Europe - Switzerland - Zurich

The financial capital of Switzerland

(photos of October 2006 and July 2009)

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The Swiss city of Zurich (Zürich in the local German language, map, Wikipedia) is beautifully situated where the river Limmat exits Lake Zurich (Zürichsee). Its enormous international financial importance accounts for its wealth.

The following scrollable panorama gives an overview of the center of Zurich, as seen from the old main building of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ, Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule Zürich, map, Wikipedia). Right of center is the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof), this side of which flows the river Limmat. As we scroll to the left, the river is seen in a few spots, until we reach Lake Zurich shining beyond the double-spired Grossmünster church.

Lake Zurich

Let's take a leisurely boat tour on the lake on a beautiful sunny day. The first two images were taken at the lakeside town of Richterswil, the second showing intriguing rows of homes that must have great views (map). In the third image, we are heading back toward Zurich, seen at far left and also in the fourth image.

The last view above includes several of the important churches of Zurich. Between the double-spired Grossmünster (Wikipedia) and the green-spired Fraumünster to its left, we see a bridge (Quaibrücke), under which passes the river Limmat on its way to join the river Rhine.

Along the river Limmat

Zurich's downtown straddles the Limmat, as seen in the following scrollable panorama taken on the Quaibrücke (map) on a windy day.

The Grossmünster is shown next in two partial spherical panoramas (similar to shots taken with a fisheye lens).

We next cross the river over the Münsterbrücke toward the green-spired Fraumünster, and turn right to stroll along the riverbank toward the Rathausbrücke, adjoining the old Town Hall (Rathaus), which stands in the river over its two arched water channels.

We now jump ahead to the next bridge, the Rudolph-Brun-Brücke and look back upstream toward Grossmünster, lake and Fraumünster.

In the last two panoramas above, we can see a tree-covered hill called Lindenhof (map), which marks the historic center of Zurich. The next three panoramas were taken from the top and the foot of that hill.

Downtown Zurich

Zurich's best known street is Bahnhofstrasse (Station Street), shown next. This unassuming name hides the formidable wealth that is saved there in Switzerland's biggest banks and that is (partly) spent in lavish stores that line this street. The second panorama below shows a more modest but more pleasant street in the old quarter located across the river (Neumarkt or New Market, map). This is followed by several views of the delightful old quarters on both sides of the river.

Leaving Zurich

All visits are followed by a departure, in this case from Zurich Airport, locally called Kloten Airport or Unique Airport. The main terminal is suitably opulent, while there is a fine observation deck located here, from which we witness a take-off in progress.