TU-134 had a same logic. And, as far as I could see on the photo, Caravelle too.
I guess it has to do something with old Europe vs US standards. Lufthansa, being in the business for so long, JU-52 and so on,most probably didn't want to confuse people changing to B737.
As someone noted above, same idea works at home and is used in industries as well. All switches are OFF at down position so that person falling down or needing to switch off fast just needs to hit it. And it is more difficulty to switch on by accident.