Church bells can continue ringing at night in Swiss town, court rules
Xinhua,December 14, 2017 Adjust font size:
GENEVA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne has ruled in favor of a church near Zurich that wants to continue ringing its bells throughout the night as has been the custom for many centuries.
The verdict overturned previous local rulings in favor of those who complained about the noise, a couple from the town of Waedenswil near Zurich, Swiss News Agency ATH reported.
The couple was not named, but they lived near the church and wanted to stop the clanging of the bells each fifteen minutes and hourly between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m local time. They had also sought to delay early morning ringing from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and the church had agreed to this.
The case could set a precedent for other church-bell practices around Switzerland after the Federal Court's decision, Swissinfo, the website of the Swiss national broadcaster reported.
The Lausanne court ruled against the recommendations of the local court in Waedenswil, which had upheld the complaint of the two complaining residents who lived in the town center.
The couple had argued in court using a scientific study carried out by the federal institute of technology ETH Zurich. The university had carried out a test to show that noise of the bells reached 48 decibels when the windows were slightly ajar and the study found that levels of 40-45 decibels can be disruptive.
In Wednesday's ruling, the judges deemed that the ETH study, and the couple's case, were not significant enough to change existing case law for such occurrences.
The tradition of the Protestant church in Waedenswil, which is celebrating 250 years in existence this year, was to ring the church bells every 15 minutes, through the night.
The first claim by the couple, as well as a follow-up appeal case, reduced this frequency to once every hour.
The local council had supported the church's case and it welcomed the result.
Around 2,000 people had also signed a petition demanding a return to the traditional quarter-hour ringing. Enditem