I'm a Southern European and I've lived in Germany, in Zurich, and I've experienced Lausanne too. I'll give you my uneducated perspective: I feel like Switzerland is nothing like Germany because almost EVERYONE can make a very comfortable living here, in contrast to Germany. Also Switzerland is more refined and more beautiful than Germany on average. This leads to people in Switzerland not being angry with their life, not angry with their neighbours , not angry with foreigners, and not needing to compensate their lack of happiness in life with things like racism/acting superior etc. At least not on average. I find people are more open in Switzerland, and especially in the French speaking part. Example: On new years day I had a small fight with my girlfriend and we were walking on the sidewalk a bit sad. A middle aged couple, strangers to us, that walked past us, smiled at us and wished to us a happy new year. I appreciate these little things that I couldn't find in Germany. Of course the classic central European behaviors are apparent here too: one time in Zurich I randomly stopped my car next to a bag of trash left on the sidewalk by someone. After few minutes, a local man walking by started yelling at me accusing me that I left that bag there unlawfully, and that there are cameras around that recorded me on the act. But I've come to terms with the culture here, its pros and cons.