The Böögg, Switzerland's Exploding Psychic Snowman

2025-04-26 02:07:26

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The quicker the Böögg's dynamite-packed head explodes, the hotter the summer. That's the theory. But where did the tradition come from, and – more importantly – how accurate is it? This content was published on April 26, 2025 - 11:00 8 minutes

I write articles on the Swiss Abroad and“Quirky Switzerland” as well as daily/weekly briefings. I also translate, edit and sub-edit articles for the English department and do voiceover work for videos. Born in London, I have a degree in German/Linguistics and was a journalist at The Independent before moving to Bern in 2005. I speak all three official Swiss languages and enjoy travelling the country and practising them, above all in pubs, restaurants and gelaterias.

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English Departme

Deutsch de Zürichs explodierender Wetterprophet – alles über den Böögg Read more: Zürichs explodierender Wetterprophet – alles über den Böög
Français fr Le Böögg, le prophète météo explosif de Zurich Read more: Le Böögg, le prophète météo explosif de Zuric
Italiano it Il Böögg, l'esplosivo pupazzo di neve chiaroveggente della Svizzera Read more: Il Böögg, l'esplosivo pupazzo di neve chiaroveggente della Svizzer
Русский ru Поджечь зиму и встретить лето: кто такой Бёгг и зачем он сгорает в Цюрихе Read more: Поджечь зиму и встретить лето: кто такой Бёгг и зачем он сгорает в Цюрих

Every year, at 6pm on a Monday in April (this year it's April 28), a cotton-wool snowman is set on fire on Zurich's Sechseläutenplatz. But not just any snowman. This is the Böögg (pronounced“berk”), the headline-grabbing highlight of the Sechseläuten, a traditional spring holiday in Zurich.

The Böögg on his pyre in 2024. The burning ceremony was cancelled at the last minute owing to strong winds. Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Sechseläuten, which means the“six o'clock ringing of the bells”, has various roots. On the one hand it's based on fire customs linked to the spring equinox, during which boys burnt self-made straw effigies with scary masks –“Bööggen”, linked etymologically to the bogeyman – around the city. On the other, members of guilds used to regulate working hours by ringing bells; in winter, craftsmen and traders would work until 5pm and in summer until 6pm.

In 1892 both traditions merged, and since 1902 burning a snowman, representing winter, has been a fixed part of the Sechseläuten custom.

Being led to his fate in 1943. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Str)

The parade featuring various guildsExternal link kicks off at 3pm. Around 3,500 guild members in costumes, 50 horse-drawn floats and 30 bands make their way through the city to Sechseläutenplatz. The procession – and the burning of the Böögg – attracts tens of thousands of spectators, including many politicians and other big names from the world of business, sport and culture. Hundreds of thousands of people also follow the drama from the safety of their television sets.

Riding around the Böögg, between 1933 and 1936. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Str)

At 6pm, on the sixth stroke of the bells of the Grossmünster cathedral, the pyre beneath the Böögg, perched on a ten-metre throne, is lit. Horse-riders circle the burning snowman until the explosive finale. Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil (see box) might have inspired a Hollywood comedy, but the Böögg is hard to beat for drama.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is arguably the most well-known weather-prediction tradition, observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow, it will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it doesn't see its shadow, spring will arrive early. The ceremony held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, starring a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most frequently attended ceremony.

Bear shadows

Similar to Groundhog Day, people in Serbia, Romania and Hungary watch for bears emerging from hibernation on February 2 (or February 15 in Serbia). They reckon that if a bear sees its shadow, it will go back into its den and sleep for another 40 days, prolonging winter.

Woolly bear caterpillars

Every year thousands of people flock to a town in North Carolina to watch the US's biggest woolly bear caterpillar race. The winner gets the honour of predicting the weather for the upcoming winter. Here's a guideExternal link on how to“read a worm” (it involves the colour and pattern of the stripes).

Frogs in jars

A belief existed in the German-speaking world (including in Switzerland) that frogs could predict the weather. This grew from observing European tree frogs climb up vegetation in sunny weather, and led to frogs being kept inside jars equipped with a small ladder. The term Wetterfrosch (weather frog) has survived as a somewhat name epithet for meteorologists, implying their predictions can't be trusted.

Ants

Afar women in Ethiopia observe the behaviour of ants, specifically the Dakura“jump about” ant, to predict the coming rainy season. Women fetching water gather around the wells and scratch a ditch in front of an army of Dakura ants. If the ants go inside the ditch or cross the ditch, then it is considered that the next rainy season will be dry. However, if the ants avoid the ditches and rush to go roundabout without directly crossing or getting inside the ditches, this is an indicator of a good rainy season. As this paper explainsExternal link , the Afar community says the ants avoid the ditches because they have instinctively sensed rains or floods and are trying to avoid being washed away.

Back-up Bööggs

Not that things have always gone smoothly. In 1923 it rained so hard that the sodden Böögg didn't burn.

In 1993 the Böögg made a leap for freedom. His head was thrown back into the fire. (Keystone/Str)

In 1941 Switzerland's wartime farming policy meant the field was needed to grow crops, so the Böögg got a reprieve. He wasn't so lucky the following year, although because the field was still being used to grow potatoes, the crowds had to keep their distance. In 1943 the field was still needed for food, so the Böögg was moved onto the dam in the port in Enge, where the following year he fell into Lake Zurich. He was fished out and his head was thrown into the fire. What a way to go.

In 1944 the pyre was built on the port in Enge. Unfortunately the Böögg fell into the water and had to be fished out. (KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV/Str)

Who would have thought a snowman could be political: in 2006 the Böögg was abducted by leftist“revolutionaries” a few days before the Sechseläuten. In a midnight raid they smashed a window of the garage where he was stored and left a chocolate Easter bunny and a hammer and sickle emblem in his place, saying the snowman“had had enough of putting its head on the line for capitalists”. Since then, several back-up Bööggs have been held in reserve, with the main one stored at a bank near Sechseläutenplatz.

In 2020 and 2021 the Sechseläuten parade was cancelled owing to Covid, returning as normal on April 25, 2022. While the Böögg had a year off in 2020, in 2021 the burning was held in a gorge , without an audience, in canton Uri. The event was broadcast live on television.

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Then last year saw the“Böögg debacle” when strong winds forced the organisers, worried about stray sparks and embers, to abort just before ignition.“It could have resulted in a mass panic,” Felix Boller, president of the Zurich Guild Committee, said at the timeExternal link .

However, the Böögg didn't get a year off: he was burnt two months later in Heiden, in the host canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes. The exiled Böögg proved to be particularly resilient: while the pyre burnt relatively quickly despite the wet conditions, it took a while for the shoulders and head of the snowman to catch fire: his head exploded after 31:28 minutes, predicting a mediocre summer. And he wasn't that wrong.

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