''Limmatquai'' is a street in the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
city of Zürich
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. It is named after the
Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the ''
Altstadt'', or historical core, of the city. The street was once important for both road and public transportation, but today sections of it form a
pedestrian zone
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...
shared with
Zürich's trams, effectively forming a northern extension of the ''
Seeuferanlage'' promenades that ring the shores of
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 to ...
.
The ''Limmatquai'' has its southern end adjacent to the ''
Quaibrücke'' bridge and ''
Bellevueplatz
Bellevueplatz ("Bellevue Square", from the French ''bellevue'' meaning "beautiful sight") is a town square in Zürich, Switzerland built in 1856. Named after the former Grandhotel Bellevue on its north side, it is one of the nodal points for r ...
'' square, where the Limmat flows out of Lake Zürich. Its northern end is at the ''
Bahnhofbrücke'' bridge and ''
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
'' plaza. Between the ''Quaibrücke'' and the ''Bahnhofbrücke'', the river is crossed by four other bridges all of which connect to the ''Limmatquai''; from south to north these are the ''
Münsterbrücke'', ''
Rathausbrücke'', ''
Rudolf-Brun-Brücke'' and ''
Mühlesteg''.
For most of its length, the street runs directly alongside the river, with buildings only on its eastern side, and with a clear view across the river to the west. The only buildings abutting the street from the west are the ''
Wasserkirche
The ''Wasserkirche'' ("Water Church") of Zürich, first mentioned as ''ecclesia Aquatica Turicensi'' around 1250 and as ''wazzirkilcha'' in 1256, is a church built on a small island in the Limmat, situated between the two main churches of medi ...
'', located on what was originally an island within the river, together with the ''
Rathaus'' (town hall) and a police station, which both form part of the ''Rathausbrücke'' bridge structure.
History
![Limmatquai-murer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Limmatquai-murer.jpg)
In the 12th and 13th century, the houses alongside the east bank of the Limmat were built directly on the shore, and were accessed from ''Oberdorfstrasse'' and ''Niederdorfstrasse'' on their landward sides. Over the course of the following centuries, the Limmat was increasingly channeled, and it can be demonstrated that the right bank of the Limmat is now up to in front of the original bank. Although the ''Limmatquai'' as a through road along the river side dates from the 19th century, it was actually built in several sections at different times and under different names, and the name ''Limmatquai'' has only applied to the full length of the current street since 1933.
![Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Limmatquai - 000006684](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Zentralbibliothek_Z%C3%BCrich_-_Limmatquai_-_000006684.jpg)
The section downstream of the ''Marktgasse'' lane and the ''Rathaus'' was originally known as ''Marktststrasse'' or ''Altes Limmatquai'', and was built in two stages, south of ''Rosengasse'' between 1823 and 1825, and to the north between 1855 and 1859. The section between the ''Rathaus'' and the steps up to ''Grossmünsterplatz'' was originally known as ''Rathausquai'' and was built in 1835/36, along with the ''Münsterbrücke''. The section upstream of the steps was originally known as ''Sonnenquai'' and was built between 1835 and 1839. In the years 1887 to 1891 the whole street was broadened, and the ''Limmatquai'' assumed its present appearance.
Points of interest
The churches of ''
Grossmünster
The Grossmünster (; "great minster") is a Romanesque-style Protestant church in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the four major churches in the city (the others being the Fraumünster, Predigerkirche and St. Peterskirche). Its congregation f ...
'' and ''
Wasserkirche
The ''Wasserkirche'' ("Water Church") of Zürich, first mentioned as ''ecclesia Aquatica Turicensi'' around 1250 and as ''wazzirkilcha'' in 1256, is a church built on a small island in the Limmat, situated between the two main churches of medi ...
'' are both adjacent to the ''Limmatquai'', although both predate its construction. The ''Grossmünster'' lies to the east, at the top of a flight of stairs, whilst the ''Wasserkirche'' lies on a former river island joined to the street. Among the numerous secular buildings of interest on the street are the ''
Haus zum Rüden'', the guild houses of ''
Zimmerleuten'', ''
Haue'' and ''
Saffran'', and the
''Rathaus'' that was the seat of the assemblies of the city and of the
cantonal
The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Con ...
parliaments.
Views across the river from the ''Limmatquai'' include 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 h ...
'' church, the ''
Hotel zum Storchen'', the ''
Schipfe Schipfe is a residential district in Zürich, Switzerland, located on the eastern slope of the Lindenhof, one of the oldest parts of the Helvetii Oppidum Zürich-Lindenhof, by the river Limmat. Historians and the '' Weinplatz'' suggest that the ...
'' and the ''
Lindenhof''. The ''Limmatquai'' is also one of the main attractions for tourists, and has many small shops, cafés and restaurants.
Transport
Zürich tram
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
lines 2, 4 and 15 traverse the ''Limmatquai'' between ''Bellevue'' and ''Central'' stops, calling at the intermediate stops at ''Helmhaus'', ''Rathaus'' and ''Rudolf-Brun-Brücke''. The Limmat tour boats operated by the ''
Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft
The ''Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft'' or Lake Zürich Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zürich.
The company operates services connecting lake-side towns ...
'' call at a landing stage mid-way along the ''Limmatquai'' on their route between
Zürichhorn Zürichhorn is a river delta on Zürichsee's eastern shore in the lower basin of the lake. The area is part of the parks and quays in the Seefeld quarter of the city of Zürich in Switzerland. The gardens are one of the most popular recreational a ...
and the ''
Landesmuseum''.
Most private vehicles are prohibited; the area is the largest pedestrian zone of Zürich. Since 25 September 2004, the driving of motor vehicles, motorcycles and scooters is forbidden, except for goods transport, traffic towards
Weinplatz, postal delivery services, and doctors and emergency services. Private road transport between ''Central'' and Brun bridge and ''Uraniastrasse'' (
Urania Sternwarte
Urania Sternwarte is a public observatory in the Lindenhof quarter of Zürich, Switzerland. Its name ''Urania'' refers to the muse of astronomy in Greek mythology.
History
Its origins base on a first observatory on the roof of the Zunfthaus ...
) at the site of the former
Oetenbach nunnery Oetenbach was a Dominican nunnery in the medieval municipality of Zürich in Switzerland. Oetenbach was named after the small stream of the same name at its first location at Zürichhorn, situated outside of the European Middle Ages town walls, bu ...
is still allowed,
as well as between the former ''upper'' Limmatquai and
Bellevueplatz
Bellevueplatz ("Bellevue Square", from the French ''bellevue'' meaning "beautiful sight") is a town square in Zürich, Switzerland built in 1856. Named after the former Grandhotel Bellevue on its north side, it is one of the nodal points for r ...
at the upper end of the Limmat, as the road traffic via ''Utoquai'' and ''Rämistrasse'' still uses the ''Bellevue'' house area as a turning point towards
General-Guisan-Quai.
Future developments
According to the project ''Riviera'', the waterfront promenade between
Utoquai, Quaibrücke and Limmatquai will be planted with two-row lines of
Chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelat ...
trees, and along the staircase to the Limmat will be added a third detached tree row of ''
Styphnolobium japonicum
''Styphnolobium japonicum'', the Japanese pagoda tree (also known as the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree; syn. ''Sophora japonica'') is a species of tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae.
It was formerly included withi ...
''. The garden restaurant ''Terrasse'' will be redesigned, while the snack stand is maintained. Bus and motorized road transport operate in the future on a common track, meaning the separate bus lane at Utoquai is repealed, but on the river shore a bidirectional cycle path added.
Culture
The best-known event on the ''Limmatquai'' is the annual ''
Sechseläuten
The ''Sechseläuten'' (Zürich German: ''Sächsilüüte'', "The six o'clock ringing of the bells") is a traditional spring holiday in the Swiss city of Zürich celebrated in its current form, usually on the 3rd Monday of April, since the early 2 ...
'' parade which traverses the street on its way to ''
Sechseläutenplatz''.
The fictitious 2007 Swiss mystery film ''
Marmorea'' was filmed at the ''
Burghölzli
The ''Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich'' (Psychiatric University Hospital Zürich) is a psychiatric hospital in Switzerland. As a research hospital, it is associated with the University of Zürich. It is also called Burghölzli, after t ...
'' sanatory in the
Weinegg
Weinegg is a quarter in District 8 of Zürich.
Geography and demographics
Weinegg was formerly a part of Riesbach municipality, which was incorporated into Zürich in 1893. The quarter has a population of 4,951 distributed on an area of 1.72 km ...
district, on the
Limmat near
Technopark Zürich
Technopark Zürich is a research park known as technopark based in the municipality of Zürich in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
History
Technopark Zürich was established in 1993. The founders planned to provide rooms, offices and ot ...
, at the Limmatquai promenade, and on the
Münsterbrücke river crossing towards
Münsterhof
Münsterhof (literally: Fraumünster abbey courtyard) is a town square situated in the Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zürich, Switzerland. Münsterhof is the largest town square within the ''Altstadt'' (old town) of Zürich, and i ...
.
Between April 2014 and January 2015, an art installation known as the ''Hafenkran'' or ''Zürich maritim'' project was present on the ''Limmatquai''. The installation comprised an old harbour crane from
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, together with a number of
bollards and a port horn located on different high-rise buildings in Zürich. The installation proved controversial, and polarized the public and the political establishment of Zürich.
Bibliography
* ''Das Limmatquai vor und nach der Neugestaltung. Aufenthaltsnutzung, Fuss- und Veloverkehrsaufkommen im Vergleich der Jahre 2004-2005-2008''. Published by Tiefbau- und Entsorgungsdepartement der Stadt Zürich, Zürich 2009.
References
External links
*
Limmatquai page from the Zürich Tourist Service(in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Limmatquai Zurich
Altstadt (Zürich)
Streets in Zürich
Culture of Zürich
History of Zürich
Limmat