Wemmse: Swiss Influencer Explains Accent & Tackles Mental Health

A Swiss influencer is captivating a German audience with her humorous takes on the Swiss accent. Wemmse, as she’s known online, has been demonstrating to her German followers on TikTok that she speaks High German with a Swiss accent – not Swiss dialect. But it’s the “dialect” her German fans are celebrating, complete with a rolled ‘r’ and a pronounced ‘k’ sound. She portrays a frustrated teacher explaining typical Swiss terms like “öppis” or “Znüni.” Even Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen got in on the fun, attempting the word “Chrüsimüsi” in a video response.

Wemmse’s content has quickly gained traction beyond Switzerland, making her one of the country’s most prominent social media stars. She currently has over 523,000 followers on Instagram and more than 815,000 on TikTok. But she doesn’t want to rely solely on being an influencer. “If I notice it’s not good for me or my success as an influencer fades, I still have another profession,” she explained to «NZZ». This highlights a growing trend of creators diversifying their income streams and career paths.

Aspiring Teacher and Comedian on Social Media

The influencer, whose real name is Emma W. And who also has Danish roots, lives in a village in the Swiss Midlands with her mother, horses, and dogs – she keeps her exact location private for safety reasons. In addition to her social media career, she is studying at the Pedagogical University to become a primary school teacher. “As a teacher, you can always uncover a job.” She previously dropped out of a psychology program.

Wemmse reveals she could now comfortably live off her income from advertising deals. She has already collaborated twice with Switzerland Tourism on campaigns featuring Roger Federer – and Mads Mikkelsen and Halle Berry – to document the shoots on her social media channels. She declined to disclose how much she earned from these partnerships.

High German is “not a world language”

Wemmse speaks several languages, but Swiss German is her preferred tongue. She considers it her mother tongue and the most precise way to express her feelings. “I can teach the Germans what ‘Gugus’ means, but they will never truly feel it in their hearts, it would just be learned.” In a video, she even described High German as “cringe” and said she doesn’t consider it “a world language,” adding she wouldn’t mourn its disappearance.

In an interview with «NZZ», she clarified that she exaggerates for comedic effect. “I think the Germans are remarkably funny,” she said, adding that there’s “charm in being able to say things so straightforwardly.” Wemmse is also capable of speaking accent-free High German, and pointed out in a TikTok video that no one “cool and under fifty” in Switzerland speaks High German the way she parodies it.

“Nobody is voluntarily sad”

Wemmse playfully exaggerates Swiss quirks – which resonates with both her German and Swiss audiences. However, she sometimes receives negative comments, which she addresses in other videos. She also tackles more serious topics in her content, acknowledging the stereotypes surrounding her generation: “We are the depressed ones who don’t want to operate anymore.”

Instead of dismissing young people as overly sensitive or lazy, she argues for examining the underlying causes. “Nobody is voluntarily sad.” She cites high pressure to perform, increasing academic workload, and constant comparisons, which she says even sixth-graders are experiencing.

In her award-winning podcast “Los Emmal,” she regularly discusses “Mental Health” and topics like friendships, female anger, and pursuing one’s dreams, positioning herself as a friend to her listeners. Whereas the virtual space doesn’t replace personal contact, she believes: “The main thing is not to feel alone.” Despite consistently speaking Swiss German, the podcast is also gaining popularity in Germany.