House of the Sword (Zurich)
The Haus zum Schwert is a medieval building in the old town of Zurich and is located on the left bank of the Limmat at Weinplatz 10. Despite various renovations and extensions, the original structure of the two towers that make up today's «Haus zum Sword »has grown together. Archaeological investigations in the years 1990–1994 have largely clarified the historical connections.
location
The house stands on the site of the former Roman ship landing stage in the Vicus Turicum . At the bridge from Roman times, the two sword towers developed into a bridgehead in the Middle Ages. The natural bay was filled in in the second quarter of the 13th century, and the town granary was built on the square. After an accident with a grain wagon, the granary was demolished in 1620 in order to gain “a nice place”, today's Weinplatz . The Kornhaus was rebuilt up the Limmat.
history
The house was first mentioned in 1265, when the knight Jakob Mülner transferred the farmstead above his residential tower to the Abbey of the Fraumünster monastery . As his highest employer, he then received it back as a fief .
How long the Mülner lived in the house on the Untere Brücke is not clear. Gotfried I. Mülner (1291–1336) probably still lived in the tower. The complex came from the daughters of Gotfried II, who lived in the vicinity of the Austrian dukes, in 1406 to the Zurich landlord Hans Brunner, who set up an inn there.
The front sword tower
The "Front Sword Tower" was built in the first half of the 13th century. It was made of brick ashlars and, with its elegant construction, reflected Mülner's social position as Reichsvogt. The tower had a square footprint of 8 × 8 m and was 14.5 m high. The wall thickness was 1.8 m on the ground floor and 1.25 m on the top floor. The ground floor was accessed via the courtyard on the north side, while wooden stairs and arbors led to high entrances on the upper two floors . Leaning against the tower were shop stalls that offered their goods towards the new Weinplatz. The building to the west of the tower, the "brick", was built towards the end of the 13th century.
In 1272 an arbor outside the brick tower is mentioned, which probably belonged to a wooden porch on the Limmat. At the end of the 13th century, a stone extension was built on the west side, the "house on the tower".
The rear sword tower
Between 1287 and 1292, Jakob Mülner's son Rudolf built the rectangular "rear sword tower ", the so-called Trottenhaus , a few meters down the Limmat , the narrow side of which faced the Limmat. In 1292 Rudolf is mentioned as the owner of a house on the nidrun brugge hindan as well as a Trotte. At this point in time at the latest, the bank construction had been extended by around 5 m into the Limmat to enlarge the courtyard area. The portal on the 1st floor was accessed by outside stairs. The long side of the approximately 8 m high building with its floor plan of 10.5 × 13.8 m was directed towards the front tower. There was a courtyard between the two buildings. The suspected wooden upper floor was replaced by two massive floors in the first quarter of the 14th century, making the building the same height as the front tower. The building was covered with a hipped roof .
The stand construction in 1345
The space between the two buildings was obstructed towards the river with wooden shops, which were torn away by a flood in 1343: Anno Domini 1343, 24, July the Lindmat was so big that sy in Zurich the big house on the Nideren (yetz (1548) to the Rote Schwärt) domals belonging to Mr. Hans Müllern, away fort, that pounded the Müllisteg and washes three garbage with him.
Afterwards, a wooden building with a floor plan of 18 × 18 m was erected on the Limmat side, which was connected to the two remaining towers and largely stood on piles rammed into the river. Dendrochronological evidence of preserved wood showed that it felled in 1344/45.
With this building, the three-storey complex had reached its present size. The illustration by Hans Leu the Elder comes from this time. It shows the new post construction with its elevator bay window on the left side of the roof. The white sheet hanging from a window on the second floor indicates that rooms are available.
The inn
At the beginning of the 15th century the property passed to the landlord Hans Brunner, who in 1421 opened the “Zürcherische Standesherberge” licensed by the authorities in it. In 1454 the name "sword" is mentioned for the first time, and until the middle of the 16th century it was called "Zum Roten Schwert". In 1534 the wooden structure was underpinned by a wall. The storey-by-storey cantilevers were carried out on the occasion of major renovations and were completed in 1549. Until 1563, the landlord Jakob Bluntschli carried out further modifications. In 1556 a hall was set up for which the Swiss Federal Diet donated coats of arms from Jos Murer .
In 1612 the "sword" came into the possession of Hans Ott through marriage, in whose family the house was to remain for almost three centuries and seven generations. In 1650 the hotel had nine double and seven single rooms as well as numerous chambers. The stables were in the courtyard (today Schipfe 3), which was reached by a passage. After 1690 the house was raised by one floor and from then on had 40 beds. There were twelve shops on the first floor. In 1742 Peter Ott set up a confectionery business for his son who supplied the hotel with his confectionery.
In 1762/63 the miserable and dilapidated condition of the "sword" led to a comprehensive renovation. Among other things, a central kitchen was installed, the cantilevers leveled out and another floor was added. Instead of the slug panes, glass panes were used. A multi-storey toilet bay was built over the Limmat. The house was given the appearance of a stone building by plastering the facades and painting on the corner blocks.
Prominent guests
Under the management of the Ott family, the "Hôtel de L'Epée" became one of the first hotels in Europe. The house experienced its heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries. The “sword” was a cultural center of Zurich, where numerous prominent guests stayed. Among them were Tsar Alexander of Russia, Johannes Brahms, Friedrich von Hotze, Louis Napoleon, Alexandre Dumas, Duke Carl August von Sachsen-Weimar, King Friedrich Wilhelm III., King Gustav Adolf IV. Of Sweden, Casanova, Goethe, Ludwig Uhland, Emperor Josef II of Austria, Franz Liszt and in 1766 the Mozart family after a concert in the music hall.
Sophie von La Roche was enthusiastic about the lake and the “Ice Mountains” , which she could see from her hotel window. The German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte was the private tutor for Anton Ott's children from 1788 to 1790 .
Even Victor Hugo stayed on his travels through Switzerland in the "sword", but was early in the morning from the erupting outside the inn unrest of the September 9, 1839 Züriputsches aroused.
In 1838 the "Hôtel Baur-en-Ville" was opened on Poststrasse. This gave the "sword" a competition that it could not prevail over the long term. After many changes of ownership, an era came to an end with the First World War: in 1918 the house was sold to the canton of Zurich and housed the cantonal tax office for several years. In 1938 it became the headquarters of the Samen Mauser company, and in 1981 it was bought by Swiss Reinsurance. On the occasion of the last renovations from 1990 to 1994, the state from before 1852 was restored. The two previously removed balconies were rebuilt and the historical building was secured inside.
Today the "Haus zum Schwert" houses shops and offices, as well as an apartment on the top floor.
gallery
The "House of the Sword"
View from the southeast
View from the north
View from the house to the sword
Roof terrace
literature
- Regine Abegg, Christine Barraud Wiener: The art monuments of the canton of Zurich. Volume II.II: City of Zurich. Wiese Verlag, Basel 2003.
- Thomas Germann: Zurich in fast motion. Volume I, Werd-Verlag, Zurich 1997
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Germann: Zurich in fast motion. Volume II, Werd-Verlag, Zurich 2002
- ^ Regine Abegg, Christine Barraud Wiener: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Zürich. Volume II.II: City of Zurich. Wiese Verlag, Basel 2003
- ↑ Zurich City Archive ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Literary Zurich ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Project data sheet Haus zum Schwert Zurich. Allreal, May 15, 2006, accessed October 5, 2017 .
Coordinates: 47 ° 22 ′ 18 " N , 8 ° 32 ′ 31" E ; CH1903: 683 331 / 247344