Cassandre Berdoz

Cassandre Berdoz is a Swiss event organizer and the first woman to serve as Watchman of Lausanne Cathedral.

Cassandre Berdoz
Guette de la Cathédrale Notre Dame de Lausanne
Assumed
19 August 2021–present
Preceded byRenato Häusler
Personal details
BornLausanne, Vaud,
Switzerland
EducationUniversity of Neuchâtel
Occupationevent planner
watchman

Biography

Berdoz was born and raised in Lausanne.[1][2]

While a student at the University of Neuchâtel, Berdoz wrote letters to Lausanne city officials requesting they consider hiring a woman for the Cathedral watchman.[1] A few years later, when the recruitment process began for a new watchman, Berdoz applied.[1][3] After two rounds of interviews and an audition, Berdoz was selected as watchman, becoming the first woman to ever hold the position.[1][4] She assumed the role on 19 August 2021.[5]

As Watchman of the Lausanne Cathedral, she is assigned to post three to five nights a month, keeping watch from the bell tower.[1][6] On the nights of her post, from 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM, Bersoz stands at each corner of the tower and calls out: “C’est la guette, il a sonné vingt-deux heures!”[1][7]

Berdoz also works in event management.[1] She is a project manager for a communications agency, helping organize the annuel Nuit des Musées.[1]

References
  1. "The Woman at the Top of the Tower". 9 November 2021.
  2. "In Switzerland, Feminism Advances from the Top of a Bell Tower".
  3. "Avec Cassandre Berdoz, Lausanne tient sa première guette". Le Temps. 26 August 2021.
  4. Minder, Raphael (28 January 2022). "After 600 Years, Swiss City at Last Has a Woman on Night Watch". The New York Times.
  5. "The Lausanne tradition carrying on in female form".
  6. "After 600 years of night watchmen, Lausanne gets first watchwoman". 26 August 2021.
  7. "Europe's first female night watch keeps vigil over Lausanne".
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