''Rennweg'' is a medieval main road and is today part of the inner-city

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 restricted to use by people on foot or ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. A ''rennweg'' was in the medieval German speaking territories a street where horses were moved.

Schweizerisches Idiotikon ''Schweizerisches Idiotikon'' ("the Swiss idioticon", also known as ''Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache'' "Dictionary of the Swiss German language") is an ongoing, major project of lexicography of the Swiss German dialects. Publication beg ...

, vol. VI, col. 840 f., articl
''Ränn-Wëg''
and vol. VI, col. 961 sqq., articl
''rännen''
esp. meanings 1d («ein Pferd in eilige Bewegung setzen, hetzen») and 2a («mit verhängtem Zügel, in schärfster Gangart reiten, fahren»). Once, it was one of the nodal points of road and public transportation. Today, as well as the

Limmatquai ''Limmatquai'' () is a street in the Switzerland, Swiss city of Zurich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the ''Altstadt (Zürich), Altstadt'', or historical core, of the c ...

, as well as

Augustinergasse ''Augustinergasse'' is a medieval lane that today is part of the innercity pedestrian zone of Zürich, Switzerland. It is named after the former Augustinian Abbey that is now Augustinerkirche, the former church of the convent that was disestabl ...

, it is a section of the southern extension of the '' Seeuferanlage'' promenades that were built between 1881 and 1887. ''Rennweg'' is one of the best known visitor attractions of the oldest area of the city of Zürich.

Geography and history

Archaeologists excavated individual and aerial finds of the Celtic-

Helvetii The Helvetii (, , Gaulish: *''Heluētī''), anglicized as Helvetians, were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Ju ...

oppidum Lindenhof from around the 1st century BC

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...

, whose remains were discovered in archaeological campaigns in the years 1989, 1997, 2004 and 2007 on Lindenhof,

Münsterhof Münsterhof (literally: Fraumünster abbey courtyard) is a town square situated in the Lindenhof hill, Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest town square within the Altstadt (old town) of Zurich and i ...

and Rennweg, and also in the 1900s, but the finds mistakenly were identified as Roman objects. Not yet archaeologically proven, but suggested by the historians, as well for the first construction of the today's Münsterbrücke Limmat crossing, the present Weinplatz square was the former civilian harbour of the Celtic-Roman ''Turicum'', and so the term ''Weinplatz'' may have kept its ancient meaning ''wine square''. In the European Middle Ages, it was the main street of the upper town of Zürich, leading from the ''Rennwegtor'' gate in the

fortifications of Zürich Zürich was an independent (''reichsfrei'') city or city-state from 1218 to 1798. The town was Fortification, fortified with a city wall from the 13th to the 17th century, and with more elaborate Defensive wall, ramparts constructed in the 17th to ...

and passing below the

Lindenhof hill The Lindenhof (''"Tilia, linden yard"'') is a moraine hill and public square in the historic center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has histor ...

towards the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. The site of the Rennweg gate is at the current junction of the Rennweg with the

Bahnhofstrasse Bahnhofstrasse (, ), in the Swiss city of Zurich, is the city's main downtown street and one of the world's most expensive and exclusive shopping avenues. In 2011, a study named Bahnhofstrasse the most expensive street for retail property in Eur ...

, the Bahnhofstrasse itself following the course of the 13th-century ''

Fröschengraben Schanzengraben is a moat and a section of the northwestern extension of the ''Quaianlagen (Zürich), Seeuferanlage'' promenades that were built between 1881 and 1887 in Zurich, Switzerland. Schanzengraben is, among the adjoint Bollwerk zur Katz, ...

'', the inner moat that was enforced by the later built ''

Schanzengraben Schanzengraben is a moat and a section of the northwestern extension of the '' Seeuferanlage'' promenades that were built between 1881 and 1887 in Zurich, Switzerland. Schanzengraben is, among the adjoint ''Katz'' bastion at the Old Botanical G ...

''. Accounts of the Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl in the

Old Zürich War The Old Zurich War (; 1440–1446) was a conflict between the canton of Zurich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg. In 1436, Count Friedrich VII of Toggenburg died, leaving nei ...

, which occurred on

July 22 Events Pre-1600 * 838 – Battle of Anzen: The Byzantine emperor Theophilos suffers a heavy defeat by the Abbasids. *1099 – First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of ...

, 1443, describe that Zurich Mayor

Rudolf Stüssi Rudolf Stüssi (died 22 July 1443) served as burgomaster of Zürich during the mid-fifteenth century. His expansionist ambitions for Zurich caused the Old Zürich War (1440–46). Biography Stüssi's father came from Glarus and became a citi ...

fell while trying to defend the bridge across the Sihl. The city was then saved by the gatekeeper's wife, one Anna Ziegler, who managed to lower the

portcullis A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. ...

of the Rennweg gate just as the pursuing enemy troops were about to enter the city.

Transportation

The ''Rennweg'' respectively former ''Rennweg–

'' stop on lines 6, 7, 11 and 13 of the Zürich tram system is some further southernly along the ''Bahnhofstrasse'' road. Zürich - Rennweg 20090311_1.jpg, Rennweg towards Glockengasse and Weinplatz File:Franz Carl Weber - Rennweg 2012-04-15 18-11-11 (P7000).jpg, Franz Carl Weber store Rennweg - Brunnen 2012-03-16 18-31-52 (P7000).JPG, The medieval Rennweg well Rennwegtor.jpg, The Rennweg gate in 1812

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rennweg (Zurich) Altstadt (Zurich) Streets in Zurich Pedestrian streets in Switzerland