This was followed by the electrified streetcar and finally cars. Today, Bahnhofstrasse is once again largely car-free, and financial and business, elegance and exclusivity, quality and diversity compete in the properties. Anyone visiting Zurich, whether on a business trip or as a tourist, should not miss Bahnhofstrasse. Zurich is located on Bahnhofstrasse, even if many other districts (e.g. Zurich North, Zurich West) have developed enormously in recent years.
Where the frogs originally croaked, hackney carriages began operating in 1864.
Fröschengraben vor 1864
At the beginning of the development of today’s Bahnhofstrasse was the Spanish Brötli Railway, which opened in 1847 with the station at the current location of the main station, although today’s Hotel Savoy Baur en Ville on Paradeplatz had already opened on December 24, 1838 under the name “Baur en Ville”. After years of dispute as to whether the station should be relocated, it was decided in 1854 to leave the station as it was. The planning of the new connection between the station and Paradeplatz led to the choice of a more “cosmopolitan” solution and construction work began in 1854 with the filling in of the old Fröschengraben. In 1865, Bahnhofstrasse between Paradeplatz and the station was opened to traffic. Over the following decades, the originally unpaved street developed from a country road lined with front gardens into a shopping street.
The most famous Bahnhofstrasse in Europe
Jelmoli 1938
The photographer Johannes Ganz was the first to build a commercial building at Bahnhofstrasse 40 in 1868, which was followed by many others before the First World War. The first department store to open was Jelmoli on September 16, 1899. The upper part of Bahnhofstrasse (between Paradeplatz and Lake Zurich) was built in the 1880s. From the very beginning, Bahnhofstrasse was also home to banks. Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (today’s UBS) was founded in 1856 and constructed the well-known building on Paradeplatz between 1873 and 1876. The Zürcher Kantonalbank, founded in 1870, followed. Volksbank, founded in 1869, moved to Bahnhofstrasse in 1928, Bank Julius Bär was established in 1890 and Schweizerische Bankverein in 1889, which moved to Bahnhofstrasse two years later. UBS moved to Bahnhofstrasse in 1907 as Union Bank of Switzerland, and Bank Leu (founded in 1755) did the same in 1915.
Chic around 1910
Scene from the middle Bahnhofstrasse around 1910, by which time the residential quarter had already become a fashionable shopping street.
110 companies are members of the association
1400 meters of shopping experience
Strassen durch den Paradeplatz
Scene from the middle Bahnhofstrasse around 1910, by which time the residential quarter had already become a fashionable shopping street.
The full length of Bahnhofstrasse was completed in 1877.
