Oberstrass (City of Zurich)

Oberstrass district of Zurich
Coordinates	683 800  /  248760 coordinates: 47 ° 23 '4 "  N , 8 ° 32' 54"  O ; CH1903:  683800  /  248760
height	487  m
surface	2.64 km²
Residents	10,556 (December 31, 2014)
Population density	3998 inhabitants / km²
BFS no.	261-062
Post Code	8006
Urban district	District 6 since 1893/1913

Oberstrass is a district of the city of Zurich . The formerly independent municipality Oberstrass was incorporated in 1893 and is today along with Unterstrass the circuit 6 .

coat of arms

Blazon

In blue the former Krattenturm with silver walls and red roofs

Oberstrass and Irchelpark-Campus , Oerlikon (left) and Seebach in the background, view from Uetliberg .

Surname

The name is derived from the Oberen Strasse , which led to Winterthur . Its counterpart, Niedere Strasse, gave rise to the name of the Unterstrass district .

history

Oberstrasse (bottom right) and top right the St. Martin monastery on the «Gygerplan» (1667) by Hans Conrad Gyger .

Even in the Middle Ages, were along the at Zurich Berg extending upper Street according Winterthur single Hofsiedlungen. The name Oberstrass as a place name has been documented since 1377. 500 years ago, farmers and winegrowers lived in the settlement area on the Zürichberg; around 25 individual farms could be made out at that time. Due to the vastness of the area, the formation of a community was almost impossible. The influence of the strict guild regulations of the city government made matters worse .

It was not until 1798, when the French revolutionary troops marched into Zurich that the bailiwick was dissolved, that a democratic municipal administration ( Helvetic Republic ) was established in Oberstrass . The luck did not last long, however, as Oberstrass suffered from the occupying troops from France , Austria and Russia a year later during the battles near Zurich .

Parish before the merger on January 1, 1893

During the industrialization Oberstrass experienced a large increase in population. It was mostly the wealthy manufacturers who retired to the sunny slopes of the Zürichberg and built their villas there. Oberstrass was no longer able to meet the growing needs of the rapidly growing population on its own: in 1893 it was incorporated into the city of Zurich, which over 90 percent of the people of Oberstrass agreed.

While Oberstrass was still a small community at the end of the 19th century , where a few houses lined the thoroughfare, in 1950 there were already 15,000 people living in the quarter. This clearly shows the development of the once independent municipality of Oberstrass, and which has also shaped it significantly.

Oberstrass today

Oberstrass is often referred to as a small village in the urban area , as the district has retained some village features. Today, Oberstrass is a popular residential area thanks to the many green spaces, the good infrastructure and the location a little above the city center. The Irchelpark is located on the suburb of Unterstrass and is bordered by parts of the University of Zurich and the State Archives of the Canton of Zurich .

Churches

The Reformed Church of Oberstrass, built between 1908 and 1911, can be seen from afar thanks to its massive stone tower.

There are two churches in the Oberstrass area:

• The Evangelical Reformed Church in Oberstrass was built in the years 1908–1910 according to plans by the architects Otto Pflegehard and Max Haefeli after the first church, dating back to 1734, had become too small. Your tower shapes the townscape of Oberstrass.
• The Russian Orthodox Church has its church in Zurich in the Oberstrass area. The former Emmaus chapel of the St. Chrischona pilgrim mission was inaugurated as the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in 2002 after a renovation .

Transport and economy

Rigiblick cable car

Rigiplatz on Universitätsstrasse , the former upper street , is the district's traffic and economic center. This is where tram lines  9 and 10, trolleybus line 33 and the Rigiblick cable car leading up to the Zürichberg meet . In addition, various specialty shops and other businesses have set up shop along the nearby section of Universitätsstrasse .

Opinion of the population

Based on a survey of residents, it can be seen that Oberstrass occupies a top position in terms of living quality in the city of Zurich. 88 percent of the residents of Oberstrass are satisfied with both their living environment and their own apartment. This means that Oberstrass takes first place ahead of Friesenberg and Witikon . In addition, the population of Oberstrass does not consider drug and crime problems in their neighborhood to be acute.

District association Oberstrass

Rigiplatz, renovated in 2003, at Christmas time, with the Credit Suisse building in the background .

The Oberstrass neighborhood association, founded in 1897, tries to create a connection between the authorities and the population and to maintain the quality of life in the neighborhood despite various structural and traffic-related measures and to promote it through various festivals and attractions. He also organizes the district's largest event, the Oberstrass-Määrt , which takes place every year in June . Today the Quartierverein Oberstrass (QVO), currently under the direction of President Christine van Merkesteyn, has more than 900 members.

Personalities

• The pianist , composer and conductor Ferruccio Busoni lived temporarily at Scheuchzerstrasse 36.
• The grave of the German writer Georg Büchner is on the Germania hill.
• The Swiss writer Heinrich Federer lived at Bolleystrasse 44 during his final years.
• The Irish writer James Joyce lived at Haldenbachstrasse 12 and wrote his novels.
• Mileva Marić , Albert Einstein's first wife , had acquired the property at Huttenstrasse 62 and lived in the neighborhood until her death.
• The Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger lived at Huttenstrasse 9 from 1921 to 1927.
• The Russian writer Alexander Issajewitsch Solzhenitsyn lived in an urban property at 45 Stapferstrasse.
• The Swiss writer Bernhard von Arx lived on Letzistrasse in this quarter until the end of the 1970s.
• Leonhard Widmer , the poet of the Swiss Psalm , lived at Winterthurerstrasse 25.
• The poet pastor William Wolfensberger was ordained to parish ministry on November 16, 1913 in the church of Oberstrass.

literature

• Werner Adams: Oberstrass . Verlag Hans Rohr, Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-85865-069-2 .
• Martin Illi: Oberstrass. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Presidential Department of the City of Zurich, Statistics City of Zurich: Quartierspiegel Oberstrass . Zurich 2015 ( read online ).
• District association Oberstrass: District brochure 1998 . Zurich 1998, p. 5 ff.

Web links

Commons : Oberstrass  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• District association Oberstrass

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See the following: Robert Schönbächler: Churches and places of worship in the city of Zurich. New Year's Gazette Industriequartier / Aussersihl. Zurich 2013, pp. 73–74.
2. ↑ Survey of residents of the city of Zurich 2003  ( 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. (PDF; 337 kB)