Moral discipline and economic life

Read the PDF edition (2 pages)

The Reformation Ordinance and the subsequent moral mandates regulated the private lives of the citizens in detail. They prohibited luxury in dress, jewellery and feasts, limited the number of guests at weddings and the expense of funerals, prohibited gambling and card games, regulated the opening hours of taverns, punished drunkenness, adultery and fornication, and required attendance at sermons. The council enforced these rules through fines, imprisonment and public shaming.¹

The sumptuary laws deserve a comment from the perspective of economic history. They limited the display of wealth and the consumption of luxury goods, prescribing modest dress for all classes. Their purpose was moral and social: to prevent pride, envy and waste, and to maintain the distinction between social ranks. Their economic effect was to encourage saving: wealth that could not be displayed in dress, jewels and feasts was invested in land, rents, trade and later in industry and banking. The discretion that became the hallmark of the Basel merchant, who lived modestly and did not display his wealth, has one of its roots in the sumptuary laws of the Reformation.

This discretion is still proverbial in Basel. The old Basel families, the Daig, which Part C examines, are known for their understatement: they live in houses whose modest façades hide rich interiors, dress without ostentation, avoid publicity and regard the display of wealth as vulgar. The culture of discretion, which is also the culture of Swiss private banking, is thus the product of a long history in which the Reformation played a decisive role.

Notes

On the moral mandates (Sittenmandate) of Basel after the Reformation, including sumptuary laws, prohibitions of gambling and regulation of taverns, see HLS, article "Sittenmandate". To be verified. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.

English

Contact

Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

Get in touch →

Moral discipline and economic life

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?