Hi everyone,

I’m a foreigner living in Switzerland, and I’m genuinely trying to understand the cultural differences here — not judging, just trying to process something that really surprised me.

This weekend, I was in Uesslingen (TG), and to my surprise, there was a Tractor Pulling event. For those unfamiliar: it’s a motorsport that originated in the U.S., where modified tractors pull a heavy sled over a dirt track, and the one who pulls it the farthest wins. Think massive engines, loud noise, clouds of smoke — very much an environmental nightmare, if I’m being honest.

Now, coming from a country where the climate crisis is taken very seriously, I was shocked to see this happening here — in one of the most green-conscious countries I thought I was moving to. It honestly feels like something from another era.

What really got me thinking was the contrast: some of my Swiss colleagues have been vocal about boycotting American products or brands because of Trump-era politics and environmental policies — and yet this very “American-style” event is not just tolerated here, but celebrated.

I want to be clear: I’m not here to criticize your country. I'm really trying to understand how this fits into Swiss values — especially when sustainability is such a big deal in daily life, from recycling to public transport to local food. How does a high-emission, fuel-burning sport like this make sense culturally?

Is it just a nostalgic tradition for rural areas? A community thing? Or am I missing some nuance here?

Would love to hear your thoughts — especially from people who enjoy or attend these events. What makes it worth it for you?

Thanks for helping me understand and please stay respectful!

by Ok_Opportunity_9725

35 comments

  4. Honestly, I don’t see the problem. And if you think everyone in Switzerland is equally aware of recycling and climate change, I think you need to spend some time in more rural areas and step outside the big cities. No offense intended.

  5. The emissions are minimal compared to other things tbh. Sounds like a fun event though.

  6. Have you checked for who a third if not more of the population are voting in Switzerland (and overall in Europe too really)?

  7. we don’t have them in my country, ive been to a few tho, they are tremendous fun

  8. Have you ever been to the Netherlands? Tractor Pulling is huge there. Tractor pulling is one thing I connected over with some Swiss folks when I first moved there. Compared to other nations it’s still tiny and a niche hobby.

  9. The environmental consciousness in Switzerland is not exactly equally distributed.

    Part of the rural Swiss have their own culture, with very specific habits. It has some common aspects with that of rural Americans. They are often well on the right of the (Swiss) political spectrum but what you mentioned is only partly tied to this. It’s mostly a way to cultivate a difference from the “urban world”.

  10. On the political side, rural Switzerland is mostly UDC/SVP and they mostly side with Maga. Tractor pulling has lutte chances to suffer from a “boycott”

  11. The amount of air taxis and helicopters flying over glaciers for an aerial view tells you how energy conscious this country is. Not to name all the artificial snow makers on the ski slopes that melts even more snow in the coming years and the cycle goes on and on.

  12. I’m definitely not an expert on this topic and I myself don’t really understand the interest in such events. But what I do know is that this is fairly rare, even in “rural” areas. There are some events in the summer, such as “Knutwiler Powerdays” in Lucerne, but it’s more a show and not a competitive “sport”, as it is not done by “professionals” who only do that very thing. It’s popular with younger “Buurebuebe/Buuremeitli” and was most likely passed down by their fathers and older siblings.
    About the environmental part: the pollution caused by cars, which transport the “fans” to those events is likely much bigger than the pollution produced by the trucks (and whatever else you may find) at those events themselves. So although it may encourage (especially young) fans to do the same and “not care” about the environment, it is probably not as bad as you may think.

  13. We can’t make generalizations out of our own little bubbles. That’s the main take away imo. Most Swiss get that reality check at least once per quarter at the ballot box.

  14. i at least know from zimmerwald, that they instruct people to travel together, don’t move vehicles without cause (few years back, there where motorised tables… drive around with a fucking table), reduce generator use to a minimum (i think you can get in trouble now if you use one)

    a few years ago teams also started using CO2 neutral fule (bio disel or ethanol) -> somehow this is how you can convince some guys to use bio fules… so if we are lucky, the event helps reduce carbon emmisions over the year…

    i’m not deep into it (i often help with distance messurements and the ranking in zimmerwald) but i think they will ban the use of normal disel soon… (probably not for historical tractors, but new ones should be totally fine with bio disel and sports classes are custom built, so no problem there)

    the fule use per pull isn’t that high -> traveling to the event is more fule used, than attending, (ok, if you travel less than 1km, fair)

    but yeah, many events have much bigger footprints, it’s just not upfront…

    if we want to ban such events, we would also have to ban a lot of festivals, conventions (especially political with guests from all over the world)…

  15. Big post for complaining and you say “I am not judging” 😀… Let people enjoy, not everything in the world need to follow your views.

  16. Einen Stock im Arsch haben

    Bedeutungen:

    umgangssprachlich, derb:

    [1] eine mangelnde Gewandtheit und Körperbeherrschung haben, über eine steife

    Körperhaltung verfügen

    [2] sich nicht unbefangen/locker/entspannt verhalten

  19. Go home to your “climate friendly” country please.

  20. I want 100x more of this, it is our own culrture then more of this american nfl, wwe dogshit. Even 10 years ago suddenly guys from school were no longer fans of some local sports but rooting for NBA and NFl and now when there is superbowl I have to hear this shit 2-3 weeks prior in my office. God damn consumer sheeps, got brainwashed fine by american bs.

  21. Ask yourself – you get a tractor for half a million from the swiss tax payers. Are you going to show it off to your cows or at the tractor pulling event where the hot Regula from the neighboring farm might attend.

  22. Please go and have some fun! Most of us don’t see the problem here… it’s not an everyday event btw.

  23. Pluralism is a thing here – linguistic, cultural and political pluralism.

    Rural-urban divide as a global phenomenon doesn‘t stop at the Swiss border, either.

    If you were expecting a monoculture, this is probably not going to be the last time reality is going to clash with that particular expectation.

  26. It’s fun. The pollution argument is absolutely nonsense. Plus, the average Swiss is often pro America, don’t get biased by a small sample of people you talked to.

  31. Your cultural associations with tractor pulling are understandable but inaccurate. Tractor pulling is a redneck thing. And boy do we have rednecks here in Switzerland. It’s not directly related to coal rolling and similar practices directly designed to spit environmental concerns in the face. We have climate deniers and similar lunatics here as well, but fortunately much fewer than in the US.

    The smoke clouds you see are probably bad for the environment, but more in a local pollution sense, because none of those motors have cats. But especially concerning climate change, motor sport just doesn’t make a relevant contribution. In general, I am not a fan of pointing fingers at small-scale emissions by individuals, because it causes political division and detracts from the much more important conversations around the big polluters: Energy, meat, cars and planes, in that order.

  32. You think banning this helps with the climate crisis?

    How naive. ☺️

  35. Sounds fun! I remember watching it 20y ago on the DSF tv channel.

    And whats wrong with “american style” stuff? Like seriously?

    In europe we have strongman festivals, hunting competitions, bull fights, rallyes and hill climb, motocross…… we can’t have tractor pulling because….”its american style”? Like if that is a bad thing?

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