Zwingli’s Zurich

After spending the better part of the day meeting old friends in Bahnhofstrasse and Paradeplatz, I was heading towards Central Tram Station to catch a tram to Ibma Tingen, a suburban village, north of Zurich, where I was staying with a friend. Looking eastward between the cobbled lanes across the Limmat river up into the mountains, I found my self gazing at a pair of minaret like towers that looked incongruous in the heart of Christian Europe which went un-noticed in my previous visits to Zurich. For a moment I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but the immediate environs confirmed my presence in Zurich with the Lake Zurich on right, Central ahead on my left with a multitude of entertainers, musicians doing an impromptu jam sessions on the wide foot path leading along the lake. People were walking briskly with a purpose while some were strolling , watching the show put on by the buskers and street musicians, while others were sitting on the benches watching the general ebb and flow of humanity passing through, in a myriad of colour and movement. Clanking trams, arriving, departing or waiting at the Central station added to the quaint charm of a small sun-filled mediaeval town in the spring bloom.

Zurich is synonymous with banks and bullion. Most great Swiss Banks are located in the Bahnhofstrasse and Paradeplatz streets, within walking distance of each other and the vaults underneath these two streets hold enough gold bullion to pave the streets of the town with solid gold. Tourists walking by on these streets are unaware of the huge treasures lying buried under these streets in impregnable vaults belonging to various banks. Bahnhofstrasse starts from the southern point of the Great Train Station and goes north for less than two kilometers till you reach Lake Zurich . It is one of the most prestigious shopping streets in Europe, an enduring symbol of Zurich’s wealth making a fascinating counter point to the quaint alleys of Niederhorf area close by, full of clubs and dance halls, pimps and prostitutes, cheap hotels and youth hostels generally catering to the young travelers touring Europe on a shoe-string budget.

Half way through Bahnhofstrasse , Paradeplatz Street cuts through on its east-west axis through a quaint little plaza with people busy shopping or browsing the boutique shops, filled with famous brand names, selling Fashion accessories, Clothes, Shoes , Watches and Jewellery. While all around, normal hustle bustle of a dynamic town is tangible in the purposeful strides of a group of middle aged men in gray suites entering or leaving the main office of UBS , young chic females in Armani, Oscar de la Renta , Givenchy or Versace are found sipping delicately at a Latte in the corner kiosk owned and managed by a young Tamil couple. This entire Plaza is considered the best place for people watching and to be seen in Zurich . It is here that Zurich’s serious money begins. Streets off Paradeplatz are home to more Banks, Insurance Companies and top-name designer outlets than anywhere else concentrated in so small an area. Continuing on Bahnhofstrasse for less than a kilometer the street ends at Burkiplatz plaza, which is the starting point for ferries and boats from the Zurich Lake. Zurich Lake gives one a feeling of well being and provides calming effect to the tired professionals at the end of a nerve racking day spent wheeling and dealing in the Dealing Rooms of various banks or the stressful job of handling highly strung rich clients adroitly and professionally with a smile. On the shores are benches one can sit, relax and admire the snow capped alps in the background or watch the powerful yachts gliding slowly to points beyond, with rich and famous at the helm, jauntily clad in the minimal style with a captain’s cap worn at a rakish angle. On the right is the area known as “Golden Sands” with imposing mansions in Classical, Baroque and Romanesque styles. The night life in Zurich is varied, rich and has every thing for every taste. There are concert halls, dance halls, opera, theatre and clubs of every design, shape and taste. Whether your taste is classic, jazz, funk, blues, it’s all there along with the ubiquitous disco and dance bars.

I decided to find out more about these Minaret-like structures and found out the next day that they were the spires of the famous Cathedral Grossmunster. The focal point of Protestant renaissance in Switzerland. It is here that H. Zwingli, a contemporary of Martin Luther, headed the church for 12 years and is partly responsible for the conversion of the Catholic Swiss into Protestants. Zwingli was considered one of the great leaders of the Reformation who urged priests to take wives and was himself a married man. He attacked the worship of images and the Roman sacrament of mass. He was killed in 1531 and his body was burnt, an inscription on the site of his execution reads: “ They may kill the body but not the soul. ”

This Cathedral was built between 1100 to 1230 AD in the Neo-classical Romanesque Style. The Towers were added in 1400’s which were damaged in a fire in the 1700’s and were redesigned in a Baroque Style with a small cupola on top, thereby resembling a Minaret. Unfortunately, the revival of Protestantism led to the removal of entire decorative arts inside as well as the outside of the Church. Few Frescoes that are left were painted much later and do not factually represent the opulent art work, that was removed by the Protestant zealots. Legend has it that this church was founded by Emperor Charlemagne at the spot where his horse refused to move further and the spot was later found to be the remains of the graves of three Christian martyrs.

The Cathedral is approached through Plaza Zwengli , up a broad staircase leading to the main gate of the massive Cathedral guarded by the impressive three storey Spires visible from all of Zurich . While I was huffing and puffing on the winding stairs , I heard an old and faintly remembered tune floating down the Cathedral, it was the famous waltz by Johann Strauss. Someone was playing “Blue Danube” on a violin with gay abandon, the strokes being bold, powerful and almost arrogant in the execution of the beautiful composition. On reaching the top, the two spires standing tall and erect guard-like over the huge Cathedral were imposing in their size and physical proportions and there, on the left of the main gate under a huge tree was this young girl standing at the edge of a promontory overlooking the beautifully delicate Fraumunster Cathedral across the river and making magic with her violin , completely unaware of her surroundings. I noticed the hat on the ground with some coins. She was a Romany gypsy who played the Blue Danube with the passion of a free spirit , symptomatic of a gypsy without worldly possessions , associations or worries , free as a lark, unrestricted and unconcerned with boundaries and borders. I felt a twinge of jealousy at her freedom, and the haughty demeanour of a noble spirit , dropped a few coins in the hat and went to visit the Cathedral with a tune on my lips. Suddenly the world had become more meaningful and a lot prettier.

The Main gate opened into a foyer that led to a massive octagonal Hall, with the choir at the head decorated with stained glass windows, soaring high, a large statue of Jesus Christ on a Cross, and other Christian adornments with lighted lamps and candles lit by visitors and worshippers. The hall contained rows of benches on either side. Frescoes on the walls were painted in the 18th and 19th Century, whereas, the stained glass windows in the choir were completed in in 1932 by Augusto Giacometti, nephew of Alberto Giacometti the famous Swiss painter. There is a statue of Charlmagne completed in the 15th century lying in the crypt. There is a fees of SFR 2.00 to ascend the spires which is worth the scene from the top and one can see the entire city of Zurich lying at one’s feet including the two other famous cathedrals Fraumunster and St. Peterskiche, within a stones throw across the river Limmat. All these old churches and buildings are located in the Old Town known as Altstadt, which offers walking tours through the maze of cobbled stone lanes and is well worth a walk for the first time visitor.

The next Cathedral on my list was the dainty Fraumunster Cathedral about two hundred yards across the river from Grossmunster. Following the same stairs down, across the river through one of the many bridges we were in front of the main gate of this smallish church which was undergoing repairs and maintenance with scaffolding all along its outer walls. This church has a slender blue spire and is designed in a more orthodox manner. It is small in size but is richly ornamented and adorned with paintings, frescoes and stained glass windows, some of those have been executed by Marc Chagall .The site of the Cathedral was originally a Benedictine abbey established in 853 AD which was later converted into a Royal Cathedral in the 14th century.The chief attraction of this church are five stained glass windows, each with it’s own thematic colour scheme, designed by Chagall in 1970. They are best viewed in the morning when the sun light pierces these windows, producing a brilliant spectacle. These glass windows are adorned with Chagall’s famous trade mark ‘doves” reflected in each of the windows designed by him. This church was built for the private use of the Royalty and the Nobility, whereas the larger Grossmunster was for the general public. Close by is the old St. Peter’s Church built in the 15th century. It boasts of the largest clock face in Europe. The diameter of the clock is 28 sq.ft while the minute hand is 12 feet long.