There are fourteen historical ''Zünfte'' (
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 ...
s, singular ''Zunft'') of
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, under the system established in 1336 with the "guild revolution" of
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 ...
. They are the 13 guilds that predated 1336, plus the ''Gesellschaft zur Constaffel'', originally consisting of the city's nobles.
Guilds founded in 1336
There have been two mergers of historical guilds since, so that there are 12 contemporary ''Zünfte'' continuing the medieval guilds:
19th century guilds
In the 19th century, with the expansion of Zürich, incorporating various formerly separate villages, a number of new "guilds" were established to represent these. By this time the old guilds had ceased to be tied to specific trades and had acquired a mostly folkloristic and societal function, uniting the upper strata of old and well-to-do clans of Zürich.
See also
*
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 ...
*
History of Zürich
Zürich 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 culture appears to have persisted beyond the collapse of the W ...
*
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster is a guild–like organisation in Zürich, Switzerland, not yet associated with the Zünfte of Zürich as of 2015.
History of Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster
In medieval times, in Zürich all female and male ''B ...
References
External links
sächsilüüte.ch: ''Zentralkomitee der Zünfte Zürichs''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zunfte Of Zurich
History of Zürich
Guilds in Switzerland