Tell about Zurich ?

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When I give walking tours around Zurich with Free Walk Switzerland, I often begin my tours with a question: What images, products, historical events or stereotypes come to mind when you think about Switzerland?

Zurich is not the capital of Switzerland
Because Zurich is the Swiss financial capital, many assume it also holds the highest rank in politics. However, the central city of Bern became the official unofficial federal capital in 1848, when Switzerland became the country we know today. Intrigued? You can read more facts about Bern in this article by Swiss expert Diccon Bewes.

Yet Zurich is Switzerland’s largest city
With the city’s population topping 400,000 inhabitants and 1.3 million people within the canton, Zurich is the urban hub of Switzerland. From my experience, the city’s size, which is relatively small compared to other large international cities, is part of its charm.

Approximately 30 percent of Zurich residents are foreign nationals, like me. I don’t know that many people here but I still manage to run into friends and acquaintances while out and about in the city. That’s a comforting experience for an expat.

Zurich – one of the most idyllic of Swiss cities – is also one of the biggest. It is surrounded by spectacular nature and the nearby Alps, enticing people with their natural beauty. But these aren’t the only reasons why it’s different from all the other Swiss cities.

In Switzerland, you can spell Zurich six different ways
Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. As a result, you’ll see several spellings for Swiss cities throughout the country, which can be helpful to learn.

But the Romans gave Zurich its first name
Before Zurich’s nomenclature started confusing many an expat, Zurich had another name. The modern city of Zurich began as a Roman customs outpost, which they called Turicum. The earliest record of this name was found on a second-century tombstone discovered at the Lindenhof hill.

The most widespread dialect in the city is Swiss German, although most of the locals are also fluent in Italian, French and English. For tourists, it’s simply ideal.

In medieval times, women held the most political power in the region
In 853 AD, Louis the German, King of Bavaria and grandson of Charlemagne, founded the Fraumünster abbey — a gift for his daughter Hildegard. This little convent was very unconventional from the start. The abbey was endowed with the surrounding lands and by the 11th century, the women of Fraumünster — and in particular the abbess — held almost all of the economic and political power in the region.

Zurich is recognised as the city with the highest living standard in the world, over and over again. More than once, its inhabitants were also titled the happiest people on the planet.

The City of Zurich is the proud owner of the largest church clock face in Europe
Located in the heart of the Old Town, St Peter’s Church stands adjoined to a medieval watchtower built for the local fire brigade. A clock face with moving dials was slapped on the tower in 1366, and for centuries the marvelous façade served as the standard for local Zurich time.

Another reason why the city is so popular with tourists is its abundance of entertainment. Zurich has the most night clubs per capita in Europe.

Zurich has over 1,200 drinking fountains
Rome may have her fancy fountains that are good for making wishes and taking selfies, but Zurich has hundreds of fountains that allow you to quench your thirst in almost every corner of the city. Drinking fountains are a part of the Swiss standard, as they are a sensible, public resource for the benefit of everyone. Some fountains are plain and simple, while others showcase historical figures or innovative design.

Lake Zurich has frozen over twice in recent history
Within the last century, Lake Zurich froze over twice completely in 1929 and in the winter of 1962–1963. For a solid layer of ice to cover over 88 square kilometers, winter temperatures must remain well below freezing for weeks on end.

Here you can embark on a 13-km-long walk along the Planetary Way that begins on the Üetliberg Mountain. Having enjoyed the excellent city panorama from up top, tourists then head for the planets themselves. The distances between them correspond to the ones in the sky. This attraction is especially popular among astronomy enthusiasts.

Zurich is home to perhaps the most non-sensible art movement of all time
With the outbreak of WWI, a group of artists, poets, and intellectuals gathered in Zurich’s Cabaret Voltaire, a bar and theater located in the heart of the old city. There they discussed their outrage towards the atrocities of war and their mutual disgust with societal values of the time. From those meetings, Dadaism — both an artistic genre and a protest movement — was born.

Zurich is hailed as a cultural mecca. At the beginning of the 20th century, it gave birth to Dadaism.

The University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology are two of the city’s most famous schools. The former trained 20 Nobel Prize winners, the latter – as many as seven.

Dadaism is defined by outlandish, abrasive and even grotesque manifestations of art, theater and public discourse. Some claim the Dada Movement as the precursor to surrealism and post-modernism. The year 2016 marks the 100th Anniversary of Zurich’s Dada Movement. You can learn more about Dada and related events here on the Zürich Tourism website.

Conrad Röntgen and Albert Einstein wrote their dissertations here. For two years, the city was also home to the Soviet exile and Nobel Prize laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

One of Switzerland’s largest corporations began in Zurich
Even though the ‘Orange Giant’ had humble beginnings, Migros has grown into the largest retail company in Switzerland and one of the largest in the world. To learn about the legacy of Zurich legend Gottlieb Duttweiler, check out the story of Migros.

Zurich has 1,030 fountains with potable water.

Zurich hosts the largest techno street party in Europe
For a city whose people are often stereotyped as straight-laced rule followers, Zurich holds a major event that defies that perception completely. Every year in August, millions of wildly dressed people fill the streets of Zurich to party at Street Parade, the largest techno parade in Europe.

In one part of the city zoo, animals live freely and uncaged.