Economist.com Cities Guide: Zurich Briefing - May 2006

News this month

Mayday, mayday

May Day in Zurich turned nasty this year as a peaceful demonstration by union members and left-wing groups calling for higher wages gave way to riots and looting. After generally uneventful May Days in 2004 and 2005, this year’s protests saw extremists overturn cars, smash windows and plunder a clothes shop. There was also embarrassment for city officials as some 100 masked demonstrators disrupted an open-air meeting attended by Switzerland’s president, Moritz Leuenberger. The president, who was addressing members of his own left-of-centre Social Democratic Party, was forced to abandon his speech as activists hurled firecrackers and attempted to make their way onto the podium. Zurich’s Social Democratic mayor, Elmar Ledergerber, criticised the police for being unprepared, though a police spokesman insisted that Mr Leuenberger was never in danger.

The day had begun on a lighter note, with demonstrators releasing the Böögg, a snowman effigy from Zurich’s traditional spring festival, which had been “kidnapped” shortly before the April 24th event. Having earlier issued a statement claiming that the Böögg was tired of laying its head on the line for the “capitalist” city guilds who run the festival, the protesters claimed on May 1st that the snowman had since been converted to their cause thanks to an apparent case of Stockholm syndrome.

It's a small war after all

Zurich’s cantonal government found itself the subject of some unusually dramatic headlines in May. A public row between two ministers ultimately led Dorothée Fierz, the canton’s public works minister, to resign on May 4th. The 58-year-old Radical Party politician, who joined the government in 1999, was the first member of the executive in 70 years to resign with immediate effect.

Angered by plans to transfer some of her ministry’s responsibilities to the economic affairs department, which is run by Rita Fuhrer, a member of the Swiss People’s Party, Ms Fierz launched a personal attack on Ms Fuhrer. In April Ms Fierz told a Sunday newspaper that Ms Fuhrer was waging “a small war” against her. Soon after, Ms Fierz’s department leaked confidential government minutes to the media, along with statements from both Ms Fierz and Ms Fuhrer about the proposed changes. The scandal dominated the front pages of local and national newspapers for a week before Ms Fierz announced her resignation, accepting responsibility for the leak. The election for her successor will be held in July.

Hidden benefits

On May 3rd Zurich’s city parliament approved a clampdown on social-services fraud. Last year the city uncovered 405 cases of fraud, up from 279 cases in 2004. Monika Stocker, the head of Zurich’s social services department, told parliament that she believed up to 5% of all claims in the city could be fraudulent, with residents feigning illness or receiving unemployment benefits despite being employed. Her department recently came under fire thanks to media reports of a series of overlooked benefit frauds.

The effort will include hiring detectives to seek out cheats. Benefit-fraud detectives are already used in neighbouring Germany, but are less common in Switzerland, where there is some concern that the detectives could violate personal privacy. Ms Stocker had been sceptical about using detectives, but said she now grasped the need for tighter checks.

Back to the drawing board?

Just weeks after Rafael Moneo, a Spanish architect, was chosen to design a new congress centre to replace the old, the project has met opposition. Several architects—including the son of the existing centre’s designer—have formed a committee to protect the building, claiming it as one of the earliest examples of modern architecture in German-speaking Switzerland.

The congress centre, which hosts trade shows and business meetings, is on the city’s list of landmarks. Zurich’s planning office has asked the canton to lift the centre’s protected status, arguing that the new SFr350m ($290m) project will be of greater public interest than the old building, enlivening Zurich’s staid landscape with a jolt of modern design. The panel of architects disagrees, and has put forward a slightly cheaper scheme to restore the old building and construct a new extension. The Moneo building, which includes a hotel complex, may be put to a public referendum or the courts, as was the case with the much-delayed rebuilding of Zurich’s Hardturm football stadium.

Settling an old score

A 294-year row over stolen monastic treasures was finally resolved in April, when federal authorities brokered a deal between Zurich and the eastern canton of St Gallen. The argument dates from 1712, when troops from Zurich and Bern raided St Gallen’s monastery and removed some 10,000 books, manuscripts and astronomical devices. Unlike Bern, Zurich held on to its booty and later claimed that the incident should be consigned to history, a view that won little support in St Gallen. A breakthrough came in 2000, when the new Swiss constitution included a provision that federal authorities could mediate in arguments between individual cantons.

Under the deal reached in late April, St Gallen will recognise Zurich’s ownership of the items in question, while Zurich will acknowledge their cultural relevance to St Gallen. In practical terms, the deal involves an indefinite loan to St Gallen of 35 valuable manuscripts. Zurich will also pay for a replica of a large “heaven and earth” globe, judged to be one of the most striking items in the collection. The original globe will also make its way to St Gallen as part of a planned four-month exhibition, though the date for the show has not been fixed.

Catch if you can

May 2006

Alberto Giacometti

May 19th-July 30th 2006

In December 1965 Alberto Giacometti, a renowned Swiss sculptor, locked the door to his studio in Paris. One month later he died, and the contents of his studio were put in storage—their fate was not resolved for almost 40 more years. Now, with the help of Giacometti’s only surviving brother, Bruno, Zurich’s Kunsthaus will display 75 plaster casts from Giacometti’s studio in Paris and Stampa, his hometown.

Giacometti is best known for his works in bronze, but the casts on view offer unique insight into his creative process. Some were displayed during Giacometti’s lifetime, while others were used to experiment on and were never meant to be seen. Viewers familiar with Giacometti’s famous works in bronze will be intrigued to see their plaster alter egos, which create a very different effect.

Kunsthaus Zurich, Heimplatz 1, 8001 Zurich. Tel: +41 (0) 44 253 8484. Open: Tue-Thu 10am-9pm; Fri-Sun 10am-5pm. For more information visit the Kunsthaus website.

More from the Zurich cultural calendar