Nordheim crematorium

Nordheim crematorium with a 15 m high cross

The Nordheim crematorium is the largest in Switzerland and was at times the largest in Europe. It is located above Käferholzstrasse at the Nordheim cemetery in Zurich - Unterstrass . Currently (as of 2015) around 6000 cremations are carried out annually.

History of origin

The Sihlfeld A crematorium, opened in 1889, was not only the first crematorium in Zurich, but also in all of Switzerland. It was replaced by the Sihlfeld D crematorium in 1915 . Its capacity limits seemed to be foreseeable, since in 1925 the number of cremations exceeded that of burials for the first time. For this reason, it was first checked whether the Sihlfeld A crematorium, which was closed in 1915, could not be modernized and put back into operation. The narrow space and the idea that a new crematorium should better be on the right side of the Limmat , caused the city to refrain from doing so. In 1931 there was a competition to build a new crematorium on the site of what is now the Nordheim crematorium. In 1932 the architects Henauer and Witschi worked out a preliminary project for the construction of the crematorium on the decision of the city council. But since the old ovens from the Sihlfeld D crematorium were replaced in 1932 and a third one was added in 1935, the construction of a second crematorium no longer seemed urgent, so that the preparatory work by the two architects was completed in 1933. In connection with the construction of the Hönggerberg cemetery , it was examined in 1946 whether the second crematorium for the city of Zurich should also be built there. However, this project was dropped again. In April 1950, however, the city council resumed the plans for the construction of the second crematorium at the Nordheim cemetery and, after various discussions, awarded Albert Heinrich Steiner the contract to develop the project in 1957 . Willi Neukom was responsible for the landscaping . In 1961 Steiner's project was approved and in 1962 the electorate accepted the project, so that it could be realized between 1963 and 1967. In 1976, the storage area was expanded and the urn grove, which was planned but not realized for financial reasons, was built in the form of three inner courtyards. This was expanded in a further step from 1985 to 1987. All conversions and extensions were carried out according to plans by architect Albert Heinrich Steiner, so that the Nordheim crematorium was designed according to the concept of a single architect. From 1990 to 1993 the furnace system was expanded from three to eight units. There are currently (as of 2015) seven electric ovens in operation.

Building description

Access to the Abdication Halls

Appearance and location

The area of ​​the crematorium is located above Käferholzstrasse and west of the Nordheim cemetery. From the parking lot and the bus stop, a curved path leads to the forecourt of the crematorium, on which there is the 15-meter-high copper cross that points to the location of the crematorium. Along the way from the parking lot to the crematorium, the urn niches are set up at the edge of the forest, with the anatomy grave as a special feature , in which the ashes of those people who have made their corpses available to science are buried.

Abdication Halls I and II

Hall I.

Hall II

In front of the two abdication halls is a courtyard , which is enclosed by a wall and, as a roofed square walkway, is reminiscent of a cloister of a monastery . The walkway to the inner courtyard is glazed and offers a view of a fountain and Föhren . The visitor enters the abdication halls through massive doors.

Abdication Hall I is the larger and offers space for 450 people. The Abdankungshalle II is set up for 150 people. Both halls are designed similarly and have a floor made of Rosso Verona marble . On both long walls of Hall I and on the north-eastern long side of Hall II there are rectangular recesses that are reminiscent of columbaria . Glass mosaics were embedded in these recesses , which give the two halls a sacred atmosphere with their light reflections . Both halls have a gallery above the entrance , each with an organ . There is a tapestry on each wall behind the lectern, which is slightly raised from the floor of the hall . In Hall I, the carpet comes from Max Truninger, who also designed the colored windows. The tapestry in Hall II is by Carlotta Stocker. A floor mosaic by Adolf Funk and reliefs by Otto Müller and Hans Josephsohn complement the artistic equipment of the facility. If there is a farewell with a coffin , it can be lowered from the halls to the basement using a lift during or after the celebration.

Organ in hall I.

Organ from hall I.

In 1967 an organ was built for the large abdication hall by Orgelbau Kuhn , Männedorf. The instrument has 26 registers on 2 manuals including a pedal.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 Quintatön 16 ′ Principal 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Gemshorn 8th' octave 4 ′ Night horn 4 ′ octave 2 ′ mixture 1 1 / 3 '

II Swell C – g 3 Cane-covered 16 ′ Suavial 8th' Coupling flute 8th' Beat 8th' Principal 4 ′ Sesquialter II 2 2 / 3 ' Forest flute 2 ′ Sharp IV-V 1' shawm 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Tremulant

Pedal C – f 1 Principal bass 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Octave bass 8th' Pointed flute 8th' Choral bass 4 ′ Rauschpfeife 2 2 / 3 '

• Normal coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
• Playing aids : Register crescendo, 3 free combinations, 2 fixed combinations (Choralforte, Tutti), storage: Mixture (HW), Scharf (SW), Rauschpfeife (Ped), Manual 16 ', all reeds

Organ of Hall II

Kuhn organ in Hall II

Orgelbau Kuhn built an organ for Hall II in 1966 that originally had 14 registers on 2 manuals and a pedal. Covered 16 'in the first manual was added to an additional electrical drawer shortly after the inauguration. The shawm 8 'in the swell was also retrofitted.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 Covered 16 ′ Principal 8th' Coupling flute 8th' Principal 4 ′ Reed flute 4 ′ octave 2 ′ mixture 1 1 / 3 '

II Swell C – g 3 Dumped 8th' Salicional 8th' recorder 4 ′ Sesquialter II 2 2 / 3 ' Flageolet 2 ′ Larigot 1 ' 1 / 3 ' shawm 8th' Tremulant

Pedal C – f 1 Sub bass 16 ′ flute 8th'

• Normal coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
• Playing aids : a rotary knob combination

Furnace technology

Seven electrically heated cremation ovens are currently (as of 2015) in operation in the Nordheim crematorium. During the night, the ovens are heated to operating temperature. The coffin is pushed into the oven with a fully automatic insertion machine. The combustion gases are fed into a flue gas cleaning system so that all legal requirements are met.

Appreciation

The Nordheim crematorium is both architecturally and functionally important:

The architect of the crematorium, Albert Heinrich Steiner, was a city planner in Zurich, a professor at the ETH Zurich and the builder of the first stage of the ETH Hönggerberg. He is considered a progressive representative of modernism in Switzerland. The design of the entire system of the Nordheim crematorium is exemplary of the architecture of the 1960s in Switzerland and, along with the ETH Hönggerberg, is Steiner's main work. The landscape architecture by Willi Neukom and the artistic equipment of the facility result in a total work of art of national importance.

In Switzerland there are only five other burial centers in addition to the Nordheim crematorium , namely the crematorium on Hörnli Riehen, the Center funéraire de Montoie, Lausanne, the Crématoire St-Georges, Petit-Lancy (Genève), the Center funéraire de Platta, Sion and the Centro funerario locarnese, Riazzino. The Nordheim crematorium is the largest of these six Swiss funeral centers. As a result, it is also larger than the other two conventional crematoriums in the canton of Zurich, the Rosenberg crematorium in Winterthur and the Rüti crematorium in ZH .

literature

• Norbert Loacker and Christoph Hänsli: Where Zurich comes to rest. The cemeteries of the city of Zurich. Zurich 1998.
• Nordheim crematorium. Management circle on November 6, 2009. Zurich 2009.
• Frank Imhof: The Nordheim Crematorium. Expert opinion on the protection worthiness. Zurich 2010.

Web links

Commons : Nordheim Crematorium  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• History of the Zurich crematoria on the website of the City of Zurich
• Nordheim Crematorium on the website of the City of Zurich

Individual evidence

1. ^ Website of the City of Zurich. ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 13, 2015. 
2. ^ Frank Imhof: The Nordheim crematorium. Expert opinion on the protection worthiness. P. 5
3. ↑ Nordheim Cemetery. Management circle on November 6, 2009. p. 6.
4. ^ Frank Imhof: The Nordheim crematorium. Expert opinion on the protection worthiness. P. 5
5. ↑ Norbert Loacker and Christoph Hänsli: Where Zurich comes to rest. The cemeteries of the city of Zurich. P. 73
6. ↑ Nordheim Cemetery. Management circle on November 6, 2009. pp. 6-7.
7. ^ Frank Imhof: The Nordheim crematorium. Expert opinion on the protection worthiness. Pp. 5-6
8. ↑ Nordheim Cemetery. Management circle on November 6, 2009. p. 3.
9. ^ Frank Imhof: The Nordheim crematorium. Expert opinion on the protection worthiness. P. 7
10. ↑ Nordheim crematorium on the website of the City of Zurich, section Oven technology. ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 13, 2015. 
11. ↑ Nordheim Cemetery. Management circle on November 6, 2009. p. 1.
12. ^ Website of the City of Zurich. ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 13, 2015. 
13. ↑ Nordheim Cemetery. Management circle on November 6, 2009. p. 3.
14. ^ Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein, section Crematorium Nordheim, large hall. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
15. ^ Organ directory Switzerland and Liechtenstein, section Crematorium Nordheim, small hall. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
16. ^ Website of the city of Zurich on the Nordheim crematorium, sections oven technology and filter technology. ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 13, 2015. 
17. ^ Frank Imhof: The Nordheim crematorium. Expert opinion on the protection worthiness. Pp. 10-11.
18. ^ Frank Imhof: The Nordheim crematorium. Expert opinion on the protection worthiness. P. 10.

Coordinates: 47 ° 24 '16.9 "  N , 8 ° 31' 54.8"  E ; CH1903:  682 520  /  251005