Zürich

Zürich
Country Switzerland
Canton Zürich
District Zürich
Population 376,815 (December 2007)
  - Density 4,101 /km² (10,622 /sq.mi.)
Area 91.88 km² (35.5 sq mi)
Elevation 408 m (1,339 ft)
  - Highest 871 m - Uetliberg
  - Lowest 392 m - Limmat
Postal code 8000-8099
SFOS number 0261
Mayor (list) Elmar Ledergerber (as of 2008) SPS/PSS
Surrounded by
(view map)		 Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
Twin towns Kunming (China), San Francisco (United States)
Website www.stadt-zuerich.ch
Zürich [zoom] (Switzerland)
Zürich [zoom]
Zürich [zoom]
View of the inner city with the four main churches visible, and the Albis in the backdrop

Zürich (German: Zürich IPA: [ˈtsyːʁɪç], Zürich German: Züri [ˈtsyɾi], French: Zurich [zyʁik], Italian: Zurigo [dzuˈɾiːgo]; in English generally Zurich /ˈzjuːrɪk/, /ˈzuːrɪk/, or /ˈzəːrɪk/) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne. Zürich can be counted as one of the world's preeminent global cities. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe.[1][2]

Contents

Name

The earliest known form of the city's name is Turicum, attested on a tombstone of the late 2nd century CE in the form STA(tio) TURICEN(sis) ("Turicum tax post"). Neither the name's linguistic origin (most likely Rhaetic or Celtic) nor its meaning can be determined with certainty. A possibility is derivation from *Turīcon, from the Gaulish personal name Tūros.[3]

A first development towards its later, Germanic form is attested as early as the 6th century CE with the form Ziurichi. From the 10th century onward, the name has more or less clearly been established as Zürich (Zurih (857), Zurich (924)).[4] Note that in the modern Zürich dialect, the name has lost its final ch [x]. This is hypocoristic rather than the result of a regular sound change, and the adjective remains Zürcher ['tsyr.xer] also in dialect.

History

Main article: History of Zürich

In Roman times, Turicum was a tax-collecting point at the border of Gallia Belgica (from AD 90 Germania superior) and Raetia for goods trafficked on the Limmat river.

A Carolingian castle, built on the site of the Roman castle by the grandson of Charlemagne, Louis the German, is mentioned in 835 ("in castro Turicino iuxta fluvium Lindemaci"). Louis also founded the Fraumünster abbey in 853 for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority.

In 1045, King Henry III granted the convent the right to hold markets, collect tolls, and mint coins, and thus effectively made the abbess the ruler of the city.

The Murerplan of 1576

Zürich became reichsunmittelbar in 1218 with the extinction of the main line of the Zähringer family. A city wall was built during the 1230s, enclosing 38 hectares.

Emperor Frederick II promoted the abbess of the Fraumünster to the rank of a duchess in 1234. The abbess assigned the mayor, and she frequently delegated the minting of coins to citizens of the city. However, the political power of the convent slowly waned in the 14th century, beginning with the establishment of the Zunftordnung (guild laws) in 1336 by Rudolf Brun, who also became the first independent mayor, i.e. not assigned by the abbess.

The famous illuminated manuscript known as The Manesse Codex, now in Heidelberg - described as "the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries;"[5] - was commissioned by the Manesse family of Zürich, copied and illustrated in the city at some time between 1304 and 1340. Producing such a work was a highly expensive prestige project, requiring several years work by highly skilled scribes [6] and miniature painters, and it clearly testifies to the increasing wealth and pride of Zürich citizens in this period.

Zürich joined the Swiss confederation (which at that time was a loose confederation of de facto independent states) as the fifth member in 1351 but was expelled in 1440 due to a war with the other member states over the territory of Toggenburg (the Old Zürich War). Zürich was defeated in 1446, and re-admitted to the confederation in 1450.

Zwingli started the Swiss Reformation at the time when he was the main preacher in Zürich. He lived there from 1484 until his death in 1531.

In 1839, the city had to yield to the demands of its urban subjects, following the Züriputsch of 6 September. Most of the ramparts built in the 17th century were torn down, without ever having been besieged, to allay rural concerns over the city's hegemony. The Treaty of Zurich between Austria, France, and Sardinia was signed in 1859.[7]

From 1847, the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn, the first railway on Swiss territory, connected Zürich with Baden, putting the Zürich Main Station at the origin of the Swiss rail network. The present building of the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) dates to 1871.

Zürich was accidentally bombed during World War II.

Coat of arms

Banner bearer of Zürich, from a 1585 painting by Humbert Mareschet

The blue and white coat of arms of Zürich is attested from 1389, and was derived from banners with blue and white stripes in use since 1315 . The first certain testimony of banners with the same design is from 1434. The coat of arms is flanked by two lions. The red Schwenkel on top of the banner had varying interpretations: For the people of Zürich, it was a mark of honour, granted by Rudolph I. Zürich's neighbors mocked it as a sign of shame, commemorating the loss of the banner at Winterthur in 1292.

Today, the Canton of Zürich uses the same coat of arms as the city.

Geography

Satellite photo of central Zürich

The city is situated where the river Limmat issues from the north-western end of Lake Zürich (Zürichsee), about 30 km north of the Alps. Zürich is surrounded by wooded hills including (from the north) the Gubrist, the Hönggerberg, the Käferberg, the Zürichberg, the Adlisberg and the Oettlisberg on the eastern shore; and the Uetliberg (part of the Albis range) on the western shore. The river Sihl meets with the Limmat at the end of Platzspitz, which borders the Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum). The geographic (and historic) center of the city is the Lindenhof, a small natural hill on the west bank of the Limmat, about 700 meters north of where the river issues from Lake Zürich. Today the incorporated city stretches somewhat beyond the natural hydrographic confines of the hills and includes some neighborhoods to the northeast in the Glattal (valley of the river Glatt).

City districts

Main article: Subdivisions of Zurich
Aerial photo of central and western Zürich
Zürich's twelve municipal districts.

The previous boundaries of the city of Zürich (before 1893) were more or less synonymous with the location of the old town. Two large expansions of the city limits occurred in 1893 and in 1934 when the city of Zürich merged with many surrounding municipalities, that had been growing increasingly together since the 19th century. Today, the city is divided into twelve districts (known as Kreis in German), numbered 1 to 12, each one of which may contain anywhere between 1 and 4 neighborhoods:

Most of the district boundaries are fairly similar to the original boundaries of the previously existing municipalities before they were incorporated into the city of Zürich.

Climate

Zurich has humid continental climate according to Köppens with four distinct seasons.

Summers are warm with average high temperatures of 70 - 75°F (21 - 24°C) and lows of 50 - 54°F (10 - 12°C), while winters are cold with average temperatures range from 25 - 41°F (-4 to 5°C). Spring and autumn are generally cool to mild. Temperatures do sometimes exceed into the 80s (25°C+) during the summer.

Precipitation is abundant throughout the year, with 42.4 inches (1,102 mm) annually. Summers are wetter than winters.

Nuvola apps kweather.svg Weather averages for Zürich, Switzerland Weather-rain-thunderstorm.svg
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 2
(36)		 5
(41)		 9
(48)		 13
(55)		 18
(64)		 21
(70)		 24
(75)		 23
(73)		 20
(68)		 14
(57)		 7
(47)		 3
(37)		 13
(55)
Average low °C (°F) -4
(25)		 -3
(27)		 -1
(30)		 3
(37)		 6
(43)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 11
(52)		 9
(48)		 5
(41)		 0
(32)		 -3
(27)		 4
(39)
Precipitation mm (inches) 68.6
(2.7)		 71.1
(2.8)		 71.1
(2.8)		 88.9
(3.5)		 104.1
(4.1)		 124.5
(4.9)		 119.4
(4.7)		 134.6
(5.3)		 94.0
(3.7)		 68.6
(2.7)		 81.3
(3.2)		 76.2
(3.0)		 1,102.4
(42.4)
Source: Weatherchannel[8] Nov 2007
View of Zürich from the Üetliberg.
View of Zürich from the Üetliberg.
View of the Zürich and the Swiss alps from the edge of Lake Zürich.
View of the Zürich and the Swiss alps from the edge of Lake Zürich.
View of Zürich from the Waidberg.
View of Zürich from the Waidberg.

Transport

One of the new Cobra trams in Zürich

Zürich is a mixed hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. It has several railway stations, including Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main station), Oerlikon, Stadelhofen, Hardbrücke, Tiefenbrunnen, Enge, Wiedikon and Altstetten. The Cisalpino, InterCityExpress, and even the TGV high-speed trains stop in Zürich.

The A1, A3 and A4 motorways pass close to Zürich. The A1 heads west towards Berne and Geneva and eastwards towards St. Gallen; the A4 leads northwards to Schaffhausen; and the A3 heads northwest towards Basel and southeast along Lake Zurich and Lake Walen towards Sargans.

Zürich International Airport is located less than 10 kilometres northeast of the city in Kloten. There is also an airfield in Dübendorf, although it is only used for military aviation.

Within Zürich and throughout the canton of Zürich, the ZVV network of public transport has traffic density ratings among the highest worldwide. If you add frequency, which in Zürich can be as often as 7 minutes, it does become the densest across all dimensions. Three means of mass-transit exist: the S-Bahn (local trains), trams, and buses (both diesel and electric, also called trolley buses). In addition the public transport network includes boats on the lake and river, funicular railways and even a cable car between Adliswil and Felsenegg. Tickets purchased for a trip are valid on all means of public transportation (train, tram, bus, boat).

Demographics

A street in Zurich

There are officially 376,815 people living in Zürich (as of the 4th quarter of 2007), making it Switzerland's largest city. 30.6% of registered inhabitants do not hold Swiss citizenship, which is 115,379 people.[9] Of these, German citizens make up the largest group with 22.0%, followed by Italians. The population of the city proper including suburbs totals 1.08 million people.[10] However, the entire metropolitan area (including the cities of Winterthur, Baden, Brugg, Schaffhausen, Frauenfeld, Uster/Wetzikon, Rapperswil-Jona and Zug) has a population of around 1.68 million people.[11]

Languages

The official language used by the government and in most publications is German, while the most commonly spoken dialect in Zürich is Zürich German (Zürichdeutsch or Züritüütsch), which is a local dialect of Swiss German. As of 2000, German is the mother-tongue of 77.7% of the population. Italian follows behind at 4.7% of the population. Other native languages spoken by more than 1% of the population include South Slavic languages (2.2%) — this includes Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian), Spanish (2.2%), French (2.1%), English (1.8%), Portuguese (1.6%), Albanian (1.5%).[12]

Religion

Since the reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli, Zürich has remained the center and stronghold of Protestantism in Switzerland. In the course of the 20th century, this has changed as Catholics now make up the largest religious group in the city, with 33.3%.[13] An increasing number of inhabitants has declared themselves as being without religion (this was 16.8% of the population in 2000).

Social

The level of unemployment in Zürich is 2.6%[14] (August 2007). About 4% of the city population (15,500 people) live either directly or indirectly on welfare from the state (April 2005).[15]

Sight-seeing

Further information: Zürich old town
Clock on St. Peter Church

Zurich has a number of notable churches including:

During 2004 the Fraumünster was fully renovated. During this period the installed scaffolding went above the tip of the tower allowing a unique and exceptional 360° panoramic view of Zürich.

Along the river with several churches in the background
Along the river with several churches in the background

Notable museums include:

Other sights

Business, industry and commerce

The approximate extent of Greater Zürich Area is marked in green.

Zürich is a leading financial center, and often considered a global city. UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, Zurich Financial Services, and many other financial institutions have their headquarters in Zürich, the commercial center of Switzerland. Zürich is one of the world's biggest centers for offshore banking. The Swiss Stock Exchange is located in Zürich (see also Swiss banking).

The Greater Zurich Area is Switzerland's economic center and home to a vast number of international companies.

Contributory factors to economic strength

The high quality of life has been cited as a likely reason for the presence of international economic growth in Zürich. Mercer has ranked Zürich as the city with the highest quality of life anywhere in the world a number of years in a row.[1][2] Berne and Geneva were also ranked among the top ten. Statistics show that in the productive sector of the city 60% speak German, 43% English, 30% French and 13% Italian. As such, the city is home to a considerable number of people speaking at least two or three languages.

These are factors why large corporations and service/research centers, such as IBM, General Motors Europe, Toyota Europe, UBS, Credit Suisse, Google, Microsoft, ABB Ltd., and Degussa are moving to Zurich.

The Swiss stock exchange

Swiss stock Exchange in Zürich.

The Swiss stock exchange is called SWX Swiss Exchange. The SWX is the head group of several different worldwide operative financial systems: virt-x, Eurex, Eurex US, EXFEED and STOXX. The exchange turnover generated at the SWX was in 2007 of 1,780,499.5 million CHF; the number of transactions arrived in the same period at 35,339,296 and the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) arrived at a total market capitalization of 1,359,976.2 million CHF.[16][17]

The SWX Swiss Exchange goes back more than 150 years. In 1996, fully electronic trading replaced the traditional floor trading system at the stock exchanges of Geneva (founded in 1850), Zürich (1873) and Basel (1876).

Since 2008 the SWX is part of the Swiss Financial Market Services. This holding becomes to the merging of the companies SWX Group, SIS Group and Telekurs Group.

Government

The legislative power is in hands of the city parliament that is called "Gemeinderat". It consist of 125 members elected by the people of Zurich.[18]

The executive power is being executed by the city council named "Stadtrat". Similar to the city parliament the councillors are also elected by the people of Zurich. Each councillor is responsible for a specific department. One member of the council is also acting as city president which best could be described as the mayor. Current city president is Elmar Ledergerber.

Education and research

Zürich is home to many universities, colleges and gymnasiums. Two of Switzerland's most distinguished universities are located in the city. The technical university ETH Zürich which is controlled by the state and the University of Zürich that is under direction of the canton of Zurich. Both universities are well-known and have an international reputation. They were listed in the top 200 world universities rated in 2007.[19]

Media

Many large Swiss media conglomerates are headquartered in Zürich, such as tamedia, Ringier and the NZZ-Verlag. Because of this, Zürich is one of the most important media locations in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. This status has been recently reinforced by the increase in availability of online publications published in Zürich.

Television and Radio

The headquarters of Switzerland's national German-language television network (SF) are located in the Leutschenbach neighborhood, to the north of the Oerlikon train station. Regional television network TeleZüri (Zürich Television) has its headquarters near Escher-Wyss Platz. The production facilities for private networks Star TV, u1 TV and 3+ are located in Schlieren.

One section of the Swiss German-language public radio station DRS is located in Zürich. There are other local radio stations broadcasting from Zürich, such as Radio 24 on the Limmatstrasse, Energy Zürich in Seefeld on the Kreuzstrasse, Radio LoRa and Radio 1 (on the frequency of former Radio Tropic). There are other radio stations that operate only during certain parts of the year, such as CSD Radio (May/June), Radio Streetparade (July/August) and rundfunk.fm (August/September).

Print Media

There are three large daily newspapers published in Zürich that are known across Switzerland. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), the Tages-Anzeiger and the Blick, the largest Swiss tabloid. All three of those newspapers publish Sunday editions. These are the "NZZ am Sonntag", "SonntagsZeitung" and "SonntagsBlick". Besides the three main daily newspapers, there are free daily commuter newspapers which are widely distributed: 20 Minuten (20 minutes), published weekdays in the mornings, .ch (weekday morning), News (weekday morning) and http://www.blick.ch/blickamabend, weekdays but in the late afternoon, and Cashdaily[10], a finance-related weekday free newspaper published in the mornings, but only available at certain branded newspaper sales kiosks.

There are a number of magazines from major publishers that are based in Zürich. Some examples are: Bilanz, Die Weltwoche, and Annabelle.

Culture

Events

Art movements born in Zürich

Opera, ballet and theaters

Nightlife and clubbing

Zürich's old town at night

Zürich offers a lot of variety when it comes for night-time leisure. It is the host city of the world-famous Street Parade, which takes place in August every year.

Zürich at night

The most famous districts for Nightlife are the Niederdorf in the old town with bars, restaurants, lounges, hotels, clubs, etc. and a lot of fashion shops for a young and stylish public and the Langstrasse in the districts 4 and 5 of the city. There are authentic amusements: Brazilian bars, punk clubs, HipHop stages, Caribic restaurants, arthouse-cinemas, Turkish kebabs and Italian espresso-bars, but also sex shops or the famous red light district of Zürich.

In the past ten years new parts of the city have risen into the spotlight. Notably, the area known as Zürich West in district 5, near the Escher-Wyss square and the S-Bahn Station of Hardbrücke.

Sports

Football is an essential aspect of Sports in Zurich. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) resides in town. The city is also home to two major Swiss football clubs listed in Switzerland's highest league; Grasshopper-Club Zürich founded in 1886 and FC Zürich which exists since 1896.

Another popular sport in Switzerland, ice hockey, is represented by the ZSC Lions. The club won this seasons Swiss ice hockey championship. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) officiating as head organisation for ice hockey leagues worldwide is based in Zurich as well.

Major sport events running in Zurich are Weltklasse Zürich, an annual athletic meeting, and the Zurich Open, part of the WTA tour.

Zürich co-hosted some of the Euro 2008 games in the Letzigrund Stadion. Work on the new Letzigrund was completed in exceptionally quick time and the stadium opened in August 2007 just one year after the demolition of the old arena.

Notable people

People who were born or died in Zürich:

Famous residents:

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "2007 World-wide quality of living survey". Mercer (2007-04-02). Retrieved on 2008-08-08.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Mercer's 2008 Quality of Living survey highlights". Mercer (2008-06-10). Retrieved on 2008-08-08.
  3. ↑ Andres Kristol, Zürich ZH (Zürich) in: Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS|LSG), Centre de dialectologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld/Stuttgart/Wien 2005, ISBN 3-7193-1308-5 und Éditions Payot, Lausanne 2005, ISBN 2-601-03336-3, p. 992f.
  4. ↑ Zürcher Ortsnamen - Entstehung und Bedeutung], H. Kläuli, V. Schobinger, Zürcher Kantonalbank (1989), p. 109.
  5. ↑ Ingeborg Glier, reviewing Koschorreck and Werner 1981 in Speculum 59.1 (January 1984), p 169.
  6. ↑ Koschorreck and Werner 1981 discern no fewer than eleven scribes, some working simultaneously, in the production.
  7. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Encyclopedia
  8. ↑ "Historical Weather for Zurich, Switzerland". Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
  9. ↑ "[http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/internet/stat/home/publikationen/regelmaessige-publikationen/quartalsweise_erscheinende/2007_4Q_BEV.ParagraphContainerList.ParagraphContainer0.ParagraphList.0002.File.pdf/BEV_4Q_2007.pdf Bevölkerung Stadt Zürich]" (PDF) (in German). Statistical Office of the City of Zürich (2008-03-06). Retrieved on 2008-08-22.
  10. ↑ Statistical Office of the City of Zürich
  11. ↑ Statistical Office of the Canton of Zürich
  12. ↑ Population Numbers Flyer (German)
  13. ↑ Gemeinde Zürich:
  14. ↑ http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/internet/stat/home/key_figures/Arbeitslose.html
  15. ↑ Population chart
  16. ↑ [1] Market capitalization of listed securities, 2000-2007
  17. ↑ [2] Key figures: annual turnover and trades, 1998-2007
  18. ↑ Official site of the city parliament in German
  19. ↑ Times Higher Education Supplement
  20. ↑ Theaterspektakel
  21. ↑ Kunst Zürich 2007 | Kunstmesse Zürich
  22. ↑ www.weltklasse.ch
  23. ↑ www.freestyle.ch
  24. ↑ ZÜRI FÄSCHT 2010

External links

Districts of Canton Zürich
Affoltern · Andelfingen · Bülach · Dielsdorf · Dietikon · Hinwil · Horgen · Meilen · Pfäffikon · Uster · Winterthur · Zurich
Canton of Zürich · Districts of Switzerland · Municipalities of the canton of Zurich
Capitals of Swiss cantons
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