Zurich Travel Guide - History

The beginnings were rather more humble, the small village of Turicum began to prosper through the trading of silk and wool, with a number of local merchants emerging with great wealth and power. By the 13th century, the Roman Empire granted the status of ‘free city’ to Zurich and during the 14th century, the city’s powerful figures established the first guilds which began to govern the city.

In the mid 14th century Zurich joined the Swiss Confederation and some two hundred years later, it became the first city in Switzerland to adopt the reformation.

Zurich’s reputation for intellectualism continued with the claiming of neutrality during WWII and although not without controversy with allegations of profiting from Nazi loot, the city emerged from the wreckage of the war as one of Europe’s major financial cities.

Despite this heavy focus on economic and financial affairs, Zurich’s artistic and intellectual movement continued to thrive. In the early 20th century, the Dadaist movement began here and at a similar time, Carl Jung was putting the finishing touches to his theories of psychoanalysis.