Zürich

{{Audio|de-Zürich.ogg|Zürich}} (German pronunciation: IPA: {{IPA|}}; usual English spelling: Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial centre and home to the country's largest airport. It is also home of the Cabaret Voltaire where the Dada movement began in 1916.

History

Numerous lake-side settlements from the Neolithic and Bronze age have been found, such as those in the Zürich Pressehaus and Zürich Mozartstrasse. The settlements were found in the 1800s, submerged in Zurichsee, or Lake Zurich.

Related Topics:
Neolithic - Bronze age

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In Roman times, Turicum was a tax-collecting point for goods entering the imperial province of Raetia by river. The earliest record of the town's name is preserved on a tombstone found in the eighteenth century on Lindenhof, referring to the Roman castle as STA(tio) TUR(i)CEN(sis).

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A Carolingian castle, built on the site of the Roman castle by the grandson of Charlemagne, Louis the German, is mentioned in 835 ("in castro Turicino iuxta fluvium Lindemaci"). Louis also founded the Fraumünster abbey in 853 for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority.

Related Topics:
Carolingian - Charlemagne - Louis the German - 835 - Fraumünster - 853 - Benedictine - Uri

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In 1045, King Henry III granted the convent the right to hold markets, collect tolls, and the mint coins, and thus effectively made the abbess the ruler of the city.

Related Topics:
1045 - Henry III

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Zürich became reichsunmittelbar in 1218 with the extinction of the main line of the Zähringer family. Emperor Frederick II promoted the abbess of the Fraumünster to the rank of a duchess in 1234. The abbess assigned the mayor, and she frequently delegated the minting of coins to citizens of the city. However, the political power of the convent slowly waned in the fourteenth century, beginning with the establishment of the Zunftordnung (guild laws) in 1336 by Rudolf Brun, who also became the first independent mayor, i.e. not assigned by the abbess.

Related Topics:
Reichsunmittelbar - 1218 - Zähringer - Frederick II - 1234 - Mayor - Guild - 1336 - Rudolf Brun

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The Codex Manesse, a major source of medieval German poetry, was written and illustrated in the early 14th century in Zürich.

Related Topics:
Codex Manesse - 14th century

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Zürich joined the Swiss confederation (which at that point was a loose confederation of de facto independent states) as the fifth member in 1351. Zürich was expelled from the confederation in 1440 due to a war with the other member states over the territory of Toggenburg (the Old Zürich War). Zürich was defeated in 1446, and re-admitted to the confederation in 1450.

Related Topics:
Swiss confederation - Independent states - 1351 - 1440 - Toggenburg - Old Zürich War - 1446 - 1450

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Zwingli started the Swiss reformation at the time when he was the main preacher in Zürich. He lived there from 1518 until his death in 1531.

Related Topics:
Zwingli - 1518 - 1531

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