Oerlikon is a quarter in the northern part of Zurich, Switzerland.
The formerly independent municipality Oerlikon was merged with Zurich in 1934 and forms today, together with Affoltern and Seebach, the city district 11.
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The name Oerlikon goes back to the alemannic settlement founder Orilo. Oerlikon was mentioned for the first time in the year 946 (other source: 942) as Orlinchowa. At that time the town consisted of no more than one dozen houses and was part of the municipality Schwamendingen, where the inhabitants of Oerlikon went to school and attended church. In 1855 a railway that connected southern Germany with Zurich was built. Thus, Oerlikon grew at a very fast pace and became a hub for industry and trade. In 1872 Oerlikon was separated from Schwamendingen and became its own municipality. In 1897 a tramway from Zurich to Oerlikon was built. Branch lines led also to Seebach and Schwamendingen.
South of the railway line the Oerlikon town center with the shopping centres Neumarkt and züri 11 shopping, the luxurious hotel Swissôtel and the market place are located. North of the station, a new quarter called Neu-Oerlikon (New Oerlikon) is being built. In the former industrial area new living and working area is created. This urban architecture is lightened up by generous parks. In the last years four new parks very outstanding in the professional world were built: The Oerliker Park with a look-out tower, the MFO-Park on the area of the earlier engine factory Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon, the Traugott Wahlen-Park and the Louis-Häfliger-Park.
Beside the head office of Oerlikon Contraves also the buildings of the Zurich fair Messe Zürich as well as the stadium Hallenstadion are located in Oerlikon. Also the 1876 created Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon resided here. Further industrial enterprises settled in Oerlikon are OC Oerlikon (former Unaxis) and ABB.
Zürich Oerlikon railway station is, as an important junction of the Zurich S-Bahn network, a bottleneck for public traffic. Oerlikon is a nodal point where the lines lines S2, S5, S6, S7, S8, S14 and S16 of the Zurich S-Bahn, the Stadtbahn Glattal and Zurich trams in the Glatt Valley interconnect. Train connections to Oerlikon from Zürich Hauptbahnhof are very frequent, and the ride takes only a few minutes.
The Oerlikon tram stop called 'Sternen Oerlikon' can be literally translated from German to English as the 'Starred Oerlikon'. This name was given due to the manner of how streets are organized in the surroundings of the tram stop, forming a perfect five-pointed star with the station close to its center. The streets which compose such star are: Schaffhauserstrasse, Ohmstrasse, Wallisellenstrasse, and Querstrasse.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Oerlikon Oerlikon] at Wikimedia Commons
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