Economist.com Cities Guide: Zurich Briefing - August 2006

News this month

Mistakes were made

Two prominent Zurich politicians are being taken to task for their poor decisions. In July a parliamentary committee issued a report rebuking the federal justice minister, Christoph Blocher, for making incendiary comments. During a speech in Zurich in January Mr Blocher branded two Albanian asylum-seekers “criminals” who had “committed two murders”. The committee found that the statement was false and that Mr Blocher had later lied to parliament when he claimed he had said the Albanians were only “accused” of murder. The committee concluded that Mr Blocher’s comments were an underhanded way to build support for tightening Switzerland’s asylum laws, which will be subject to a nationwide referendum in September.

Meanwhile, the leaking of government documents continues to haunt Dorothée Fierz, the canton’s former public works minister. In May Ms Fierz was forced to resign over the leak; now she faces a criminal investigation. In July the cantonal parliament voted to remove Ms Fierz's immunity from prosecution. The decision clears the way for her to be charged with breaching official secrecy, a rare but not unprecedented event.

To court, finally

A Zurich district court has finally authorised prosecutors to charge 19 former executives and board members of Swissair for their part in the national airline’s demise. Prosecutors first filed charges at the end of March, but the court returned the documents in May, declaring them incomplete and too vague. In July the court accepted the revised papers and said the trial could begin in January 2007. Prosecutors are eager to press charges as soon as possible, as the statute of limitations for some lesser offences expires in the summer of 2008. Graver charges—such as dishonest management and the breaching of fiduciary responsibility—can stand for up to 15 years. Mario Corti and Philipp Bruggisser, the airline’s former chief executives, are among those who will be tried. The most serious charge of falsifying documents carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Swissair collapsed in October 2001 after pursuing a disastrous expansion programme and accumulating debts of SFr 17 billion ($13 billion). The company’s collapse—and the accompanying loss of 5,000 jobs—was a major blow to Switzerland’s national pride, so much so that the events leading to the collapse were recently dramatised in “Grounding”, a successful film.

No ruffians allowed

A controversial new law allowing Zurich police to ban troublemakers from public areas has been tempered by the security minister, Ruedi Jeker. In its original form, the law would have allowed police to bar people whose behaviour caused “offence or fear to the public” from certain areas for up to three months, with no chance of appeal. This vague wording provoked criticism from leaders of several parties, who said the law gives police too much power to ban whomever they please—especially as the alleged ruffians could not challenge officers’ judgments in court.

The new version allows police to step in only “if the person or persons are seriously disturbing or endangering others, or unjustifiably preventing the intended use of public spaces.” The maximum ban has been reduced to 14 days, and can be challenged before magistrates. The changes were welcomed by the three main parties that had opposed the original draft. Only the Green Party and the far-left Alternative List have threatened to fight the revised proposal. The draft law will go before the cantonal parliament’s justice commission ahead of a parliamentary vote, probably in the spring.

Make yourself at home

Zurich is home to more foreigners now than at any time since the first world war. According to a recent report, foreigners comprise 30.2% of Zurich's population, up from around 20% thirty years ago. Ample wages and a high standard of living make the city attractive to non-Swiss, and a 2004 agreement to open Switzerland’s borders to EU residents has made it easier for professionals to settle here. Germans have now replaced Italians as the largest foreign group, accounting for 17% of the expat community. In all, Zurich is home to foreigners from some 165 different countries.

The study also highlighted differences between the lifestyles of the 30 most common nationalities resident in Zurich. German, French, British, Swedish, Dutch and American residents, often hired to fill executive or managerial positions, earn more than the Swiss average. Foreigners from the former Yugoslavia (who outnumber Germans if counted as a single group), Sri Lanka, Somalia and Bangladesh tend to earn less and live in more congested areas. Still, the study suggests that Zurich has avoided the “ghettoisation” common in other European cities. Over the past decade more Swiss have moved into areas that were once occupied mostly by foreigners, and vice versa.

Fire free

Zurich celebrated Switzerland’s national holiday on August 1st in a rather muted fashion, thanks to a brief cantonal ban on fireworks, bonfires and barbecues. Authorities feared that the holiday’s usual pyrotechnics could lead to fires after weeks of hot, dry weather. Revellers huffed that Zurich was one of only a handful of cantons to introduce such a ban, despite similar conditions across the country.

Police and firemen were called to more than 250 sites where people were flaunting the order, either through ignorance or rebellion. Some illegal bonfires were topped with effigies of the fire chief. Authorities lifted the ban on August 3rd and said that individual communities could name a day to set off leftover fireworks. The city of Zurich chose August 12th, in order to combine the delayed festivities with the techno parade.

Catch if you can

August 2006

Theatre Spectacle

August 17th-September 3rd 2006

Zurich’s popular outdoor theatre festival could not take place in a lovelier spot than the Landiwiese meadow, beside the lake. Now in its 27th year, the festival boasts an eclectic mix of theatre, dance and music from 15 countries, from Cambodia to Brazil. Performances take place on ten stages, including the nearby Rote Fabrik and Gessnerallee theatres.

Highlights include “Gatz”, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” by the Elevator Repair Service, a theatre group from New York; “The Attendants’ Gallery”, a thought-provoking take on recent European history by LOD, a multinational theatre company; and “fever”, a dance in which Nigel Charnock, a Briton, interprets Shakespeare’s sonnets to the music of Michael Riessler, a German composer and clarinettist.

Theater Spektakel, Landiwiese; Rote Fabrik; Theaterhaus Gessnerallee. Admission: SFr16-45. For further details see the Spectacle’s website.

More from the Zurich cultural calendar