Zurich History

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Settlement of people in the land of Zurich may be tracked down even before the Bronze Age.  However, the Romans were the first ones to strengthen the place as they transformed the then Lindenhof into a traditional abode, and named it Turicum. 

 The legend of the city’s groundwork may be rooted from the time when fugitives from a Roman based legion of Valais came to the place.  Two of these most important people were Felix and Regula who were known for their martyrdom.

The 11th to 14th century Zurich

The period from the 11th to the 12th centuries was a good era for trade as the people of Zurich were able to stabilize their riches by means of the textile business.  They particularly concentrated on wool and silk.  However, in 1336, the prosperous city was destructed by the emergence of a certain Rudolf Brun, a futurist burgomaster.  He rearranged commercial nobility and handed the trade to business associations.  These people took control of Zurich’s main business until people decided to form part of the growing Swiss Confederation.

The 16th century Zurich

The flourishing Zurich experienced its peak on supremacy during the 16th century.  The people were the first to embrace Reformation in Switzerland.  Huldrich Zwingli, the city’s religious father, preached the Grossmunster from the 1519 until his death in 1531.  Zurich then became the seat of nonconformists and rational thinkers from all over the European continent.  In 1549, the Calvinist dogma was adopted over the Zwinglian principle.  When this happened, the place experienced a sudden slow down in their way of living thus affecting their livelihood. 

The 18th to 20th century Zurich

Then came the French Revolution in 1789 when demonstrations were made at the south of Zurich at a place called Stafa, thus, leaving Zurich in the middle of nowhere.  The place was reinvented by city councilor Alfred Escher and he made Zurich the economic capital of the country.  In the 19th century, Escher helped boost the financial system by enhancing tourism as well as strengthening the banking system and the local manufacturing industry. This economic change turned into disaster when the World War I was declared in 1911.  Zurich became home for another set of rebellious individuals.  For some months between 1916 and 1917, the city became the residence of several individuals who contributed to the place’s history.  It became home to Lenin, the person who contemplated on the Russian Revolution.  James Joyce retreated on the place near a university where he wrote letters to Ulysses. 

“Dada,” a band of artists, spent their evenings making fun of the western culture in a place called Cabaret Voltaire.

 Zurich after the 20th century

The role of the Zurich government and people are not clear as to the emergence of World War II.  However, after the war, the place became the center for financial relations, thus their economy began to prosper for the nth time.  In the 1960’s, foreign exchange boosted in the place thus, opening wider doors for business opportunities.

Today, Zurich is regarded as the most important promoter of gold and other precious metals and is ranked fourth in the stock market arena next to New York, London and Tokyo.  The city had attributed a lot of its success to all the dictates of history including the numerous revolutions and economic degradations it had.