Röstigraben

Rift is a term that refers in particular to the difference in voting behavior between German and Swiss Romand, ie the German majority and the French-speaking population of Switzerland. Originally he was a jocular term for the " perceived " differences between the two largest Swiss language regions.

Importance

Rösti is a Swiss German name for the classic potato dish of the German Swiss cuisine, a former part of the Bauer breakfast. However, Marcel Schwander, the longtime West Swiss correspondent for the Tages -Anzeiger, pointed out that the Romands the " pommes de terre fricassées " as long as know the German Swiss, but had taken the shorter term over time. Often, the language barrier is equated with the Sarine in Fribourg, which is reflected in the French term outre- Sarine (beyond the Sarine, ie in German-speaking Switzerland ). In French-speaking Switzerland are rather - uses the terms Rideau de rösti ( " hash browns curtain ") or Barrière de rösti ( " hash browns fence ") - in allusion to the Iron Curtain.

The term is often tried when the voting behavior differently depending on the language region fails in referenda:

• Most likely to occur, the differences in the area of ​​foreign and social policy -days, where the French-speaking Switzerland is mostly abroad set (including the EU) open towards and state regulations more friendly.
• Less pronounced they are in the transport, environmental, drugs and social policy.

In recent years, the rift in Swiss politics has lost importance in favor of a growing gap between urban and rural areas.

The Italian Switzerland is wrong with foreign-policy issues usually as the German Switzerland, or rather with the Romandie together; the north-west Switzerland on the other hand often does from how the Romandie and is not unique to settle on the German side of the Swiss Rösti ditch.

From folklorists the greater importance of nearly 100km further east, in this context, out painted in broad extending in a north-south direction Brünigbahn -well Reuss - line as a cultural boundary between mostly Alemannic or Burgundian influence.