Aussersihl is a district in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

city of

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 ...

. Known officially as District number 4, the district is known as colloquially ''Chreis Cheib'', ''cheib'' being the

Zürich German Zurich German (natively ; ) is the High Alemannic dialect spoken in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Its area covers most of the canton, with the exception of the parts north of the Thur and the Rhine, which belong to the areal of the nort ...

word for an animal cadaver. It earned the name as the area historically contained pits for the deposition of dead animals. It comprises the quarters Werd, Langstrasse and Hard.

History

The area of Aussersihl together with that of

District 5 District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * District 5, an electoral district of Malta * District 5, a police district of Malta * Palma-Palmilla, also kno ...

historically corresponds to the ''Sihlfeld'', the pastures and fields between the village of Wiedikon (now district 3) and 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 ...

. The area was built up during the 18th century was separated from Wiedikon as the Aussersihl municipality on 27 March 1787. Aussersihl quickly grew into a town during

industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

, mostly inhabited by factory workers, at times counting more inhabitants than the city itself. The municipality could not cope with its rapid growth and went bankrupt. It was incorporated into the Zürich municipality together with Wiedikon as ''Stadtkreis III'' in 1893. The separation into the current districts 3, 4 and 5 dates to 1913. Historically inhabited by

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

s, the Aussersihl district, especially its Langstrasse quarter, remains notorious for a high

crime rate In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

and

drug dealing The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

. The first project of pastor

Ernst Sieber Ernst Sieber (; 24 February 1927 – 19 May 2018) was a Swiss pastor, social activist and politician who served one term as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland, Evangelical Pe ...

Sozialwerke Pfarrer Sieber ''Sozialwerke Pfarrer Sieber'' (SWS) is a Swiss charitable foundation and relief organisation based the Municipalities of the canton of Zürich, municipality of Zürich. Initiated in 1963 by Ernst Sieber, a pastor associated with the Reformierte Ki ...

for homeless people started at Helvetiaplatz in winter 1963; the foundation is still based in Aussersihl.

Archaeological findings

A female who died in about 200 B.C 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.

References

Former municipalities of the canton of Zürich 4 {{Zurich-geo-stub

History

Archaeological findings

See also

References