2) because it took place in daylight, you could enjoy the participants so much more....

PART I: The Children's Parade: Started at 2:15 p.m. and I enjoyed this thoroughly, as it was fun to watch the kids participating, especially the talented bullwhip crackers!

VIDEO:

Earlier in the morning, the kids at the nearby school did a test run in preparation for the parade, and passed right below my house!

Many businesses have displays of the intricate headdresses in their show windows! (These are very small ones).

Spectators and family members are already waiting on the main road in the old part of town, where the children will take their first break.

The parade starts at the upper part of the village (Oberdorf) with the children who will wield their bullwhips (Geisselchlöpfer), having practiced all month of November during breaks in the school day!

VIDEO:

Display of cracking the bullwhip. I recognized some of the children who passed by my house earlier in the morning. I was especially impressed by the strong little girl participating in an exercise dominated by the village boys!

After the bullwhips came the smaller children with the "Bishop Hats" (small and simple version of what is displayed at night in the dark!)

VIDEO:

The little kids proudly displaying the Bishop Hats they crafted in school!

Then comes the "Samichlaus", Switzerland's version of Santa Claus, with his helpers called the "Schmutzli", who hand out treats to the children among the spectators. (Their faces are totally blackened—once upon a time with coal—which I find rather intimidating, and not the pleasant experience that St.Nicholas should represent!)

VIDEO:

Arrival of Samichlaus

Now most fascinating of all come the bell ringers (Trychler). First come the larger boys in excellent formation with excellent rhythm.

Behind the big boys are the smaller children, and their rhythm wasn't so great!

Even some little ones joined the parade!

VIDEO:

The repetitive sound of the bells is loud and primordial and vibrates the air!

The kids had a break and then continued on the main road toward the train station. I ran some errands and then found another spot to watch them all pass again. Here are the Bullwhips.... I am amazed that no one in the crowd got in the way of the whips!

VIDEO:

Several of the participants showed off with Bullwhip Solos!

The little children are looking for their family members in the crowd!

Samichlaus and his helpers.

And finally, the long procession of bells. Usually I don't like loud noises, but this didn't bother me at all.

VIDEO:

Final line of bell-ringers pass on the main road.

You could tell that the smaller kids at the back were getting tired!

PART II: Main Parade: With over 1500 participants, only men and locals allowed.

The event starts at 8:15 p.m. after a loud cannon shot, and then all the lights in the main part of town near the lake get turned off. The display of fantastic headdresses (Iffele) was superb, but because it was so dark, you could not see the bullwhips nor the over 1000 bellringers walking past. You only heard the noise. My cameras were not good enough for videos in this light, so Internet videos show it better. See the main website at: https://www.klausjagen.ch/

As I headed down to the lake at 8:20 p.m. to wait for the parade to arrive, I spotted this large boat docked at the lakeside, probably a special outing for spectators to the parade.

Some of the first arrivals of the Iffele headdresses onto the Seeplatz (lakeside square).

Beautiful headdresses.

I snuck in a flash photo when the bell-ringers passed, as my camera could not take any proper photos in this light.

Screenshot from the long video (see below) I took as the participants marched down the main road in town.

Screenshot from the long video (see below) I took as the participants marched down the main road in town. This is one of the largest and most fabulous of the headdresses which appears every year in the parade.

VIDEO:

This is a 3-minute video (my video, uploated to YouTube) of the procession of Iffelen (Bishop-hat shaped headdresses) carried by the local men, about 200 in all. There are St.Nicholas processions in many parts of Central Switzerland, but these headdresses are quite unique to the Küssnacht procession.

PART III: Addendum

Here are a few photos which we took on previous visits of the Küssnacht Klausjagen parade, in 2014 and 2019. At a couple of points along the way, the men carrying the headdresses set them down to take a break, and you can view them up close.

Display of Iffelen Headdresses Klausjagen Parade 2019

Display of Iffelen Headdresses Klausjagen Parade 2013

December 2, 2025

Winter walk from Euthal to Studen near Lake Sihlsee

Tuesday December 2, 2025 -- Today I did my first winter hike, and it was a real success!

Actually, I had something totally different planned: I was going to walk the snow-free valley bottom in the Linthal Valley near Glarus, but there was an issue with the trains from Zurich (several being cancelled due to damage on the tracks) so I traveled to Einsiedeln on a different line and took a bus to the south end of Lake Sihlsee, where we had once ended a different winter hike in December 2024 (photos HERE).

This time I hiked into a different side valley to the village of Studen, walking along the Sihl River which was all magically decked out with frost and sunshine and perfect mirroring of the fantastic mountains at the back of the valley. I then returned via the higher mountain road, which afforded me some very nice views from above.

There was not a single cloud in the sky, the view was clear, and the temperatures pretty mild. It wasn't a long hike, just 8 kilometers and a little over two hours of strickt walking time, but a great way to spend three hours outside on a beautiful day.

View of the town of Arth at the south end of Lake Zug, as my train approaches from the west side of the lake this time. (Starting in Küssnacht today with the 10 a.m. train). Up ahead are the Mythen mountains, and my train will head up that valley to the left, right where the fog clouds are hanging!

On the way to the Arth-Goldau train station, a view of the town of Arth below at the south end of Lake Zug. On the east side is Mt. Rossberg, where the worst landslide in Switzerland occurred in 1806.

A look back at the Uri Alps as the train heads up toward the Rothenthurm high moors. Most of the fog is gone now.

The fog has left a lot of frost on the trees, and this is the magical winter scene that I prefer! This is a popular region for cross-country skiing.

From the Einsiedeln train station, the bus heads southwards along Lake Sihlsee, with the fantastic backdrop of the Schwyzer Alps.

The bus travels along the west side of Lake Sihlsee.

Now the bus crosses the lake toward the town of Euthal on the east side of the lake.

Campground in Euthal. It is just opposite the campgroud that I will end my hike, descending from the hillside on the left. But for now I continue with the bus to the very south end of the lake where the Sihl River enters the lake, and that is where I am starting on my hike. To get here takes only 90 minutes on public transport!

This was a relatively short hike, just over two hours and only 8 kilometers, with only a little climb up the hillside after passing through the village of Studen. But for winter, a two-hour walk is just fine, especially at the best time between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Here at the south end of Lake Sihlsee is where I got off the bus. First a few photos of the mirror surface of the lake, looking northwards (or rather, northwest). This lake usually has a very low water level, so on this day it was quite full!

I can also see the houses in the village of Euthal to the north, where I will catch a bus back to Einsiedeln in a few hours. It is now about 11:30, when I start my hike.

Looking south now along the Sihl River where it enters the lake. What a perfect day with the river so still that it mirrors everything!

On the right is the first part of the trail which heads southward right next to the river.

This view is back toward the community of Euthal

Heading out along the riverside path.

Interesting mirror image of the houses and hillside in the river.

It was so pretty, I had to take lots of photos!

Lots of sunshine.

Heading south into a side valley to the little village of Studen.

Closer to the base of the mountain there is low fog, so I am glad I wasn't walking in that region!

This is a very popular region for cross-country skiing. There are many prepared winter walking trails here as well. In the far back you can see the village of Studen.

At noon I arrived in Studen, after just 30 minutes of walking parallel to the river. Of course I am headed to the village church, which is on the outskirts of the village, on the west side (and almost in the shadow of the mountain now).

A little chapel on the church grounds.

This is St.Wendelin's Church, built in 1794/1795.

The interior has a very nice main altar and two attractive side-altars.

Crossing a small side stream on my way back through the village to head to the hills on the southeast side of the valley.

Looking up the Sihl Valley to the mountains which separate us here from the popular Pragel Pass. I was quite amused to spot a cat in the "pasture" as I always mention that each pasture has its resident cat! (Even in winter, apparently!)

(Side note: In May 2023 we did a hike starting further back in the Sihl Valley—further than the houses at the back—and walked eastward over the saddle you can see on the left of the photo, to the next valley over called the Wägital).

Looking up the Sihl River in the Sihl Valley.

The sign indicates that I still have to walk 90 minutes to get back to Euthal, if I head up to the higher mountain trail, instead of reaturning along the river.

The trail passes by this farm with these cuties watching me. From here there was a zigzag road going up about 100 meters before I hit snow on the paved road.

View toward the back of the Sihl Valley as I start my way up the hill.

Here was a nice bench with a view, and I stopped here to eat my sandwich! Bottom left is the view I had from the bench.

View down to the Sihl River and the village of Studen slightly higher up from the view bench, which you can see at the cross along the road below.

Spectacular view of the Schwyzer Alps at the back of the Sihl Valley. The winding road is where I walked up, mostly snow-free to this point.

Then the road passes through some forested sections, which are covered in snow as there is less sunshine here. This is apparently also an official winter walking trail, which has not been prepared. But I knew other people would have walked here, and there was a trodden path, although it was quite icy.

Another view bench where I also stopped for about 10 minutes to enjoy the view.

This was the view across the large plain (a popular cross-country skiing region) south of Lake Sihlsee, from my second view bench!

I have an App on my phone which will tell me the names of the mountains I can see from any viewpoint. So I used that program here from the little bench, to see what mountains were to my west....

.... and also the names of those beautiful mountains to the south! (I don't recognize any of those names as I might do if we had done more hiking in that region).

This lovely building is the site of a farm that raises dwarf Zebu cows (the summer pastures). This also would have been a nice place for a picnic break!

Then I had another long stretch through the forest. All the snow-covered roads were no problem to walk in my regular hiking shoes.

I was a bit worried about the final forest trail heading back down the mountain toward Euthal, but the trail was clear of snow here!

Now I found out I was on the official snow-shoe trail! These are no problem to walk on if there hasn't been new snow for a few days. This is also the first view again of the south end of Lake Sihlsee.

Down below I can see where I started on my hike at the place where the Sihl River enters the lake.

And down below is the town of Euthal, where I am ending my hike.

Close-up view of the bridge which crosses the lake, where the bus travels back to Einsiedeln. I caught a bus near the campground slightly past the village church.

At this point close to the valley bottom now, it is 13:50, with 20 minutes left to the bus stop. The next bus was at 14:01, so I didn't even try to rush. I opted to wait for the 14:36 bus, and find a nice place to sit in the sun for a while.

Just before the village, I found this convenient bench next to a stream, the sound of which is much more pleasant than that of the vehicle road, so this is where I spent a 20-minute break enjoying the sunshine.

Continuing on toward the bus stop, I opted to follow the Eubach canal to the bus stop near the campground, instead of going via the church to that bus stop. Directly at the back is the mountain called Chli Aubrig, which we passed on that four-hour hike in May 2020 when we started at Lake Wägital in the parallel Valley, and ended here.

Between the houses I can see the little church. There is a bus stop there as well. We passed the church on two other hikes, but I cannot recall if we checked out the inside.

Just enough time before the bus arrives for a quick detour to the lake shore for a final look at the beautiful mountains at the back of the Sihl Valley.

What my walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps. Starting at the bridge where the Sihl River enters the lake, I walked to Studen, then up the hill and back to Euthal. An 8-km walk, just over two hours of direct walking. I started at 11:30, and caught the 14:36 bus back to Einsiedeln.

These are all the hikes we have done in the region south of Lake Sihlsee.

Now views from the bus on the way back to Einsiedeln: This is the view back to the bridge over the lake and the village of Euthal.

Fantastic view to the back of the lake.

And this is looking to the east side of the lake, to the next village of Willerzell, from where we have also started a few hikes.

And by 3:40 p.m., the train descends again from the Rothenthurm upper plateau toward the train station at Arth-Goldau. The view is to Mt. Fronalpstock and the range just south of the Muotatal (Muota Valley).

Location of Lake Sihlsee within Switzerland.