Rathaus (Zürich)

The "Rathaus" (town hall) of Zürich was was built in 1694-1698. It served as the seat of government of the Republic of Zürich until 1798. Since 1803, it has been owned by the canton of Zürich, housing both the cantonal and the city's municipial parliaments. It is built on a fundament anchored in the Limmat River, now facing the Limmatquai. The 17th century building replaces an earlier Rathaus built in 1397, which in turn replaced a 13th century court house ("Richthus"). "Rathaus" is also the name of a quarter within the Altstadt district. It is the part of the medieval town on the right side of the Limmat, separated by the "Hirschengraben" from the "Hochschulen" quarter to the east, and delimited by the Bellevue and Central squares to the south and north, respectively. As such, it includes the Limmatquai as well as the Niederdorf (downstream of the Rathaus) and the Oberdorf (upstream of the Rathaus). The historical name of this eastern half of the medieval town was "greater town" ("mehrere Stadt"), contrasting with the "lesser town" ("mindere Stadt"), the western half along the left river bank.

The Oberdorf includes the Grossmünster and the former Barfüsserkloster (Franciscan abbey), the Niederdorf includes the former Predigerkloster (blackfriars' abbey), now housing the city library.

Literature

* Christian Renfer: Schweizerische Kunstführer GSK, Band 637/638: "Das Rathaus in Zürich", Bern 1998, ISBN 3-85782-637-1
* Konrad Escher: "Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Zürich. Bd. IV: Die Stadt Zürich, Erster Teil". Birkhäuser: Basel 1939, S. 319–360.

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