Switzerland welcomes New Year with fireworks and bells

Switzerland has welcomed the New Year with bells and fireworks. While Bern residents listened to the cathedral bells, thousands of people crowded around Lake Zurich for a spectacular fireworks display. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox An estimated 150,000 spectators watched the New Year's Eve show in Zurich. Fortunately, there was no fog, unlike last year. The motto of the New Year's Eve celebrations in Geneva, including a fireworks display, was "Together we shine!" A major display was also organised in Rheinfelden, canton Aargau, at the same time as one on the German town on the other side of the Rhine River. Bells instead of fireworks In the Swiss capital Bern - where fireworks are banned in the Old Town - party-goers gathered as usual on Münsterplatz square to toast and usher in the New Year. The twelve strokes of midnight were struck by the tower's caretaker with a hammer. In St Gallen in eastern Switzerland, the Klosterplatz was the meeting point for ...