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Zurich Airport is located less than 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of the city in Kloten. Zurich Airport has its own railway station, which is located underground. It is directly connected to Zürich and most of the major Swiss cities. Zurich Airport is served by more than 60 passenger airlines from around the world.
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Zürich, largest city of Switzerland and capital of the canton of Zürich. Located in an Alpine setting at the northwestern end of Lake Zürich, this financial, cultural, and industrial centre stretches out between two forested chains of hills, about 40 miles (60 km) from the northern foothills of the Alps. Two rivers, the Limmat and Sihl, run through...
The first inhabitants of the region were the prehistoric peoples whose hut dwellings rose from pile foundations driven into the shores of the lake. The Celtic Helvetii founded a community on the right bank of the Limmat River; when the Romans conquered this area about 58 bce, they made the settlement, which they called Turicum, a customs post. Under Roman rule, Zürich grew into a small army stronghold with an adjacent vicus, or Roman village. After the collapse of Rome, the community fell first to the Alemanni, a Germanic people from the north, and later to the Franks, who made it a royal residence.
The community began to flourish as traders settled in the town and took advantage of its position straddling European trade routes. In 1218 Zürich became an imperial free city, and in 1351 it joined the Swiss Confederation, a coalition of cantons that were opposed to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1336 the citizens accepted a constitution that, based democratically on the guild system, balanced the power of the various crafts, the trades, and the nobility. As the guilds became more powerful, the city was able to purchase its freedom from the emperor in 1400, and tax obligations were lifted. Zürich became embroiled in conflicts with neighbouring territories, but economic growth continued relatively unimpeded. Staging repeated successful forays into the surrounding countryside, the city began controlling an even larger part of it; moreover, Zürich profited from being conveniently located on both the southbound trade route, centred on the St. Gotthard Pass, and the east-west route from the Rhône River to the Danube.
In 1519 Huldrych Zwingli, a priest at the Grossmünster (“Great Minster”), began to preach a series of sermons that initiated the Swiss Protestant Reformation and transformed the character of Zürich itself. It turned into an industrious puritanical city maintaining lively business relations and an exchange of ideas with other Protestant cities, notably Bern and Geneva. During the Counter-Reformation, the city offered asylum to many refugees from northern Italy and France, and the new residents further stimulated cultural and economic growth.
Napoleon’s occupation of Switzerland in 1798 ended the old political order, and Zürich was reorganized under the Helvetic Republic, which tried to form a unitary Swiss state. Zürich residents did not like the centralized control imposed by the new republic, and years of conflict between the city, the surrounding countryside, and the other cantons ensued. The disputes ended in 1803 when Napoleon mediated, and the canton of Zürich, dominated by the city, became a sovereign member of a new Swiss Confederation. The political rule exerted by the aristocratic ancien régime was replaced by a liberal democratic order by 1816.
The 1830 July Revolution in Paris sparked similar revolutions in Swiss cantons, including Zürich canton, which gave way to liberal reform. The cantons’ citizenry was able to elect and exercise strong control over the legislature (Gemeinderat) as well as the executive branch of government (Stadtrat). A new canton constitution was drafted in 1831. Under the Swiss constitution of 1848, the autonomous cantons became federal states, each with its own constitution. The people of Zürich adopted a new constitution in 1869, which included mandatory referendums, direct election of cantonal government by the citizens, and limits on presidential terms. This democratic constitution served as a model for other Swiss cities and influenced the revision of Switzerland’s national constitution in 1874.
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Zürich or Zurich ( German: Zürich [ˈt͡syːrɪç]; Swiss German: Züri [ˈt͡syɾi]) is a city in Switzerland. Zürich is the capital city of the Canton of Zürich. About 415,000 people live in the city and over 1.5 million live in the metropolitan area. This makes Zürich the biggest city in Switzerland.
Nov 8, 2023 · Zurich (“Zürich” in German) is located in north-eastern Switzerland, directly on Lake Zurich and about 30 km from the Swiss-German border. It’s in the Swiss canton that’s also called “Zürich”.
To the north of Zürichberg, between the airport and the city, is the Glattal, one of the most rapidly growing areas in Switzerland. In Zürich Nord, a district in the north of the city near the airport, a minor downtown area has gradually formed. A large number of firms, particularly the headquarters of international companies, have located there.
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Zurich (German: Zürich, Swiss German: Züri) is the largest city in Switzerland, with a population of some 435,000 (2018) in the city, and 1.3 million (2009) in the metro area. Zurich is on Lake Zurich, where the lake meets the river Limmat, in the north of Switzerland. While Zurich is the country's financial centre and has the busiest airport ...
The most important facts about Zurich's history, politics and famous people at a glance. Read here how the city on the waterfront has developed over the last 2,000 years and why Zurich is the most important business location in Switzerland. In addition you find useful information about politics, education and the quality of life here in Zurich.
