Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich () i ...
has been continuously inhabited since
Roman times. The vicus of ''
Turicum'' was established in AD 90, at the site of an existing Gaulish (
Helvetic) settlement.
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
culture appears to have persisted beyond the collapse of the Western empire in the 5th century, and it is not until the
Carolingian period
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pi ...
. A royal castle was built at the site of the
Lindenhof, and monasteries are established at
Grossmünster and
Fraumünster
The Fraumünster (; lit. in en, Women's Minster, but often wrongly translated to urLady Minster) is a church in Zürich which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for ...
.
Political power lay with these abbeys during Medieval times, until the
guild revolt in the 14th century which led to the joining of the
Swiss Confederacy. Zürich was the focus of the
Swiss Reformation led by
Huldrych Zwingli
Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Uni ...
, and it came to riches with
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
industry in Early Modern times.
Early history
Numerous lake-side settlements from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
have been found, such as those in the Zürich Pressehaus and Zürich Mozartstrasse. The settlements were found in the 1800s, submerged in
Lake Zürich
__NOTOC__
Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used ...
. Located on the then swamp land between the Limmat and
Lake Zürich
__NOTOC__
Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used ...
around
Sechseläutzenplatz on small islands and
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...
s in Zürich,
Prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zürich were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the
Linth and
Jona.
Zürich–Enge Alpenquai is located on
Lake Zürich
__NOTOC__
Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used ...
lakeshore in
Enge, a locality of the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality ...
of Zürich. It was neighbored by the settlements at
Kleiner Hafner and
Grosser Hafner on a then peninsula respectively island in the effluence of the Limmat, within an area of about in the city of Zürich. As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO Worl Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', the settlement is also listed in the
as a ''Class object''.
In 2004, traces of a previously unknown pre-Roman Celtic (
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...
) settlement were discovered, the center of which lay on the
Lindenhof hill
The Lindenhof (lit.: ''courtyard of the lime'') is a moraine hill and a public square in the historic center of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has historically grown. The hil ...
respectively the area around the
Münsterhof square besides the
Limmat. The
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
ic
Helvetians had a settlement when they were succeeded by the
Romans, who established a custom station here for goods going to and coming from Italy. At the later Vicus ''Turicum'', probably in the first 1st century BC or even much earlier, the Celts settled at the
Lindenhof Oppidium. In 1890, so-called ''
Potin lumps'' were found, whose largest weights at the
Prehistoric pile dwelling settlement ''
Alpenquai''. The pieces consist of a large number of fused
Celtic coins, which are mixed with charcoal remnants. Some of the 18,000 coins originate from the ''Eastern Gaul'', others are of the ''Zürich'' type, that were assigned to the local ''Helvetii'', which date to around 100 BC.
[''Keltisches Geld in Zürich: Der spektakuläre «Potinklumpen»''. Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Stadtarchäologie, Zürich October 2007.] There's also an island sanctuary of the Helvetii in connection with the settlement at the preceding Oppidi Uetliberg on the former ''
Grosser Hafner'' island. at the
''Sechseläutenplatz'' on the effluence of the Limmat on
Lake Zürich
__NOTOC__
Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used ...
lake shore.
A female who died in about 200 BC found buried in a carved tree trunk during a construction project at the Kern school complex in March 2017 in Aussersihl. Archaeologists revealed that she was approximately 40 years old when she died and likely carried out little physical labor when she was alive. A sheepskin coat, a belt chain, a fancy wool dress, a scarf and a pendant made of glass and amber beads were also discovered with the woman.
The Roman
Vicus ''Turicum'' first belonged to the province of
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany.
In 5 ...
, and to
Germania superior from AD 90. Following Constantine's reform of the Empire in 318, the border between the
praetorian prefectures of Gaul and Italy was just east of Turicum crossing the
Linth between
Lake Zürich
__NOTOC__
Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used ...
and
Walensee. Roman Turicum was not fortified, but there was a small garrison at the tax-collecting point, set up not exactly on the border, but downstream of Lake Zürich, where the goods entering Gaul were loaded onto larger ships. South of the castle, at the location of the St. Peter church, there was a temple to
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...
. The earliest record of the town's name is preserved on a 2nd-century tombstone found in the 18th century on Lindenhof, referring to the Roman castle as "STA(tio) TUR(i)CEN(sis)".
The area was
Christianised along with the rest of the Roman Empire, during the 4th century. According to legend, saints
Felix and Regula were executed at the location of the
Wasserkirche in 286.
The
Alamanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pr ...
settled in the
Swiss plateau from the 5th century, but the Roman castle persisted into the 7th century. The earliest manuscript mention of the settlement, as ''castellum turegum'', describes the mission of
Columban in 610. An 8th-century list of toponyms from
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
mentions ''Ziurichi''. There is a legendary account of an Alamannic duke ''Uotila'' residing on, and giving his name to, the
Uetliberg.
Holy Roman Empire
Zürich was part of
Frankish-ruled
Alemannia from 746, following the
blood court at Cannstatt, lying in the ''
Turgowe
The Thurgau (''Turgowe, Turgovia'') was a pagus of the Duchy of Alamannia in the early medieval period.
A County of Thurgau ('' Landgrafschaft Thurgau'') existed from the 13th century until 1798.
Parts of Thurgau were acquired by the Old Swiss ...
'' (
Thurgau
Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld.
Thurgau is pa ...
) dominated by
Konstanz.
A
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...
castle, built on the site of the now ruined Roman castle by the grandson of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...
,
Louis the German, is mentioned in 835 (''"in castro Turicino iuxta fluvium Lindemaci"''). Louis also founded the
Fraumünster
The Fraumünster (; lit. in en, Women's Minster, but often wrongly translated to urLady Minster) is a church in Zürich which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for ...
abbey on 21 July 853 for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
convent with the lands of Zürich,
Uri, and the
Albis
The Albis is a chain of hills in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, stretching for some 19 km from Sihlbrugg in the south to Waldegg near Zürich in the north. The chain forms, among others, the border between the Affoltern and Horge ...
forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority.
In the wake of this, during the 9th century, Zürich gradually acquired the characteristics of a medieval city. It was now the center of the separate county of
Zürichgau, detached from the older county of
Thurgau
Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld.
Thurgau is pa ...
. The early city was dominated by the Fraumünster convent. 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
Frankish kings had special rights over their tenants, were the protectors of the two churches, and had jurisdiction over the free community. In 870 the
sovereign placed his powers over all four in the hands of a single official (the
Reichsvogt
''Reichsvogt'' (; ''Imperial Advocate'') was the term for the office of a ''Vogt'' that was nominated by the king of the Holy Roman Empire as his representative. Especially in what is now Switzerland, the ''Reichsvogt'' was a very influential pos ...
), and the union was still further strengthened by the wall built round the four settlements in the 10th century as a safeguard against Saracen marauders and feudal barons.
Zürich became ''
reichsunmittelbar'' (direct control of the emperor) in 1218 with the extinction of the main line of the
Zähringer family. A city wall was built during the 1230s, enclosing 38 hectares (about 94 acres). The ''Bahnhofstrasse'' marks the course of the western moat, ''Hirschengraben'' marks the eastern moat.
The earliest citizens' stone houses at the Rennweg date to this period, using the dilapidated Carolingian castle as a quarry.
Emperor
Frederick II promoted the abbess of the Fraumünster to the rank of a duchess in 1234. The abbess assigned the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
, and she frequently delegated the minting of coins to citizens of the city.
The Reichsvogtei passed to the
counts of Lenzburg (1063–1173), and then to the
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...
s of
Zahringen (extinct 1218). Meanwhile, the
abbess of the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
Frau Münster had been acquiring extensive rights and privileges over all the inhabitants, though she never obtained the criminal jurisdiction. The town flourished greatly in the 12th and 13th centuries, the silk trade being introduced from Italy.
In 1218 the Reichsvogtei passed back into the hands of the king, who appointed one of the burghers as his deputy, the town thus becoming a
free imperial city
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
under the nominal rule of a distant sovereign. The abbess in 1234 became a
princess of the empire, but power rapidly passed from her to the council which she had originally named to look after police, but which came to be elected by the
burghers, though the abbess was still the lady of Zürich.
This council (all powerful since 1304) was made up of the representatives of certain knightly and rich mercantile families (the
patricians), who excluded the craftsmen from all share in the government, though it was to these last that the town was largely indebted for its rising wealth and importance.
Predigerkirche was built in 1231 AD as a Romanesque church of the then
Dominican ''Predigerkloster'' nearby the
Neumarkt and the city's hospital.
As the other convents in Zürich, it was abolished after the
Reformation in Switzerland
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...
.
In October 1291 the town made an alliance with
Uri and
Schwyz, and in 1292 failed in a desperate attempt to seize the
Habsburg town of
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austri ...
. After that Zürich began to display strong Austrian leanings, which characterize much of its later history. In 1315 the men of Zürich fought against the
Swiss Confederates
''Eidgenossenschaft'' () is a German word specific to the political history of Switzerland.
It means "oath commonwealth" or "oath alliance" in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of t ...
at the
Battle of Morgarten.
The
Codex Manesse, a major source of medieval German poetry, was written and illustrated in the early 14th century in Zürich. Among the collection are poems by
Süsskind von Trimberg. Very little is known about Süsskind, but scholars speculate that he was a Jew, as the name “Süsskind” was only given to Jews at the time. The first official mention of Jews in Zürich was in 1273. The existence of a synagogue in the 13th century testifies to an active Jewish community. When the
Black Death epidemic came to Switzerland in 1348/49, the Jews were widely accused of having poisoned wells. On the 24th of February 1349, the city's Jews were tortured, burned and driven out of Zürich.
From 1354, Jews began to re-settle in Zürich, but from 1400, the legal situation of Jews in Zürich began to deteriorate. A 1404 law forbade them from testifying against Christians in court, and in 1423 they were indefinitely expelled from the city.
In the later medieval period, the political power of the convent slowly waned. The beginning of self-government came with the establishment of the ''Zunftordnung'' (
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
laws) in 1336 by
Rudolf Brun
Rudolf Brun (1290s – 17 September 1360) was the leader of the Zürich guilds' revolution of 1336, and the city's first independent mayor.
Since 1234, Zürich had been governed by an aristocratic council. One third of the council's members w ...
, who also became the first independent mayor, i.e. not assigned by the abbess.
From this time, the city increasingly came under the domination of the ''
Zünfte'', a process only fully completed in the 16th century with the suspension of the monasteries following the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
. Jews were excluded from the guilds, which were based on the concept of Christian brotherhood.
Under the new constitution (the main features of which lasted till 1798) the Little Council was made up of the burgomaster and thirteen members from the ''Constafel'' (which included the old patricians and the wealthiest burghers) and the thirteen masters of the craft guilds, each of the twenty-six holding office for six months.
The Great Council of 200 (really 212) members consisted of the Little Council, plus 78 representatives each of the Constafel and of the guilds, besides 3 members named by the burgomaster. The office of burgomaster was created and given to Brun for life. Out of this change arose a quarrel with one of the branches of the Habsburg family, in consequence of which Brun was induced to throw in the lot of Zürich with the Swiss Confederation (May 1351).
The double position of Zürich as a free imperial city and as a member of the
Everlasting League was soon found to be embarrassing to both parties. In 1373 and again in 1393 the powers of the Constafel were limited and the majority in the executive secured to the craftsmen, who could then aspire to the burgomastership.
Meanwhile, the town had been extending its rule far beyond its walls, a process which began in the 14th, and attained its height in the 15th century (1362–1467).
Old Swiss Confederacy
Zürich joined the
Swiss confederation (which at that point was a loose confederation of ''de facto''
independent states) as the fifth member in 1351. Zürich was expelled from the confederation in 1440 due to a war with the other member states over the territory of
Toggenburg
Toggenburg is a region of Switzerland. It corresponds to the upper valley of the river Thur and that of its main tributary, the Necker. Since 1 January 2003, Toggenburg has been a constituency (''Wahlkreis'') of the canton of St. Gallen ( ...
(the
Old Zürich War). Zürich was defeated in 1446, and re-admitted to the confederation in 1450.
During the later half of the 15th century, Zürich managed to substantially increase the territory under its control, gaining the
Thurgau
Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld.
Thurgau is pa ...
(1460),
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austri ...
(1467),
Stein am Rhein (1459/84) and
Eglisau (1496). Zürich's position in the Confederacy was improved further with its role in the
Burgundy Wars under
Hans Waldmann
Hans Waldmann may refer to:
* Hans Waldmann (mayor) (1435–1489), mayor of Zurich and Swiss military leader
* Hans Waldmann (fighter pilot)
Hans Peter Waldmann (24 September 1922 – 18 March 1945) was a German Luftwaffe (Air Force) fighte ...
. From 1468 to 1519, Zürich was the ''Vorort'' of the
Federal Diet.
This thirst for territorial aggrandizement brought about the first civil war in the Confederation (the "Old Zürich War," 1436-50), in which, at the
Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl
The Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl was a battle of the Old Zürich War that occurred on July 22, 1443, resulting in a defeat for Zürich.
The battle took place outside the gates of Zürich, beyond the Sihl (today's Aussersihl district). The tr ...
(1443), under the walls of Zürich, the men of Zürich were completely beaten and their burgomaster Stissi slain. The purchase of the town of Winterthur from the Habsburgs (1467) marks the culmination of the territorial power of the city.
It was to the men of Zürich and their leader
Hans Waldmann
Hans Waldmann may refer to:
* Hans Waldmann (mayor) (1435–1489), mayor of Zurich and Swiss military leader
* Hans Waldmann (fighter pilot)
Hans Peter Waldmann (24 September 1922 – 18 March 1945) was a German Luftwaffe (Air Force) fighte ...
that the victory of
Morat (1476) was due in the
Burgundian War; and Zürich took a leading part in the Italian campaign of 1512–15, the burgomaster Schmid naming the new duke of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
(1512). No doubt her trade connections with Italy led her to pursue a southern policy, traces of which are seen as early as 1331 in an attack on the Val Leventina and in 1478, when Zürich men were in the van at the fight of
Giornico, won by a handful of Confederates over 12,000 Milanese troops.
In 1400 the town obtained from the King
Wenceslaus the Reichsvogtei, which carried with it complete immunity from the empire and the right of criminal jurisdiction. As early as 1393 the chief power had practically fallen into the hands of the Great Council, and in 1498 this change was formally recognized. (Derived from Free Public Domain:
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...
)
This transfer of all power to the guilds had been one of the aims of the burgomaster
Hans Waldmann
Hans Waldmann may refer to:
* Hans Waldmann (mayor) (1435–1489), mayor of Zurich and Swiss military leader
* Hans Waldmann (fighter pilot)
Hans Peter Waldmann (24 September 1922 – 18 March 1945) was a German Luftwaffe (Air Force) fighte ...
(1483–89), who wished to make Zürich a great commercial centre. He also introduced many financial and moral reforms, and subordinated the interests of the country districts to those of the town. He practically ruled the
Swiss Confederation, and under him Zürich became the real capital of the League. But such great changes excited opposition, and he was overthrown and executed. His main ideas were embodied, however, in the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
of 1498, by which the patricians became the first of the guilds, and which remained in force till 1798; some special rights were also given to the subjects in country districts. It was the prominent part taken by Zürich in adopting and propagating (against the strenuous opposition of the Constafel) the principles of the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
(the Fraumünster Abbey being suppressed in 1524) which finally secured for it the lead in the Confederation. The
Augustiner and
Prediger monasteries and
Oetenbach nunnery and
Rüti Abbey nearby
Rapperswil were also disestablished in 1524. The aftermath of the
Reformation in Zürich resulted also in the abolishment of the Zürich convent, the worship in the churches were discontinued, and the buildings and income of the monasteries were assigned to an according ''Amt'', a bailiwick of administratively function of the city's government (''Rat'').
Reformation
Zwingli started the
Swiss reformation at the time when he was the main preacher in Zürich at the
Grossmünster. He started his preaching there by preaching systematically through Matthew which was a huge difference from almost every other priest that preached through the liturgical cycle of readings issued by the Church.
He lived and preached in Zürich from 1484 until his death in 1531 at the defeat of Zürich in the
second war of Kappel.
Zwingli's
Zürich Bible first appeared in 1531 and continued to be revised until the present day.
Katharina von Zimmern (1478-1547), the last abbess of the
Fraumünster Abbey, supported the peaceful introduction of the reformation in Zürich.
Early Modern history
An important source for Zürich under
Heinrich Bullinger is the ''
Wickiana'', a collection of curious documents from 1560 to 1587.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the patriciate and council of Zürich adopted an increasingly aristocratic and isolationist attitude.
A sign of this was the second ring of impressive city ramparts was built in 1642 under the impression of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
.
The funds required for this ambitious project were imposed on the subject territories without consultation, resulting in revolts that were crushed by force. From 1648, the city changed its official status from ''
Reichsstadt
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
'' to ''Republik'', thus likening itself to city republics like
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
and
Genova.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, a distinct tendency becomes observable in the town government to limit power to the actual holders. Thus the country districts were consulted for the last time in 1620 and 1640; and a similar breach of the charters of 1489 and 1531 (by which the consent of these districts was required for the conclusion of important alliances, war and peace, and might be asked for as to other matters) occasioned disturbances in 1777.
The council of 200 came to be largely chosen by a small committee of the members of the guilds actually sitting in the council by the constitution of 1713 it consisted of 50 members of the Little Council (named for a fixed term by the Great Council), 18 members named by the Constafel, and 144 selected by the 12 guilds, these 162 (forming the majority) being co-opted for life by those members of the two councils who belonged to the gild to which the deceased member himself had belonged.
Early in the 18th century a determined effort was made to crush by means of heavy duties the flourishing rival silk trade in Winterthur. It was reckoned that about 1650 the number of privileged burghers was 9000, while their rule extended over 170,000 persons. The first symptoms of active discontent appeared later among the dwellers by the lake, who founded in 1794 a club at Stäfa and claimed the restoration of the liberties of 1489 and 1531, a movement which was put down by force of arms in 1795.
The old system of government perished in Zürich, as elsewhere in Switzerland, with the
French invasion in the spring of 1798, and under the
Helvetic constitution the country districts obtained political liberty.
Modern history
Napoleonic era
Zürich lost much of its power in the
Helvetic Republic, with territory lost to the
Aargau
Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capit ...
, the
Thurgau
Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld.
Thurgau is pa ...
and the
Canton of Linth. In 1799, the city became even a battlefield of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...
of the
Second Coalition, at the
First Battle of Zürich
The First Battle of Zurich, from 4 to 7 June 1799, forced French General André Masséna to yield the city of Zurich to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles, and to retreat beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his positions, which ...
in June and the
Second Battle of Zürich
The Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 September 1799) was a key victory by the Republican French army in Switzerland led by André Masséna over an Austrian and Russian force commanded by Alexander Korsakov near Zürich. It broke the stale ...
in September.
Gottfried Keller became an intellectual influence on the Radical "
free-thinking" side in the formation of
Switzerland as a federal state.
The environs of Zürich are famous in military history on account of the two battles of 1799 (French Revolutionary Wars). In the first battle (4 June) the French under General
André Masséna, on the defensive, were attacked by the Austrians under the
Archduke Charles, Massena retiring behind the
Limmat before the engagement had reached a decisive stage. The second and far more important battle took place on 25 and 26 September. Massena, having forced the passage of the Limmat, attacked and totally defeated the Russians and their Austrian allies under
Korsakov's command.
19th century
In 1839, the city had to yield to the demands of its rural subjects, following the
Züriputsch of 6 September. Most of the ramparts built in the 17th centuries were torn down, without ever having been sieged, to allay rural concerns over the city's hegemony. The
Limmatquai was built in several stages between 1823 and 1859 along the right side of the Limmat. From 1847, the ''Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn'', the first railway on Swiss territory, connected Zürich with
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden ...
, putting the
Zürich Hauptbahnhof at the origin of the Swiss rail network. The present building of the Hauptbahnhof dates to 1871. The emergence of the
Sechseläuten as the city's (more properly, the ''
Zünftes) most prominent traditional holiday dates to this period.
The
Ötenbach monastery, founded 1285, fell victim to the increasingly grand city planning in 1902, with the entire
Lindenhof hill
The Lindenhof (lit.: ''courtyard of the lime'') is a moraine hill and a public square in the historic center of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has historically grown. The hil ...
it was built on removed to make way for the new Uraniastrasse and administration buildings. It had been serving as a prison, and the inmates were moved to the newly completed cantonal prison in
Regensdorf
Regensdorf is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf District of the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the biggest city in the region Furttal (ZH).
Katzensee is a lake that also includes the bath/lido Strandbad Katzensee on the border ...
. But under the cantonal constitution of 1814 matters were worse still, for the town (10,000 inhabitants) had 130 representatives in the Great Council, while the country districts (200,000 inhabitants) had only 82. A great meeting at
Uster
Uster ( High Alemannic: ''Uschter'') is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich.
It is the third largest town in the canton of Zürich, with almost 35,000 inhabitants, and is one of the twenty largest towns ...
on 22 November 1830 demanded that two-thirds of the members in the Great Council should be chosen by the country districts. In 1831 a new constitution was drawn up on these lines, the town getting 71 representatives as against 141 allotted to the country districts, though it was not till 1837-38 that the town finally lost the last relics of the privileges which it had so long enjoyed as compared with the country districts.
From 1803 to 1814 Zürich was one of the six
directorial cantons, its chief magistrate becoming for a year the chief magistrate of the Confederation, while in 1815 it was one of the three
canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ent ...
s, the government of which acted for two years as the Federal government when the diet was not sitting. In 1833 Zürich tried hard to secure a revision of the Federal constitution and a strong central government.
The town was the Federal capital for 1839–40, and consequently the victory of the Conservative party there in 1839 (due to indignation at the nomination by the Radical government to a theological chair in the university of
David Strauss
David Friedrich Strauss (german: link=no, Strauß ; 27 January 1808 – 8 February 1874) was a German liberal Protestant theologian and writer, who influenced Christian Europe with his portrayal of the " historical Jesus", whose divine nature h ...
, the author of the famous Life of Jesus) caused a great stir throughout Switzerland. But when in 1845 the Radicals regained power at Zürich, which was again the Federal capital for 1845–46, that town took the lead in opposing the
Sonderbund cantons.
It of course voted in favor of the Federal constitutions of 1848 and of 1874, while the cantonal constitution of 1869 was remarkably advanced for the time. The enormous immigration from the country districts into the town from the "thirties" onwards created an industrial class which, though "settled" in the town, did not possess the privileges of burghership, and consequently had no share in the municipal government.
First of all in 1860 the town schools, opened to "settlers" only on paying high fees, were made accessible to all, next in 1875 ten years' residence ipso facto conferred the right of burghership.
In 1862, Jews were given full legal and political equality, and that same year, the
Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich was founded. Jews had begun to re-settle in Zürich over the course of the 19th century, following 400 years of exclusion.
The
Quaianlagen and
Quaibrücke are important milestones in the development of the modern city of Zürich, as by the construction of the new lake front, Zürich was transformed from the medieval small town on the
Limmat and
Sihl to an attractive modern city on the Lake Zürich lake shore, unter the guidance of the city engineer
Arnold Bürkli
Arnold Bürkli (February 2, 1833 – May 6, 1894)''Bürkli, Arnold'', Dictionnaire Historique de la Suis. Retrieved 2012-03-02. is principally known as a municipal engineer in Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Life and work
Arnold Bürkli was also ...
.
The town and canton continued to be on the Liberal, or Radical, or even Socialistic side, while from 1848 to 1907 they claimed 7 of the 37 members of the Federal executive or
Bundesrat, these 7 having filled the presidential chair of the Confederation in twelve years, no canton surpassing this record. From 1833 onwards the walls and fortifications of Zürich were little by little pulled down, thus affording scope for the extension and beautification of the town.
In 1915 the tenant organization
Mieterverband was founded in Zürich.
Merger of municipalities
In 1893, the city was extended (''grosse Eingemeindung'') to include the (former) villages of
Wollishofen,
Enge,
Leimbach,
Wiedikon,
Wipkingen,
Fluntern and
Hottingen, and the then-recently built-up areas of
Aussersihl (formerly part of Wiedikon, a municipality since 1787),
Oberstrass
Oberstrass is a quarter in the district 6 in Zürich.
It was formerly a municipality of its own, having been incorporated into Zürich in 1893. The quarter has a population of 9,494 distributed on an area of .
The Rigiblick funicular can be f ...
,
Unterstrass
Unterstrass is a quarter in the district 6 in Zürich.
It was formerly a municipality of its own, having been incorporated into Zürich in 1893.
The quarter has a population of 19,921, in an area of .
In 1962, the faculty of science of the Univ ...
,
Riesbach and
Hirslanden.
In 1934, the city borders were again extended, to the inclusion of the former villages, by that time de facto suburbs, of
Albisrieden,
Altstetten,
Höngg,
Affoltern,
Seebach,
Oerlikon,
Schwamendingen and
Witikon (''kleine Eingemeindung'').
There were no changes between 1934 and 2013, but occurred in all two further mergers (''Eingemeindungen'') of
municipalities in the canton of Zürich. As per 1 January 2014 ''
Bertschikon bei Attikon
Bertschikon bei Attikon (or Bertschikon) is a former municipality in the district of Winterthur in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipality of Bertschikon merged into the municipality of Wiesendangen. '' and ''
Wiesendangen
Wiesendangen is a municipality in the district of Winterthur in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipality of Bertschikon merged into the municipality of Wiesendangen. At the same time the Community Identif ...
'' merged to Wiesendangen,
[ Bertschikon and ]Wiesendangen
Wiesendangen is a municipality in the district of Winterthur in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipality of Bertschikon merged into the municipality of Wiesendangen. At the same time the Community Identif ...
merged to ''Wiesendangen'' on 1 January 2014. and on 1 January 2015 ''
Bauma'' and ''
Sternenberg
Sternenberg is a former municipality in the district of Pfäffikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Bauma and Sternenberg merged to ''Bauma'' on 1 January 2015.
Geography
Before the merger, Sternenberg had a total area of . Of this ar ...
'' merged to Bauma.
[ Bauma and ]Sternenberg
Sternenberg is a former municipality in the district of Pfäffikon in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Bauma and Sternenberg merged to ''Bauma'' on 1 January 2015.
Geography
Before the merger, Sternenberg had a total area of . Of this ar ...
merged to ''Bauma'' on 1 January 2015. Therefore, the
Canton of Zürich comprises now of 169 municipalities.
1940s to present
Zürich was
accidentally bombed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. With many Jews seeking refuge in Switzerland, funds were raised, not by Swiss authorities, but by the SIG (Israelite Community of Switzerland). The central committee for refugee aid, created in 1933, was located in Zürich.
An economic boom set in after World War II, lasting into the 1960s.
The further, for that time extremely high subventions, but lacking of alternative governmental cultural programs for the youth in Zürich, occurred in 1980 to the so-called ''
Opernhauskrawalle'' youth protests – ''Züri brännt'',
meaning ''Zürich is burning'', documented in the Swiss documentary film ''
Züri brännt (movie)''. The most prominent politician involved was Emilie Lieberherr, then member of the city's executive (''Stadtrat'') authorities. In 1982, communal elections resulted in the first conservative majority in 53 years (president Thomas Wagner 1982–1990), but in the early 1980s,
Emilie Lieberherr
Emilie Lieberherr (October 14, 1924 in Erstfeld – January 3, 2011 in Zollikerberg; place of origin in Zürich und Nesslau), was a Swiss politician ( Social Democratic Party of Switzerland).
Early life and education
The second of three sis ...
and
Ursula Koch
Ursula Koch (born 1 July 1941) is a former Swiss politician, and was the first woman president of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP).
Early life
Ursula Koch was born in Zürich, Switzerland in 1941 into a stateless Jewish family. ...
where the first female politicians in Zürich's exekutive authority ''Stadtrat'',
both representing the social-democratic ''SP'' political party.
From 1990, there has again been a leftist majority (presidents Josef Estermann 1990, Elmar Ledergerber 2002, Corine Mauch 2009, all of the Social Democratic Party).
The introduction of liberal laws (''Gastgewerbegesetz'' 1997) favoured the development of Zürich's role as
regional center of
nightlife;
also during the 1990s, a liberalisation of zoning laws (''Bau- und Zonenordnung'' 1992; ''Stadtforum'' 1996) led to a renewal of construction activity (''Technopark'' 1991–93, ''Steinfels-Areal'' 1993, ''Zürich West'' 1998),
Growing
suburbanization since the 1960s had resulted in congestions due to
commuting
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regu ...
, partly eased with the
Zürich S-Bahn, introduced 1990.
Population declined during the 1980s to 1990s, but began to increase again in the 2000s, paired with significant
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...
of central areas.
Demographic history
Zürich during its period of territorial expansion and prosperity during the late 14th to early 15th century increased in population to an estimated 7,000 inhabitants. This figure decreased rapidly as a result of the
Old Zürich War, to some 5,000, comparable to the population of Berne, Schaffhausen or Lucerne.
Population grew slowly but steadily during the 16th to 18th centuries, reaching 10,000 by 1800.
Population then increased rapidly during the 19th century, due to industrialization, and the increased availability of building space after the destruction of the city walls in the 1830s, reaching 28,000 by 1888.
Counting the population within the modern city borders, the figures are 17'200 in 1800, 56,700 in 1871, 150,700 in 1900, and 251,000 in 1930.
Population grew rapidly during 1945–1965, peaking at 440,000. After 1965, population declined due to
suburbanization, to below 360,000 in the 1990s.
After 2000, there has again been population growth, surpassing the 400,000 mark in 2014.
[
1962: 440,180 (maximum);
1980: 370,618;
1989: 355,901 (minimum);
1990: 356,352;
1995: 360,826;
2000: 360,980;
2005: 366,809;
2010: 385,468;
January 2014: 400,028 (31.7% foreigners]
stadt-zuerich.ch
/ref>
See also
* History of the Jews in Zürich
* Fortifications of Zürich
* Reformation in Zürich
* Staatsarchiv Zürich
* Timeline of Zürich
* History of Switzerland
References
Bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Zurich
Zurich
Zurich