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| City Guide - Zurich - City Overview | ||
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City Overview Synonymous with international banking, Zurich (Zürich, or more familiarly, Züri) has a financial and cultural importance that belies its modest size. Although the largest city in Switzerland, Zurich aptly promotes itself as the 'little big city' and has a historic centre compact enough to be explored on foot. Zurich lies at the centre of the canton of Zurich on Switzerland's central plain, with the elevation rising towards the south and the Alps. The Old Town spans the River Limmat, and some of the most interesting lanes and buildings are clustered on its banks. The city's most familiar sites are the Fraumünster and Grossmünster minsters, which face each other across the river, while the nearby Lindenhof was the site of a Roman customs post founded in 15BC and is a good vantage point. Surrounding the Old Town, the Kreis (districts) of Zurich are arrayed clockwise around the centre and the numbers correspond to the last digit in the postcode. The city lies at the northern tip of the Zürichsee (Lake Zurich), and lakeside promenades and expensive houses can be seen along both shores. The view in summer is beautiful, with the lake reflecting the mountains and blue sky but winter snowfalls bring a magic of their own. Zurich dates its origins from Roman times and by the tenth century had acquired the status of a city, it was at the centre of the Swiss Reformation movement in the sixteenth century, under the leadership of Huldrych Zwingli. His motto 'pray and work' was to have a profound effect on this diligent city, which, by the nineteenth century, had grown into the commercial and financial centre of Switzerland. The modern Zurich is a city of bankers in a country of banks, and this concentration of wealth can most readily be seen along the lime tree-lined Bahnhofstrasse. All the major banks have a presence here, notably at the Paradeplatz where elegant shops and designer boutiques line the street, interspersed with trendy bars and attractive cafés stretching from the Hauptbahnhof right down to Lake Zurich. Other riches lie in the city's excellent universities, and Zurich is a powerhouse for research, with public-private partnerships leading to innovations in design and the high-tech arena. The excellent infrastructure and delightful atmosphere have ensured Zurich's role as a major conference and incentive destination. The city also has a strong cultural presence - over thirty museums, art galleries, auction houses, the opera, orchestras and the Schauspielhaus theatre, as well as a number of performance spaces that encourage contemporary artists in all media. The citizens enjoy a high standard of living, and this is played out in the many fashionable and enjoyable bars, cafés and restaurants that fill the Old Town. The ambience is heightened by the large swathes on either side of the River Limmat that are pedestrian-only areas. But for those who find the comfortable burgher lifestyle a little too tame, there are always alternative places to seek out. This is, after all, the city that saw the birth of the Dadaism - the antithesis of conformity. |
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