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For other uses of "Zurich", see Zurich (disambiguation).
Zürich
Municipality
Coat of arms of Zürich
Coat of arms
Location of Zürich
Map
CountrySwitzerland
CantonZürich
DistrictZürich
Government
 • Mayor  (list)Elmar Ledergerber SPS/PSS
(as of 2008)
Area
[1][2]
 • Total87.88 km2 (33.93 sq mi)
Elevation
408 m (1,339 ft)
Highest elevation
(Uetliberg)
871 m (2,858 ft)
Lowest elevation
(Limmat)
392 m (1,286 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2018)[3][4]
 • Total415,367
 • Density4,700/km2 (12,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
8000-8099
SFOS number0261
ISO 3166 codeCH-ZH
Surrounded byAdliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
Twin townsKunming (PRC), San Francisco (United States)
Websitewww.stadt-zuerich.ch
SFSO statistics
View of the inner city with the four main churches visible, and the Albis in the backdrop

Zürich (Template:Audio-de [ˈtsyːʁɪç], Zürich German: Züri [ˈtsyɾi], French: Zurich [zyʁik], in English generally Zurich, Italian: Zurigo [dzu'ɾiːgo]) 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 in 2006[5] and 2007[6], 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.[7]

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 (963 Zürihc).[8] Note that in 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

Main article: History of Zürich
General view showing Grossmünster church.

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.

The Murerplan of 1576

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;"[9] - 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 [10] 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 . [11]

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 (chief railway station) dates to 1871.

Zürich was accidentally bombed during World War II.

Coat of arms

Banner bearer of Zürich, from a 1585 painting by Humbert Mareschet

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

Satellite photo of central Zürich

The city is situated where the river Limmat issues from the north-western end of Lake Zürich. 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) center 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 it natural hydrographic confines given by its hills and includes some neighborhoods to the northeast in the Glattal (valley of the river Glatt).

Climate

Climate data for Zürich, Switzerland
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: Weatherchannel[12]

City Districts

Aerial photo of central and western Zürich
File:Karte Zurcher Stadt.png
The location of District 1 within the city of Zürich.

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:

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.

The view of Zürich from the Uetliberg.

Transport

Trams in Zürich

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 [13]. 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.[14] 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.[15]

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. Albanian (5.8%) follows behind, and Italian is the third-most common native language 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%).[16]

Religion

Since the reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli, Zürich has remained the center and stronghold of Protestantism in Switzerland. In the course of the 20th century, this has changed slightly as Catholics now make up the largest religious group in the city, with 33.3%.[17] 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%[18] (August 2007). About 4% of the city population (15,500 people) live either directly or indirectly on welfare from the state (April 2005).[19]

Sights

Clock on St. Peter Church
View over Zürich from the Üetliberg
View over Zürich from the Waid

Churches

  • Grossmünster (great minster) (near Lake Zürich, in the old city), where Zwingli was pastor; first building 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.
  • St. Peter (downstream from the Fraumünster, in the old city); with the largest clock face in Europe

Museums

Other sights

Business, industry and commerce

the approximate extent of Greater Zürich Area is marked in green.

UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, and many other financial institutions have their headquarters in Zürich, the commercial center 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. [citation needed] 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. [20] The Greater Zurich Area is Switzerland’s economic center 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). [citation needed]

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) ([19]) 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 theater. 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[20] 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 Exchange in Zürich.

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.[21][22]

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.[23]

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 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.[24]

Media

Many large Swiss media conglomerates are headquartered in Zürich, such as tamedia, Ringier and the NZZ-Verlag. Because of this, Zürich is one of the most important media locations in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. This status has been recently reinforced by the increase in availability of online publications published in Zürich.

Television

The headquarters of Switzerland's national German-language television network (SF) are located in the Leutschenbach neighborhood, to the north of the Oerlikon train station. Regional television network TeleZüri (Zürich Television) has its headquarters near Escher-Wyss Platz. The production facilities for private networks Star TV, u1 TV and 3+ are located in Schlieren.

Radio

One section of the Swiss German-language public radio station DRS is located in Zürich. There are other local radio stations broadcasting from Zürich, such as Radio 24 on the Limmatstrasse, Energy Zürich in Seefeld, Radio LoRa and Radio 1 (on the frequency of former Radio Tropic). There are other radio stations that operate only during certain parts of the year, such as CSD Radio (May/June), Radio Streetparade (July/August) and rundfunk.fm (August/September).

Daily newspapers

There are three large daily newspapers published in Zürich that are known across Switzerland. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), the Tages-Anzeiger and the Blick, the largest Swiss tabloid. All three of those newspapers publish Sunday editions. These are the "NZZ am Sonntag", "SonntagsZeitung" and "SonntagsBlick". Besides the three main daily newspapers, exists the 20 Minuten (20 minutes), a free newspaper published daily in the mornings mainly for commuters, Heute, free as well and published daily in the evenings, and Cash Daily, a finance-related daily free newspaper published in the mornings.

Magazines

There are a number of magazines from major publishers that are based in Zürich. Some examples are: Bilanz, Die Weltwoche, and Annabelle.

Culture

Events

  • Street Parade
  • Sechseläuten, spring festival of the guilds and burning of the Böögg
  • Zürcher Theater Spektakel, international theater festival, ranking among the most important European festivals for contemporary performing arts. [25]
  • 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. [26]
  • 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 [27]
  • freestyle.ch, one of the biggest freestyle events in Europe, [28]
  • 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. [29]

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.

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.[20]
  • 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-Theater for Max Frisch, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Botho Strauss or Nobel-Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek.[21]
  • Theater 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 theater (Racine, Goethe, Shakespeare) and new productions in its repertoire.[22]

Nightlife and Clubbing

File:Zurich late.jpg
Zürich's old town at night

Zürich offers a lot of variety when it comes for night-time leisure. It became one of the capitals of Europe's electronic music scene [citation needed] and is the host city of the world-famous Street Parade, which takes place in August every year.

The most famous districts for Nightlife are the Niederdorf in the old town with bars, restaurants, lounges, hotels, clubs, etc. and a lot of fashion shops for a young and stylish public and the Langstrasse in the districts 4 and 5 of the city. There are authentic amusements: Brazilian bars, punk clubs, HipHop stages, Caribic restaurants, arthouse-cinemas, Turkish kebabs and Italian espresso-bars, but also sex shops or the famous red light district of Zürich.

In the past ten years new parts of the city have risen into the spotlight. Notably, the area known as Zürich West in district 5, near the Escher-Wyss square and the S-Bahn Station of Hardbrücke. This area has become the new up-and-coming part of Zürich with its avant-garde cinemas, music clubs, lounges, restaurants, cafés and bars.

Sports

Football is an essential aspect of Sports in Zurich. The International Federation of Association Football (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.

Notable people

People who were born or died in Zürich:

Famous residents:

See also: List of mayors of Zürich

References

  1. ^ a b Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  2. ^ a b "Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  3. ^ https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/pxweb/fr/px-x-0102020000_201/-/px-x-0102020000_201.px/table/tableViewLayout2/?rxid=c5985c8d-66cd-446c-9a07-d8cc07276160. Retrieved 22 June 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  5. ^ City Mayors: Best cities in the world (Mercer)
  6. ^ http://www.mercerhr.com/knowledgecenter/reportsummary.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1128060#top50all
  7. ^ Andres Kristol, Zürich ZH (Zürich) in: Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS|LSG), Centre de dialectologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld/Stuttgart/Wien 2005, ISBN 3-7193-1308-5 und Éditions Payot, Lausanne 2005, ISBN 2-601-03336-3, p. 992f.
  8. ^ "Zürcher Ortsnamen - Entstehung und Bedeutung" H. Kläuli, V. Schobinger, Zürcher Kantonalbank 1989, p. 109. (No ISBN).
  9. ^ Ingeborg Glier, reviewing Koschorreck and Werner 1981 in Speculum 59.1 (January 1984), p 169.
  10. ^ Koschorreck and Werner 1981 discern no fewer than eleven scribes, some working simultaneously, in the production.
  11. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Encyclopedia
  12. ^ "Historical Weather for Zurich, Switzerland". Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  13. ^ Statistical Office of the City of Zürich
  14. ^ Statistical Office of the City of Zürich
  15. ^ Statistical Office of the Canton of Zürich
  16. ^ Population Numbers Flyer (German)
  17. ^ Gemeinde Zürich:
  18. ^ http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/internet/stat/home/key_figures/Arbeitslose.html
  19. ^ Population chart
  20. ^ a b "Worldwide Quality of Living Survey". Retrieved 2007-07-17. Cite error: The named reference "mercer" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  21. ^ [1] Market capitalization of listed securities, 2000-2007
  22. ^ [2] Key figures: annual turnover and trades, 1998-2007
  23. ^ Official site of the city parliament in German
  24. ^ Times Higher Education Supplement
  25. ^ Theaterspektakel
  26. ^ Kunst Zürich 2007 | Kunstmesse Zürich
  27. ^ www.weltklasse.ch
  28. ^ www.freestyle.ch
  29. ^ ZÜRI FÄSCHT 2010
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zürich.
Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Zurich.

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