media release

 

Association Exhibition Zunftstadt Zürich celebrates premiere of the new production “History, very personal”

 

Zurich history has never been experienced like this before

 

Zurich, October 2, 2022. – The Zunftstadt Zürich exhibition association is launching its latest production “History, very personal”. Ten professional short films present personalities from Zurich who shaped the history of Zurich between 1336 and 1798. The new installation with impressive and exciting four-minute film portraits can now be seen in the exhibition in the guild house of the Zunft zur Letzi at Obere Zäune 19 in Zurich's Niederdorf.

 

The association Exhibition Zunftstadt Zürich (VAZZ) celebrated the premiere of its new production “History, very personal” with more than 300 invited guests as part of a matinée on Sunday, October 2, 2022 in the Arthouse Le Paris cinema. The ten portrait films were shown for the first time in the presence of representatives of Zurich's government and city council, patrons, actors, film crews and other committed and interested parties. Historian Markus Brühlmeier and film director and VAZZ board member Lorenz Forster guided the audience through the new production and its development from the project idea four years ago to its completion and installation in the exhibition. The new production of the VAZZ and the film portraits were financed by contributions from generous patrons and two foundations and also supported by the contribution funds of the Canton of Zurich and the City of Zurich.

 

decisively influenced the history of Zurich

The history of Zurich from the time the guilds were founded to the present day has been shaped by many people and personalities. From a first selection of 172 names of interesting people from the period 1300 to 1900 with a connection to Zurich, a list of 17 people was created in several steps, limited to the time of the guild rule from 1336 (first guild constitution) to 1798 (invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte). From all centuries people of different origins - from town and country, men and women - with different merits, professions and spheres of influence should be presented.

 

The painstakingly carried out selection fell on the following historically influential Zurich personalities, who are now being presented in the new multimedia installation of the Zunftstadt Zürich exhibition:

 

• Rudolf Brun (before 1324–1360), Mayor - Unwanted Legacy

• Hans Waldmann (1452-1489), Mayor - A head too big

• Katharina von Zimmer (1478–1547), abbess of the Fraumünster monastery – women make history

• Christoph Froschauer (1490-1564), printer - Zwingli's most important man

• Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), Antistes (Head) of the Zurich Church - Not as planned

• Jakob Ruf (1505–1558) – A doctor makes theatre

• Ursula Sutter (1575), weaver - innovation with consequences

• Salomon Hirzel (1580-1652), mayor - A life in the saddle

• Johann Volmar, alias Steinfels (1613-1676) - From executioner to man of honour

• Jakob Guyer, called Kleinjogg (1716–1785) – The Zurich model builder

 

Zurich history told in multimedia

Visitors to the Zunftstadt Zürich exhibition can use a touch screen to select the portraits that interest them. For practical and organizational reasons (guided tours for groups), the portraits last about four minutes, three portraits about twelve minutes and thus about the same length as the existing five multimedia productions about the guild rule, the Sechseläuten, the millet porridge ride in 1576, the house «Zum blau Heaven» of the Lochmann family, or the story of the guild member Johann Heinrich Waser (1600–1669).