Winterthur

Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It is the country's sixth-largest city by population, with over 120,000 people living there.

The city is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Zurich. It is a service and high-tech industrial satellite city within the Zurich Metropolitan Area.

The official language of Winterthur is German. Most people speak a local version of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect, called Zurich German. Locals often call the city Winti.

Winterthur has good transport links. It has trains going directly to Germany and is connected to Zurich Airport. The city is a transport center where several major roads meet. These include the A1 motorway from Geneva to St. Margrethen, the A4 motorway toward Schaffhausen, and the A7 motorway near the Swiss-German border at Kreuzlingen. The city's railway station is very busy and is only 20 minutes by train from Zurich.

History

Winterthur has a long history going back to Roman times. The area, called Vitudurum, was an important place during the Roman era in what is now Oberwinterthur. Later, in the seventh century, it became home to a group of people called the Alamannics.

In 919, a big battle happened near Winterthur. Over time, Winterthur had many different rulers. It was ruled by local leaders, then by powerful families from nearby areas, and later by the leaders of Zurich. In 1798, French soldiers took control of the town during a big conflict in Europe.

In the 1800s, Winterthur grew into an industrial center with many factories. Tough economic times, like the Great Depression in the 1930s, made life hard for many people. Things got better when World War II began, and factories became busy again. By 2008, Winterthur had over 100,000 people living there.

Geography

Winterthur is a city in Switzerland. It sits 439 meters above sea level. The city is in a bowl-shaped area near two rivers: the Töss and the Eulach. The Eulach river flows through the middle of the city. This is why some people call Winterthur "Eulachstadt."

The city covers an area of 68.1 km². Some land is used for farming, some is covered with forests, and the rest has buildings and roads. A very small part includes rivers and mountains. Over time, parts of the city have changed with new construction.

Politics

Winterthur has seven areas called city districts: Stadt, Oberwinterthur, Seen, Töss, Veltheim, Wülflingen, and Mattenbach.

The City Council is the main group that helps run Winterthur. It has seven members, each in charge of different jobs in the city. They help make sure rules are followed and plans are done. The mayor, chosen by people who live there, leads this group. Elections for the City Council happen every four years. Anyone who lives in Winterthur and can vote may be chosen to join.

City hall, designed by architect Gottfried Semper

The Large Municipal Council is Winterthur’s group that makes rules and laws for the city. It has 60 members. They meet once a month, and anyone can watch. The members are chosen every four years by people who live in Winterthur and can vote.

Winterthur has friendships with other towns. It is twinned with Yverdon-les-Bains and La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, Plzeň in the Czech Republic, and Hall in Tirol in Austria. There is also a place named after Winterthur in Delaware, US.

Demographics

Winterthur has many people living there. In 2020, about 114,000 people called Winterthur home. Over the past ten years, the number of people has grown.

Most people speak German.

Young people aged 0 to 19 make up almost 20% of the population. Adults aged 20 to 64 make up over 60%, and seniors older than 64 make up about 16%. There are many homes in Winterthur, with over 42,000 households.

The city church of Winterthur, a local landmark

Many people in Winterthur belong to different religious groups. Some are part of the Swiss Reformed Church, others are Catholic, and there are also people who follow other Christian beliefs like Lutheran, Christian Catholic, and Christian Orthodox. There are also people who follow Islam, and some who do not follow any specific religion.

Significant minority groups
Nationality	Population (2015)
Germany	4,942
Italy	4,577
North Macedonia	2,032
Turkey	1,849
Kosovo	1,439
Serbia	1,285
Portugal	1,049

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1850	13,651	—
1860	15,613	+14.4%
1870	19,496	+24.9%
1880	25,924	+33.0%
1888	29,508	+13.8%
1900	40,961	+38.8%
1910	46,384	+13.2%
1920	49,969	+7.7%
1930	53,925	+7.9%
1941	58,883	+9.2%
1950	66,925	+13.7%
1960	80,352	+20.1%
1970	92,722	+15.4%
1980	86,758	−6.4%
1990	86,959	+0.2%
2000	90,483	+4.1%
2010	101,308	+12.0%
2020	114,220	+12.7%
Source:

Economy

Winterthur was once known for making trains and large machines, but most of these factories are closed now. A famous company from Winterthur is Sulzer. The big bank called Union Bank of Switzerland began in Winterthur.

Axa Winterthur headquarters

Winterthur is also home to a newspaper called Landbote. A special car company named Peraves has been making unique motorcycles since the 1980s. Winterthur had a large insurance company, but it was bought by a French company called Axa in 2007.

Education

Winterthur has many places for people to learn. Most adults here have finished school or gone to college.

ZHAW Campus and Roter Turm

The city is famous for its big technology school called Technikum. It now works with schools in Zurich and is known as Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (ZHAW). The Club of Rome also has its main office in Winterthur. There is a campus for the SIS Swiss International School in the city. Another international school, International School Winterthur, closed in 2015.

Transport

Winterthur has a very busy train station. It is the fifth busiest in Switzerland. Many trains go between Winterthur and Zurich. Trains come from all over Switzerland and nearby countries.

Winterthur railway station

There are also nine smaller train stations in Winterthur. The city has its own bus system with twelve bus lines. There used to be trams here until 1951. Winterthur has two small airports, and the big Zurich Airport is close by. The city is also connected to major roads.

Tourism

Culture

Architecture

The church of St. Laurenz in the city centre dates back to 1264. The town hall was built in 1781. The assembly hall was built in 1865.

The city hall Stadthaus, where concerts by the Musikkollegium happen, was built by Gottfried Semper.

In 1989, Winterthur got the Wakker Prize for keeping its buildings and history safe.

Music

Winterthur’s chamber orchestra Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur is the oldest in Switzerland. It also plays at the Zurich Opera. From 1922 to 1950, a kind person named Werner Reinhart and a conductor named Hermann Scherchen helped make the city’s music scene better with many first performances of new music.

Each year in late August and early September, Musikfestwochen brings live music to Winterthur’s Old Town. Performances happen in streets, bars, and concert venues.

The “Albanifest,” the biggest yearly festival in a historic Swiss town, is named after Saint Alban, one of the city’s four saints. It happens over three days in late June each year. It is a newer event, but it celebrates a charter given to the town in 1264 by Rudolf of Habsburg on June 22, which was the saint’s day.

The Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie started in Winterthur. The Punkabilly band The Peacocks and the technical death metal band Punish also come from here.

Arts

Open Doors

Open Doors is a place in Winterthur that helps artists show their work. It started in 2008 by an artist named Michelle Bird who lives in Winterthur. Every year during the last weekend of September, artists open their studios to visitors. People can see the artists working and view their art. About 60 artists take part, including local and international artists, self-taught creators, and those who studied art in school. Open Doors Winterthur also publishes a magazine called MAP Magazine, with articles about local art and profiles of local artists. The event uses a map to show where each artist’s studio is located.

Sport

Winterthur has several sports teams. EHC Winterthur is the city's main ice hockey team and plays in the Swiss League, the second-highest ice hockey league in Switzerland. They play at the Deutweg Arena, which can hold 3,000 people. In April 2011, this arena hosted part of the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship with the Hallenstadion in Zurich.

The city’s football team is FC Winterthur, and they play in the top league of Switzerland, the Swiss Super League. Their home ground is the Stadion Schützenwiese.

Another well-known team is Pfadi Winterthur, which plays handball and has won many national championships. They compete in the Swiss First League of Handball and play at the Winterthur Central Sports Hall, where they share the space with the top floorball club HC Rychenberg Winterthur.

A newer team is the Winterthur Lions AFC, founded in 2017. They play Australian rules football in the AFL Switzerland league since 2019.

Notable people

1800–1850

Jonas Furrer (1805–1861), politician, first Federal President of Switzerland
David Eduard Steiner (1811–1860), painter, artist
Henrik Haggenmacher (1827–1917), Swiss-born Hungarian businessman
Konrad Grob (1828–1904), artist
Jacob Weidenmann (1829–1893), landscape architect

1851–1900

Charles E. L. Brown (1863–1924), machine designer, co-founder (Brown, Boveri & Cie)
Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945), art historian
John Henry Hintermeister (1869–1945), painter
Alfred Ernst (1875–1968), botanist
Hans Gamper (1877–1930), sportsman and founder of FC Barcelona
Ernst Wetter (1877–1963), politician
Fritz Kuchen (1877–1973), sport shooter
Alfred Büchi (1879–1959), inventor
Albert Thellung (1881–1928), botanist
Werner Reinhart (1884–1951), businessman
Oskar Reinhart (1885–1965), art collector
Emil Brunner (1889–1966), theologian
Jakob Flach (1894–1982), writer, artist
Willy Bretscher (1897–1992), newspaper writer

1901–1950

Georges Miez (1904–1999), gymnast
Willy Hess (composer) (1906–1997), composer
Albert Büchi (1907–1988), cyclist
Max Bill (1908–1994), architect, artist
Warja Lavater (1913–2007), artist
Sigmund Widmer (1919–2003), politician, writer
Rudolf Friedrich (1923–2013), lawyer, politician
Georg Gerster (1928–2019), journalist
Bruno Hunziker (1930–2000), politician
Richard R. Ernst (1933–2021), chemist
Ursula Bagdasarjanz (born 1934), violinist
Hannes Keller (1934–2022), computer scientist
Niklaus Wirth (1934–2024), computer scientist
Oscar Fritschi (1939–2016), politician
Michael Gempart (born 1941), actor
Markus Imhoof (born 1941), film director
Hans-Ulrich Brunner (1943–2006), painter
Beat Raaflaub (born 1946), conductor
Jürg Amann (1947–2013), writer

1951–2000

Viktor Giacobbo (born 1952), writer, comedian
Mirco Müller (born 1995), ice hockey player, currently playing for the HC Lugano
Martin Buser (born 1958), dog musher, Iditarod champion
Marlies Bänziger (born 1960), politician
Chantal Galladé (born 1972), politician
Chrigel Glanzmann (born 1975), musician, founder of Eluveitie
Steven Zuber (born 1991), football player