Red factory
The Rote Fabrik is a former factory site in Zurich- Wollishofen , which is now used as a cultural center. It is so named because the buildings are made of red brick; But sometimes also because left-wing parties campaigned for their conversion.
history
Commercial use
The red factory was built in 1892 according to plans by the architect Carl Arnold Séquin for the silk company Henneberg and supplemented in 1896 with a large office building (see picture). For the construction of the shed hall , the lake bed had to be filled up. In 1899, the Stünzi Sons silk weaving mill from Horgen took over both buildings. After the ITT subsidiary Standard Telephon und Radio AG (STR), founded in 1935, had gradually rented more and more space since 1936, it acquired all the buildings in 1940 and in 1952 added a single-storey structure to the factory building in place of a previously existing corner dome (far right in the top Image).
An aerial photo from 1919 shows the old condition of the factory building with the corner dome.
Since around 1963, numerous plans to build tunnels in the Zurich area have been circulating. One of them, the so-called "Big Seetunnel", was to be led from the lakeshore in Wollishofen to Tiefenbrunnen . The STR management feared that their company premises at Seestrasse 365 could become interesting for the entry and exit in Wollishofen, because it offered the only large contiguous land area in this area. You might be forced to surrender them, especially since the city had a right of first refusal. Because STR felt a moral obligation to stay in Zurich, a replacement site for the construction of a new office building was sought there. It was found in Wiedikon and so there was an exchange of land with the city in 1972. In 1974, STR AG relocated its headquarters to the new office building at Friesenbergstrasse 75 and in 1976 the rest of the employees moved there from the office building of the Rote Fabrik.
Around 2014 the city of Zurich was supposedly planning a renovation of the factory building from 1892. The renovation carried out by STR AG in 1952 should somehow be reversed.
Popular initiative and IG Rote Fabrik
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) launched a popular initiative in September 1973 to preserve the Red Factory and transform it into a cultural center. Although the population of Zurich clearly accepted the SP initiative in 1977, the matter initially disappeared in the files. Only a few cultural events could be held in the Rote Fabrik at the end of the 1970s.
Since the city of Zurich did not adhere to the mandate regarding cultural use, the interest group Rote Fabrik (IGRF) was founded in 1980 . As a result, in the spring of 1980 young people held rock concerts in the action hall - without official approval. The fear of an occupation subsequently made the rounds and the announcement of another unauthorized festival under the slogan "Life in the dead factory" caused uncertainty in the city. Three days before the festival, the city council decided to “tolerate but not accept” the occasion. Around 2000 people attended the happening on 17th / 18th May 1980 and actively participated in an open discussion. The lack of commitment of the authorities to implement the vote of 1977 and the lack of rooms were criticized.
When on May 30, 1980 a public festival for a loan of 61 million francs for the opera house was advertised, the " opera house riots" broke out, violent clashes between the demonstrators and the police. The youth movement demanded spaces for alternative youth culture from the city, for example the Rote Fabrik cultural center in Wollishofen or another building for an autonomous youth center should be made available by the city.
Rote Fabrik cultural center
On October 25, 1980, the Rote Fabrik cultural center was opened (temporarily) . Music and theater were the main focus of the activities, and the organized independent bicycle repair (autonomous bicycle repair ) was well known. Some independent theater groups, which were gaining increasing influence in the scene, made their debut in the Rote Fabrik. The Taktlos Festival is also held there.
In 1981 the Rote Fabrik was listed as a historical monument and in 1985 the Ziegel oh Lac restaurant (as an allusion to the Hotel Baur au Lac ). The Shedhalle association was founded in 1987 and has since run the institution of the same name for contemporary and critical art on the grounds of the Rote Fabrik. In a referendum in 1987 it was decided that the Rote Fabrik should be used as an alternative cultural center and should also be subsidized. Since then the F + F School for Art and Design has had its painting studio in the Rote Fabrik.
The area was redeveloped at the beginning of the 1990s. In 2002 the subsidies were adjusted to 2.3 million Swiss francs, which means that more than 300 events were carried out annually. In 2010 the company's 30th anniversary was celebrated and with the series of events 30 years have been questioned self-critically enough . The Rote Fabrik is still managed by an IG as a collective .
In 2004 there was an occupation by construction vehicles on the bank area south of the Rote Fabrik, the so-called circus square.
Since 2008 there is also a branch of the space for media cultures of the world , "Dock18".
In June 2012 a fire broke out in the Red Factory. After a few hours, the fire brigade brought the smoldering fire under control. No people were injured, but a large amount of artistic work was destroyed.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Red factory with company signs of STR AG after the renovation of the factory building in 1952. Retrieved on March 20, 2020.
- ↑ The failed Zuercher Tunnelplaene Tagesanzeiger October 02, 2013 Retrieved April 10, 2020
- ↑ Planned renovation of the Rote Fabrik. Accessed March 20, 2020
- ↑ Fabrik Zeitung, No. 213, July / August 2005.
- ↑ Heinz Nigg (ed.). We want everything, subito! The eighties youth riots in Switzerland and their consequences. Zurich 2001.
- ↑ Red factory, illegal occupation of the bank area
- ↑ Lucienne-Camille Vaudan, Pia Wertheimer: Red Factory: Fire under control after hours. In: Tages-Anzeiger . June 13, 2012, accessed November 22, 2013 .
literature
- Tanja Stenzl: Rote Fabrik, Zurich ZH . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 3, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1530 f.
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 20 ′ 36 " N , 8 ° 32 ′ 12" E ; CH1903: 682 976 / 244,189