The building
Tap a door. Meet the neighbours.
Ueli's building in cut-away: Sam in the attic with boxes, doors for Berisha and Fontana, Frau Huber on the second floor, Herr Meier's door with shoes outside, Ueli and the guinea pigs on the ground floor, the Waschküche and the Schutzraum full of jam in the basement, Blüemli at the fence.
Ueli
Lives: Ground floor
About 60. Knows where the Gemeinde office is and when the paper collection comes. Follows every rule, even the odd ones, and is quietly kind to the newcomer.
Says: “Aha.”
Running gag: Checks his watch. It is exactly the full hour. Folds everything into a perfect square.
Appears in: every episode
Frau Huber
Lives: Second floor
About 70. Strict, never mean, and always right about the rule. On the last frame she is secretly kind.
Says: “Tuesday is Huber.”
Running gag: Appears silently in doorways. Leaves polite notes.
Appears in: 1. Can you do laundry on Sunday in Switzerland?, 6. Can anyone change the Swiss constitution?
Sam
Lives: Top floor, boxes still packed
Late 20s, phone always in hand, energy at exactly the wrong time. Sam asks what you would type into the search box, and gets it right by the end.
Says: “Wait. I can't flush after ten?”
Running gag: The translator app reads Swiss words literally. “Washing. Kitchen.”
Appears in: 1. Can you do laundry on Sunday in Switzerland?, 2. Can you flush the toilet at night in Switzerland?, 3. Why is Switzerland so expensive?, 7. Why is it so hard to make friends in Switzerland?, 9. Do you have to register when you move to Switzerland?
Blüemli
Lives: The meadow behind the house
The cow who has seen it all. She chews. She only ever says true things. In episode 13, all of Switzerland voted on cows like her.
Says: “Ding.” (true) “Clonk.” (myth)
Running gag: Never moves, except her jaw. The bell does the talking.
Appears in: every episode
Beni and his Gspänli
Lives: Ground floor, in Ueli's living room
Beni is Ueli's guinea pig. Swiss animal welfare law says a guinea pig may not live alone, so Beni never does. Ueli does not count. Neither does a rabbit.
Says: (chews, together)
Running gag: Whatever happens, there are always two.
Appears in: 4. Is it illegal to own one guinea pig in Switzerland?, 11. Can a guinea pig live alone in Switzerland?
Herr Meier
Lives: First floor
Wednesday on the Waschplan. His shoes stand outside his door, perfectly in line. Nobody has ever seen Herr Meier.
Says: (silence)
Running gag: The Waschplan says he exists.
Appears in: 1. Can you do laundry on Sunday in Switzerland?