The Swiss clock change of 2027 falls on 28 March and 31 October, the last Sundays of those months. In March the hour between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. is skipped; in October the clock is set back at 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. and that hour is lived twice. Switzerland is not in the European Union and is not bound by its directive; it keeps to its neighbours' dates by its own choice.

PDF report · 40+ pages · 23 chapters Natal Chart Report Built from your own birth date, time and place: every planet in its sign and house, the aspects between them, and what they say together. Inside:Your TemperamentLove and RelationshipsMind and CommunicationYour Path of Growth Create my report →

Next clock change in Switzerland

Local time in each place. Computed from the IANA time zone database.

All clock changes 2026–2028: Zurich

The Rule in Switzerland

Swiss time is Central European Time, one hour ahead of Universal Time, with Central European Summer Time from the end of March to the end of October. The Federal Council sets the dates by ordinance under the Time Act, and it has always set them to match those of the surrounding countries. The change is made at 2:00 a.m. in spring, when the clock jumps to 3:00, and at 3:00 a.m. in autumn, when it returns to 2:00. Official time is kept by the Federal Institute of Metrology, METAS, in Bern. Liechtenstein, which shares a customs and currency area with Switzerland, changes at the same moment.

The Country That Voted No, and Changed Anyway

Switzerland came to summer time late and reluctantly. It tried it during the war, in 1941 and 1942, and dropped it. When its neighbours prepared to reintroduce it at the end of the 1970s, Parliament passed a Time Act, farmers forced a referendum, and on 28 May 1978 the voters rejected it. In 1980 Germany, Austria, France and Italy all moved their clocks and Switzerland did not. For that one summer the country was a time island: trains waited at the border, timetables had to be printed twice, and broadcasts from abroad arrived an hour off. Parliament passed a new Act, nobody called a second referendum, and since 1981 Switzerland has changed with everyone else.

What Would Switzerland Do if the EU Stopped?

The experience of 1980 explains the official position today. The Federal Council has said that Switzerland wants to avoid becoming a time island again and would look at its neighbours' decision before taking its own. If the European Union ended the changes, Switzerland would in practice have to follow, since it is surrounded by member states and its economy runs on cross-border commuters, trains and electricity trading. A popular initiative to abolish the change, launched in 2019, did not gather the signatures it needed. As long as the EU proposal remains stalled, as it has been since 2019, nothing changes in Switzerland either, and the dates for 2027 and 2028 are those in the table.

Born in Switzerland? A Simple Case, with Two Exceptions

Swiss birth times are easier to convert than most. From 1894, when the country adopted Central European Time, until 1980, the clock did not change at all, apart from the summers of 1941 and 1942. So a birth in July 1970 is on Central European Time, while a birth in July 1990 is an hour ahead. Before 1894 Swiss clocks were set to Bern Mean Time, about half an hour behind Central European Time. In a birth chart sixty minutes are worth about fifteen degrees on the Ascendant, often the difference between two Rising signs. The two wartime summers and Bern Mean Time are both built into our natal chart calculator.

Frequently asked

When is the clock change in 2027 in Switzerland?

Twice: in the night to Sunday 28 March 2027 the clock is advanced from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., and in the night to Sunday 31 October 2027 it is put back from 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.

Since when has Switzerland had summer time?

Since 1981, a year after its neighbours. Voters had rejected it in a referendum in 1978.

Does Switzerland have to follow the EU on clock changes?

No, it is not legally bound, but it has always chosen the same dates to avoid being an hour apart from the countries around it.

Clock changes by country