Zürich

2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Europe; European Cities

Zürich
Country Switzerland Canton Zürich District Zürich
Population	376,815  (December 2007)
- Density	4,101 /km² (10,622 /sq.mi.)
Area	91.88 km² (35.5 sq mi)
Elevation	408 m (1,339 ft)
- Highest	871 m - Uetliberg
- Lowest	392 m - Limmat
Postal code	8000-8099
SFOS number	0261
Mayor (list)	Elmar Ledergerber (as of 2008) SPS/PSS
Surrounded by (view map)	Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
Twin towns	Kunming (China), San Francisco (United States)
Website	www.stadt-zuerich.ch
Zürich [zoom]

Zürich (German: Zürich ( help· info) IPA:  [ˈtsyːʁɪç], Zürich German: Züri [ˈtsyɾi], French: Zurich [zyʁik], Italian: Zurigo [dzuˈɾiːgo]; in English generally Zurich /ˈzjuːrɪk/) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 376,815 at the end of 2007; population of urban area is 1,007,972) and capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre (the political capital of Switzerland being Bern), and is widely considered to be one of the world's global cities. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world.

Name

The earliest known form of the city's name is Turicum, attested on a tombstone of the late 2nd century CE in the form STA(tio) TURICEN(sis) ("Turicum tax post"). Neither the name's linguistic origin (most likely Rhaetic or Celtic) nor its meaning can be determined with certainty. A possibility is derivation from *Turīcon, from the Gaulish personal name Tūros.

A first development towards its later, Germanic form is attested as early as the 6th century CE with the form Ziurichi. From the 10th century onward, the name has more or less clearly been established as Zürich (Zurih (857), Zurich (924)). Note that in the modern Zürich dialect, the name has lost its final ch [x]. This is hypocoristic rather than the result of a regular sound change, and the adjective remains Zürcher ['tsyr.xer] also in dialect.

History

In Roman times, Turicum was a tax-collecting point at the border of Gallia Belgica (from AD 90 Germania superior) and Raetia for goods trafficked on the Limmat river.

A Carolingian castle, built on the site of the Roman castle by the grandson of Charlemagne, Louis the German, is mentioned in 835 ("in castro Turicino iuxta fluvium Lindemaci"). Louis also founded the Fraumünster abbey in 853 for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority.

In 1045, King Henry III granted the convent the right to hold markets, collect tolls, and mint coins, and thus effectively made the abbess the ruler of the city.

Zürich became reichsunmittelbar in 1218 with the extinction of the main line of the Zähringer family. A city wall was built during the 1230s, enclosing 38 hectares.

Emperor Frederick II promoted the abbess of the Fraumünster to the rank of a duchess in 1234. The abbess assigned the mayor, and she frequently delegated the minting of coins to citizens of the city. However, the political power of the convent slowly waned in the 14th century, beginning with the establishment of the Zunftordnung ( guild laws) in 1336 by Rudolf Brun, who also became the first independent mayor, i.e. not assigned by the abbess.

The famous illuminated manuscript known as The Manesse Codex, now in Heidelberg - described as "the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries;" - was commissioned by the Manesse family of Zürich, copied and illustrated in the city at some time between 1304 and 1340. Producing such a work was a highly expensive prestige project, requiring several years work by highly skilled scribes and miniature painters, and it clearly testifies to the increasing wealth and pride of Zürich citizens in this period.

Zürich joined the Swiss confederation (which at that time was a loose confederation of de facto independent states) as the fifth member in 1351 but was expelled in 1440 due to a war with the other member states over the territory of Toggenburg (the Old Zürich War). Zürich was defeated in 1446, and re-admitted to the confederation in 1450.

Zwingli started the Swiss Reformation at the time when he was the main preacher in Zürich. He lived there from 1484 until his death in 1531.

In 1839 , the city had to yield to the demands of its urban subjects, following the Züriputsch of 6 September. Most of the ramparts built in the 17th century were torn down, without ever having been besieged, to allay rural concerns over the city's hegemony. The Treaty of Zurich between Austria, France, and Sardinia was signed in 1859.

From 1847 , the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn, the first railway on Swiss territory, connected Zürich with Baden, putting the Zürich Main Station at the origin of the Swiss rail network. The present building of the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) dates to 1871.

Zürich was accidentally bombed during World War II.

Coat of arms

The blue and white coat of arms of Zürich is attested from 1389, and was derived from banners with blue and white stripes in use since 1315 . The first certain testimony of banners with the same design is from 1434. The coat of arms is flanked by two lions. The red Schwenkel on top of the banner had varying interpretations: For the people of Zürich, it was a mark of honour, granted by Rudolph I. Zürich's neighbors mocked it as a sign of shame, commemorating the loss of the banner at Winterthur in 1292.

Today, the Canton of Zürich uses the same coat of arms as the city.

Geography

The city is situated where the river Limmat issues from the north-western end of Lake Zürich, about 30 km north of the Alps. Zürich is surrounded by wooded hills including (from the north) the Gubrist, the Hönggerberg, the Käferberg, the Zürichberg, the Adlisberg and the Oettlisberg on the eastern shore; and the Uetliberg (part of the Albis range) on the western shore. The river Sihl meets with the Limmat at the end of Platzspitz, which borders the Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum). The geographic (and historic) centre of the city is the Lindenhof a small natural hill on the left bank of the river Limmat, about 700 meters north of where the river issues from Lake Zürich. Today the incorporated city stretches somewhat beyond its natural hydrographic confines given by its hills and includes some neighborhoods to the northeast in the Glattal (valley of the river Glatt).

Climate

Weather averages for Zürich, Switzerland
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	2 (36)	5 (41)	9 (48)	13 (55)	18 (64)	21 (70)	24 (75)	23 (73)	20 (68)	14 (57)	7 (47)	3 (37)	13 (55)
Average low °C (°F)	-4 (25)	-3 (27)	-1 (30)	3 (37)	6 (43)	10 (50)	12 (54)	11 (52)	9 (48)	5 (41)	0 (32)	-3 (27)	4 (39)
Precipitation mm (inches)	68.6 (2.7)	71.1 (2.8)	71.1 (2.8)	88.9 (3.5)	104.1 (4.1)	124.5 (4.9)	119.4 (4.7)	134.6 (5.3)	94.0 (3.7)	68.6 (2.7)	81.3 (3.2)	76.2 (3.0)	1,102.4 (42.4)
Source: Weatherchannel Nov 2007

City districts

The previous boundaries of the city of Zürich (before 1893) were more or less synonymous with the location of the old town. Two large expansions of the city limits occurred in 1893 and in 1934 when the city of Zürich merged with many surrounding municipalities, that had been growing increasingly together since the 19th century. Today, the city is divided into twelve districts (known as Kreis in German), numbered 1 to 12, each one of which may contain anywhere between 1 and 4 neighborhoods:

• District 1, known as Altstadt, contains the old town, both to the right and the left of the Limmat river.
• District 2 lies along the left side of Lake Zurich, and contains the neighborhoods of Enge, Wollishofen and Leimbach.
• District 3, known as Wiedikon is between the Sihl river and the Uetliberg, and contains the neighbourhood of Alt-Wiedikon, Sihlfeld and Friesenberg.
• District 4, known as Aussersihl is between the Sihl river and the train tracks leaving Zürich Main Station.
• District 5, known as Industriequartier (Industrial area), is between the Limmat river and the train tracks leaving Zürich Main Station, it contains the former industrial area of Zürich.
• District 6 is on the edge of the Zürichberg, a hill overlooking the eastern part of the city. District 6 contains the neighborhoods of Oberstrass and Unterstrass.
• District 7 is on the edge of the Adlisberg as well as the Zürichberg, on the eastern side of the city. District 7 contains the neighborhoods of Hottingen and Hirslanden.
• District 8, known as Riesbach, on the eastern side of Lake Zurich.
• District 9 is between the Limmat on the north and the Uetliberg on the south. District 9 contains the neighbourhood of Altstetten and Albisrieden.
• District 10 is to the right of the Limmat and to the south of the Hönggerberg and the Käferberg. District 10 contains the neighborhoods of Höngg and Wipkingen.
• District 11 is in the area north of the Hönggerberg and Käferberg and between the Glatt valley and the Katzensee (Katzen Lake). It contains the neighborhoods of Affoltern, Oerlikon and Seebach.
• District 12, known as Schwamendingen, is located in the Glattal (Glatt valley) on the northern side of the Zürichberg.

Most of the district boundaries are fairly similar to the original boundaries of the previously existing municipalities before they were incorporated into the city of Zürich.

Transport

Zürich is a hub for rail, road, and air traffic. It has several railway stations, including Zürich Main Station, Oerlikon, Stadelhofen, Hardbrücke, Tiefenbrunnen, Enge, Wiedikon and Altstetten. The Cisalpino, InterCityExpress, and even the French TGV high-speed trains stop in Zürich.

The A1, A3 and A4 motorways pass close to Zürich. The A1 heads west towards Bern and Geneva and eastwards towards St. Gallen; the A4 leads northwards to Schaffhausen; and the A3 heads northwest towards Basel and southeast along Lake Zurich and Lake Walen towards Sargans.

Zürich International Airport in Kloten is located less than 10 kilometres northeast of the city. There is also an airfield in Dübendorf, although it only used for military aviation.

Within Zürich and throughout the canton of Zürich, the ZVV network of public transport has traffic density ratings among the highest worldwide. If you add frequency, which in Zürich can be as often as 7 minutes, it does become the densest across all dimensions. Three means of mass-transit exist: the S-Bahn (local trains), trams, and buses (both diesel and electric, also called trolley buses).

In addition the public transport network includes boats on the lake and river, funicular railways and even a cable car between Adliswil and Felsenegg. Tickets purchased for a trip are valid on all means of public transportation (train, tram, bus, boat).

Demographics

There are officially 376,815 people (since Dec. 31st 2007) living in Switzerland's largest city. 30.6% of the registered inhabitants of Zürich do not hold Swiss citizenship, which is 115,379 people. German citizens make up the largest group of foreigners in the city with 22.0%, followed by immigrants from Kosovo, Albania, Italy. The population of the city proper including suburbs 1.08 million people. However, the entire metropolitan area (including the cities of Winterthur, Baden, Brugg, Schaffhausen, Frauenfeld, Uster/ Wetzikon, Rapperswil-Jona and Zug) has a population of around 1.68 million people.

Languages

The official language used by the government and in most publications is German, while the most commonly spoken dialect in Zürich is Zürichdeutsch ( Zürich German), which is a local dialect of Swiss German. As of 2000, German is the mother-tongue of 77.7% of the population. Italian follows behind at 4.7% of the population. Other native languages spoken by more than 1% of the population include South Slavic languages (2.2%) — this includes Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian), Spanish (2.2%), French (2.1%), English (1.8%), Portuguese (1.6%), Albanian (1.5%).

Religion

Since the reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli, Zürich has remained the centre and stronghold of Protestantism in Switzerland. In the course of the 20th century, this has changed as Catholics now make up the largest religious group in the city, with 33.3%. More and more inhabitants of the city declare themselves as being without religion (this was 16.8% of the population in 2000).

Social

The level of unemployment in Zürich is 2.6% (August 2007). About 4% of the city population (15,500 people) live either directly or indirectly on welfare from the state (April 2005).

Sights

• Grossmünster (great minster) (near Lake Zürich, in the old city), where Zwingli was pastor; first built around 820; declared by Charlemagne imperial church
• Fraumünster (our lady's minster) first church built before 874; the Romanesque choir dates from 1250-70; Marc Chagall stained glass choir windows; (on the opposite side of the Limmat).

During 2004 the Fraumünster was fully renovated. During this period the installed scaffolding went above the tip of the tower allowing a unique and exceptional 360° panoramic view of Zürich.

Churches

• St. Peter (downstream from the Fraumünster, in the old city); with the largest clock face in Europe

Museums

• Museum Bärengasse, history of the city in the 17th century
• Kunsthaus Zürich, one of the largest collections in Classic Modern Art in the world (Munch, Picasso, Braque, Giacometti, etc.)
• Museum Rietberg, Arts of Asia, Africa, America and Oceania
• Museum Bellerive, Museum for fashion, architecture and design , located in a villa on the beach of the lake
• Kunsthalle Zürich
• Migros Museum, modern and avantgarde international Art.
• Museum of Design Zürich
• Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum) , located in the Platzspitz park opposite to the main station
• Johann Jacobs Museum, history of colonial Fine Food and coffee
• Johanna Spyri Museum
• Haus Konstruktiv , constructive, concrete and conceptual art and design
• NONAM North American Native Museum
• Museum of the History of Medicine
• Uhrenmuseum Beyer, a museum documenting the history of timekeeping and timekeepers, located on Bahnhofstrasse 31

Other sights

• Lindenhof near St. Peter; site of the Roman and medieval castle.
• Guild houses along the river (downstream from the Grossmünster)
• Old town (Altstadt), District 1, on both sides of the river
• Bahnhofstrasse, Zürich (shopping avenue) starting at main train station
• Parade-Platz, Plaza in the middle of Bahnhofstrasse, Zürich, a centre of financial activity, with the world-headquarters of several Swiss banks including UBS and Credit Suisse.
• Zoological garden
• Masoala Rainforest Ecosystem Great Glass Hall in the Zoological garden with trees, flowers and animals in liberty from the rainforest of Masoala National Park in Madagascar
• Botanical Garden of the University of Zürich
• Chinese Garden, Zürich
• Neu Oerlikon, part of City District Oerlikon: northern quarter of the city - Oerliker Park, MFO Park, Centre-11 Building, Price Waterhouse Building, ABB Building, UBS Building, and other modern public spaces.
• Lake Zürich, running from Zürich to Rapperswil and linking with the Obersee
• Uetliberg, a hill to the west of the city at an altitude of 813 meters above sea level, with Uetlibergturm TV-tower
• Fluntern Cemetery
• Cabaret Voltaire, birthplace of Dada

Business, industry and commerce

UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, Zurich Financial Services, and many other financial institutions have their headquarters in Zürich, the commercial centre of Switzerland. Zürich is one of the world biggest centre for offshore banking. The financial sector accounts for about one quarter of the city's economic activities. The Swiss Stock Exchange is located in Zürich (see also Swiss banking).

Zürich is a leading financial centre and has repeatedly been proclaimed the global city with the best quality of life anywhere in the world. The Greater Zurich Area is Switzerland’s economic centre and home to a vast number of international companies. The GDP of the Zürich Area is CHF 210 billion (USD 160 billion) or CHF 58'000 (USD 45'000) per capita (2005).

Contributory factors to economic strength

The success of the Greater Zürich Economic Area as one of the most important in the world is due to many factors: The very low tax rate and the possibility for foreign companies and private persons to optimize their tax burden by personalized tax agreement with the Tax Authorities is surely one of the key points. This practice often causes conflicts with Switzerland's neighbours in Europe, who do not like this type of successful and aggressive strategy for attracting large corporations and service/research centers, such as IBM, General Motors Europe, Toyota Europe, UBS, Credit Suisse, Google, Microsoft, ABB Ltd., and Degussa. The fact that Switzerland does not have an inheritance tax is also an important attraction for wealthy private persons.

Another reason for the economic success of Zürich is the extensive research and educational (R&D) field of the city. The ETH Zurich is ranked alongside the University of Zurich: there are more than 58,000 students. The reservoir for qualified employees is therefore impressive.

A new multi-purpose area in southern Zürich (Sihlcity) ( ) has opened its doors on March 22,2007, spread over 100,000 square metres in the center of Zürich. Among other things it includes a shopping center and a movie theatre. Sihlcity was built on the foundations of the former Sihl Paper Factory.

Other data: Switzerland scored in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005 within the Top 10 in the following categories:

• Nobel Prizes per resident (No.2)
• Active patents per resident (No.2)
• Private research expenditure (No.6)
• R&D expenditure per resident (No.6)
• R&D employees per resident (No.8)
• R&D expenditure as % of the GNP (No.10)

Most of the Swiss R&D institutions are concentrated in the Zürich area.

The high quality of life has been cited as a likely reason for the presence of international economic growth in Zürich. Mercer has ranked Zürich as the city with the highest quality of life anywhere in the world for the fourth consecutive time. Berne and Geneva were also ranked among the Top 10. Statistics show that in the productive sector of the city 60% speak German, 43% English, 30% French and 13% Italian. As such, the city is home to a considerable number of people speaking at least two or three languages.

The Swiss stock exchange

The Swiss stock exchange is called SWX Swiss Exchange. The SWX is the head group of several different worldwide operative financial systems: virt-x, Eurex, Eurex US, EXFEED and STOXX. The exchange turnover generated at the SWX was in 2007 of 1,780,499.5 million CHF; the number of transactions arrived in the same period at 35,339,296 and the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) arrived at a total market capitalization of 1,359,976.2 million CHF.

The SWX Swiss Exchange goes back more than 150 years. In 1996, fully electronic trading replaced the traditional floor trading system at the stock exchanges of Geneva (founded in 1850), Zürich (1873) and Basel (1876).

Government

The legislative power is in hands of the city parliament that is called "Gemeinderat". It consist of 125 members elected by the people of Zurich.

The executive power is being executed by the city council named "Stadtrat". Similar to the city parliament the councillors are also elected by the people of Zurich. Each councillor is responsible for a specific department. One member of the council is also acting as city president which best could be described as the mayor. Current city president is Elmar Ledergerber.

Education and research

Zürich is home to many universities, colleges and gymnasiums. Two of Switzerland's most distinguished universities are located in the city. The technical university ETH Zürich which is controlled by the state and the University of Zürich that is under direction of the canton of Zurich. Both universities are well-known and have an international reputation. They were listed in the top 200 world universities rated in 2007.

Culture

Events

• Street Parade
• Sechseläuten, spring festival of the guilds and burning of the Böögg
• Zürcher Theatre Spektakel, international theatre festival, ranking among the most important European festivals for contemporary performing arts.
• Kunst Zürich, international contemporary art fair with an annual guest city (New York in 2005); combines most recent and youngest art with the works of well-established artists.
• Annual public city campaign, sponsored by the City Vereinigung (the local equivalent of a chamber of commerce) with the cooperation of the city government. Past themes have included lions (1986), cows (1998), benches (2003), and teddy bears (2005).
• Weltklasse Zürich, annual track and field athletics meeting held every August
• freestyle.ch, one of the biggest freestyle events in Europe
• Zürifäscht, a triennial public festival featuring music, fireworks, and other attractions throughout the old town. It is the largest public festival in Switzerland, attended by up to 2 million visitors. The next Zürifäscht is scheduled for July 2 to 4, 2010.

Art movements born in Zürich

• Zürich is the home of the Cabaret Voltaire where the Dada movement began in 1916. Visit at the Spiegelgasse/Niederdorf-Corner the Cabaret Voltaire Museum.

• Constructive Art Movement took also one of the first steps in Zürich. Artists like Max Bill, Marcel Breuer, Camille Graeser or Richard Paul Lohse had their ateliers in Zürich, which became even more important after the takeover of power by the Nazi-Regime in Germany and World War II. Visit the museum at the Haus Konstruktiv.

Opera, ballet and theaters

• Zürcher Opernhaus: one of the most famous Opera Houses in Europe. Director is Alexander Pereira. Once a year elegant and exclusive Zürcher Opernball with the President of the Swiss Confederation and the economic and cultural élite of Switzerland.

• Schauspielhaus Zürich: Main Theater-Complex of the City. Has two Dépendances: Pfauen (historic old theater) in the Central City District and Schiffbauhalle (modern architecture in old industry-halls) in Zürich West (S-Bahn-Station Hardbrücke). Was home for Emigrants like Bertolt Brecht or Thomas Mann and World-Première-Theatre for Max Frisch, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Botho Strauss or Nobel-Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek.

• Theatre am Neumarkt: One of the oldest Theaters of the city. Established by the old guilds in the Old City District, located in a baroque Palace near Niederdorf Street. Two stages with mostly production by avantgarde directors from Europe. Has both classic theatre (Racine, Goethe, Shakespeare) and new productions in its repertoire.

• Theatre der Künste: Official theatre of the Zurich University of the Arts. Next to the Theatre Gessnerallee and the Bahnhofstrasse - the main shopping street of the city.

Sports

Football is an essential aspect of Sports in Zurich. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) resides in town. The city is also home to two major Swiss football clubs listed in Switzerland's highest league; Grasshopper-Club Zürich founded in 1886 and FC Zürich which exists since 1896.

Another popular sport in Switzerland, ice hockey, is represented by the ZSC Lions. The club won this seasons Swiss ice hockey championship. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) officiating as head organisation for ice hockey leagues worldwide is based in Zurich as well.

Major sport events running in Zurich are Weltklasse Zürich, an annual athletic meeting, and the Zurich Open, part of the WTA tour.

Zürich are co-hosting some of the Euro 2008 games in the Letzigrund Stadion. Work on the new Letzigrund was completed in exceptionally quick time and the stadium opened in August 2007 just one year after the demolition of the old arena.

Notable people

People who were born or died in Zürich:

• Christoph Froschauer (ca. 1490–1 April 1564) Printer of the Froschauer Bible
• Marcel Grossmann (1878–1936), mathematician, died in Zürich
• Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), reformer
• Conrad Gessner (1516–1565), naturalist, born and died in Zürich
• Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733), scholar, born in Zürich
• Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801), poet and physiognomist, born in Zürich
• Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), educational reformer, born in Zürich
• James Sadleir (c. 1815–1881), fugitive swindler, murdered in Zürich
• Gottfried Keller (1819–1890), poet, born and died in Zürich
• Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–1898), poet, born in Zürich
• Johanna Spyri (1827–1901), author of Heidi, died in Zürich
• Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia (1853–1920) Duchess of Edinburgh, died in Zürich
• Carl Jung (1875–1961) Lived and died in Zurich
• Wilhelm Filchner (1877–1957), explorer, died in Zürich
• James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist, died in Zürich (buried at Fluntern cemetery in Zürich)
• Pancho Vladigerov (1899–1978), Bulgarian composer, born in Zürich
• Felix Bloch (1905–1983), physicist, born in Zürich
• Elias Canetti (1905–1994), novelist, died in Zürich
• Max Frisch (1911–1991), novelist, born and died in Zürich
• Hugo Koblet (1925–1964), cycling champion
• Bruno Ganz (born 1941), actor, born in Zürich
• Martin Suter (born 1948), author, born in Zürich
• Lucinda Ruh (born 1979), figure skater, born in Zürich
• Heinz Günthardt (born 1959), professional tennis player, born in Zürich

Famous residents:

• Tristan Tzara (1915–1919)
• Richard Wagner (1849–1861)
• Albert Einstein (1896–1900, 1909–1911, 1912–1914)
• Vladimir Lenin (1917)
• Thomas Mann (1933–1942)
• Kurt Tucholsky (1932–1933)
• James Joyce (1915–1919)
• Udo Jürgens
• Harald Naegeli
• Tina Turner
• Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
• Andreas Vollenweider
• Moritz Leuenberger
• Kimi Räikkönen
• Yves Netzhammer
• Gustav Bertha