Opernhauskrawalle

Züri brännt or Opernhauskrawalle, literally meaning "Zürich is burning", is the Swiss German term and generally used for the youth protests end of May 1980 in Swiss city of Zürich, a municipality in the Canton of Zürich, and 'rebirth' of the Hippie movement in Switzerland in the 1980s.

Burning of the so-called Böögg on occasion of Sechseläuten in 2013, not the youth protests but the same site at Sechseläutenplatz.

Background

A three-day celebration of the Zürich Opernhaus and the opening of a festival was celebrated on 30 May 1980. Uninvited, about 200 protesters demanded an autonomous youth center. The communal Stadtpolizei Zürich and state Kantonspolizei Zürich police corps were informed before and stationed in the foyer of the opera house. As the youths occupied the stairs, the demonstration degenerated into a street battle between the demonstrators and the police, who were equipped with water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. A public referendum contributed to the riots, as the city of Zurich planned to grant CHF 61 million to the opera house of the rich Zürich people for a renovation and an extension of the building, but nothing to the planned Rote Fabrik in Zürich-Wollishofen, on the other side of the Zürichsee lake shore. The demands of the young people to have their own cultural center had been studiously ignored for years. Their reaction was now "long pent-up anger" as a newspaper headlined. "Züri brännt" is a household word, and is originally a punk song of the band TNT. Andreas Homoki, director of the opera house, described the situation in the "hot summer of 1980" as explosive, and in fact "there was not enough room for a youth culture", and that the then astronomical subvention on the one hand and on the other hand, the lack of commitment for the youth by the then conservative government of Zürich.[1]

Thus, the extremely high subventions, but lacking of alternative governmental cultural programs for the youth in Zürich, occurred the so-called Opernhauskrawall, meaning riots or youth protests at the Zürich Opera House (German: Opernhaus). The youth protests culminated on 30/31 May 1980,[2] at the present Sechseläutenplatz square in Zürich, but also in the whole city, spreading to others municipalities in Switzerland in 1980 and again in 1982. The youth protests mark the beginning of the modern youth movement in Switzerland, maybe started a hype of the alternative and former Hippie movement.

Aftermath

A first political compromise was the so-called AJZ (a shorttime youth centre at the Zürich main station), and the establishment of the so-called Rote Fabrik alternative cultural centre in Wollishofen in late 1980. Rote Fabrik still exists, and claims to be one of the most important alternative cultural places in the greater Zürich urban area. The most prominent politicians involved were Sigmund Widmer and Emilie Lieberherr, then member of the city's executive (Stadtrat) authorities.[3][1] The Swiss newspaper WOZ Die Wochenzeitung exposed in 2006 that even an undercover police officer saw action in 1980[4] – in October 2016 a book about Willi S's double life as revoluzzer and police officer was published.[5]

The youth protests in Swiss culture

Caused to the TV live debate on the riots and the proportionality of the operations of the municipal Stadtpolizei Zürich and cantonal Kantonspolizei Zürich police corps, the youth movement got additional popularity by "Anna Müller" and "Hans Müller" as the representatives of the youth movement in the today's federal Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen on 15 July 1980.[3] The fictional names are Swiss equivalents of the terms John Doe and Jane Doe.

Zürich brännt, a Swiss documentary film based on video material of 1980, was filmed in black and white at the locations of the youth protests in May 1980 and afterwards. It was aired in Swiss television SRF in May 2014. Beginning on 22 January 2015, the film was shown on occasion of the Solothurn Film Festival as one of the milestones of the Swiss film history.[2][1]

Literature

References

  1. 1 2 3 Franz Kasperski (2015-01-16). "Der heisse Sommer 1980: "Züri brännt"" (in German). SRF Kultur. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  2. 1 2 "Meilensteine der Filmgeschichte an den Solothurner Filmtagen" (in German). 10vor10. 2015-01-16. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  3. 1 2 "Diskussion zu den Zürcher Jugendunruhen ("CH-Magazin" vom 15.7.1980)" (in German). SRF Kultur. 1980-07-15. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  4. ↑ Jürg Frischknecht (2006-01-12). "Willi von der Bombenpolizei" (in German). WOZ Die Wochenzeitung 2/2006. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  5. 1 2 "Das Doppelleben des Polizisten Willy S" (in German). Ex Libris (bookshop). Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  6. ↑ "Der verdeckte Informant" (in German). SR DRS Tagesschaau Hauptausgabe. 2016-10-22. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
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