The Waisenhaus (), or Amthaus I, is the last remaining building of the Oetenbach nunnery in Zurich, Switzerland, and today houses the city police department.

Location

The ''Waisenhaus'' building is situated at Bahnhofquai 3 near Bahnhofbrücke and

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened to Zürich HB or just HB, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. It is a major railway hub, with services to and from a ...

. Built outside of the historical core of the medieval town of Zurich, previously the Celtic-Roman ''Turicum'', the former ''Zucht- und Waisenhaus'' ("penitentiary and orphanage") is the last remaining structure of the Oetenbach nunnery at the ''Lindenhof-Silhlbühl'' hill on the western shore of the

Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...

river.

History

After the Reformation in Zurich, the city government took over the monastic buildings for new uses. To manage the income of the former convent, the former administration building was held as ''Oetenbacheramt'' housing the former wine cellar. In 1601 the building was extensively remodeled and equipped with stepped gables, and as police barracks, in 1872 the remains of wall paintings were discovered. After a renovation in 1735 the south facade was in 1776 redesigned with a simple baroque, and an additional ceiling was set up and a second floor. From 1799 to 1802 the church buildings were among others used as a military hospital. Already between 1637 and 1639, the ground floor was used as an orphanage in the north, in the west wing a prison was set up in the former dormitories of the nuns. In 1771 the orphans were held in the newly built orphanage in the former monastery's garden, and the north and west wings extensively needed to be rebuilt as a ''penitentiary and workhouse'', separating the prison from the new orphanage. The former orphanage today serves as the official ''Stadthaus I'' at the present ''Waisenhausstrasse'', meaning ''orphanage'' lane. When the remaining buildings of the Oetenbach nunnery were broken, the occasion was not used by the archaeologists to secure finds of the Oppidum Lindenhof. In 1903 the adjoint Oetenbachbollwerk bastion was broken as the last structure of the city's fortifications. The subsequent so-called '' Gedecktes Brüggli'' served as a pedestrian bridge, and was broken in 1953.

Architecture

The buildings were rebuilt for a last time between 1868 and 1878, and probably the present ''Giacometti'' entrance area in 1890, and the last original structures of the Oetenbach nunnery may have been removed by as original 1901 plans by Ferdinand Curti and Hermann Fietz suggest. The lack of space and the separation of prisoners by criminal categories ordered by the then new criminal law, initiated the design and construction of a new detention centre ''for modern principles.'' So, in the night of 8 to 9 October 1901, the prisoners were moved to the new prison ''Pöschwies'' in Regensdorf. In the same year, the remaining monastery area passed into the possession of the city of Zurich. The remaining Oetenbach building was broken in 1901/02, but the ''Waisenhaus'' was preserved in favour of an administrative centre, that in 1904/1905 took place at the former ''Sihlbühl'' which then was separated by the easterly ''Uraniastrasse'' and the building complex housing the Urania Sternwarte. The building remained unused until 1911, and when the ''Stadthaus'' was rebuilt and the neighbouring ''Amthaus'' buildings were erected by Gustav Gull it became the present headquarters of the '' Stadtpolizei Zürich'', the city police department.

Giacometti Halle

Gustav Gull integrated the ''Stadhaus'' building between 1911 and 1914 in the ''Urania'' complex, and the former cellar at the entrance floor of the ''Waisenhaus'' building was redesigned on behalf of Emil Klöti by Augusto Giacometti between 1923 and 1925 with vault and wall paintings, which are considered as a work of art of national importance. On the occasion of the total renovation of the office building, the so-called ''Giacometti Halle'' was extensively renovated from 1985 to 2000. Zürich - Schipfe IMG 0277.jpg, ''

Sihlbühl 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 ...

'' area of the former Oetenbach nunnery Amthaus I (Waisenhaus) - Bahnhofquai-Uraniastrasse 2011-08-01 15-38-34 ShiftN.jpg Amthäuser - Waisenhaus - Limmatquai 2012-09-27 15-17-08.jpg File:Amthaus I (Waisenhaus) - Lindenhofstrasse 2011-08-01 15-42-36 ShiftN.jpg

Cultural heritage of national importance

The building and Augusto Giacometti's fresco are, as part of the building ensemble in that area, listed in the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

as a ''Class A'' object of national importance.

Literature

* Regine Abegg: ''Von den mittelalterlichen Klöstern zur Stadtverwaltung. Fraumünsterabtei und Oetenbachkloster.'' Published by Baugeschichtliches Archiv, Neumarkt, Zurich 2009.

References

External links

* Stadtpolizei Zürich * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waisenhaus Zurich Buildings and structures completed in 1914 Orphanages in Europe History of Zurich Altstadt (Zurich) Police stations Buildings and structures in Zurich Prisons in Switzerland Child-related organisations in Switzerland 20th-century architecture in Switzerland