Zurich's Coins – a Short History through Time
By Calista Fischer, © MoneyMuseum (Translated by Graham Pascoe)
From the Ladies' convent Fraumünster in the Middle Ages to the introduction of the Swiss franc in the 19th century, many important steps may be observed. The coins of the free city of Zurich bear witness of that fact: they document trade and commerce in Europe of the past 1200 years.
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Paradeplatz
Zurich – Switzerland's international metropolis of finance and trade, where countless banks have their headquarters. Billions of Swiss francs are traded at the stock exchange every day and business people from all over the world are busily crossing paths. Switzerland is cosmopolitan in Zurich where sciences and politics are also actively pursued. If you're lucky you will even meet Nobel prizewinners and federal councilors on the street. Zurich is also a cultural city, offering a wide range of events at the stately Opera House right down to the tiniest alternative armchair theatre. In short: there's a buzz to Zurich. Or as they say in French: "Zurich, c'est une grande ville dans un mouchoir" (Zurich is a big city in a handkerchief).
How did the town on the Limmat River get its reputation? Was it for its central location on the blue lake or for the fresh air? Find out here how Zurich became what it is today.
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Regensburg – Turegum/Zurich
July 21, 853 AD. The weather was oppressively hot. Everything seemed quiet in the East Frankish Empire. Everything? Well – the royal chancellery of Regensburg smelled of sealing wax. A quill was being scratched across a parchment. The swooping signature of King Louis the German decided the fate and future of the village of Turegum.
Up until this moment mainly a place of pilgrimage, Zurich with one stroke of the quill belonged to Louis' daughter Hildegard. Louis was a generous father. All the royal goods in Turegum, i.e. the land and buildings, changed hands. The secure the future of his beloved daughter for good, she also received the forest between Zurich and Horgen as well as what is now the Canton of Uri.
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The Fraumünster Abbey
Not even a king did offer such gifts every day. Yet Louis knew what he wanted from his most capable daughter: she was to establish a convent in Turegum. Besides, she also was to manage and multiply the possessions that had been given to her so generously. Hildegard courageously accomplished those tasks. The Fraumünster Abbey gives account of her achievements up to this day. Hildegard founded a small yet distinguished convent for aristocratic ladies who soon assambled a library. The Fraumünster thus became a seat of knowledge – the spiritual and cultural heart of Zurich.
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The New Bourse in Zurich
With all due respect to culture and spiritual sustenance of the Middle Ages – there was still a long way to go until the stock exchange was built, and Zurich was still far from being a financial metropolis. So what were the nuns of the Fraumünster Abbey economically up to? Well, good old Louis had not thought it necessary at the time to grant the minting prerogative of Turegum to his daughter. This was by no means a sign of meanness or lack of confidence; Zurich was just too insignificant in the middle of the 9th century to need its own coins.
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Denarius, minted under Duke Herman I of Swabia (926-949) in Zurich
The first person to mint coins in Zurich, by order of the German king, was Duke Hermann of Swabia. He supposedly stayed in Zurich in 929, and might have used that sojourn to have denarii struck like the one shown here. The duke most certainly paid a visit to the Fraumünster Abbey. If he didn't go there voluntarily, his wife Reginlinda would certainly have reminded him. Like many other aristocratic ladies, Reginlinda was an untiring patron of the Fraumünster Abbey. At the same time she was the abbess of the Fraumünster until her death in 958.
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Denarius, minted by the Fraumünster Abbey in the 11th century
The year 1045 was the second significant date on Zurich's path to becoming a financial and trading metropolis. Henry III, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, visited his palatinate at the Zurich Lindenhof.
The Salian seems to have enjoyed this trips to the town on the Limmat, for he visited Zurich six times during his reign. On his inaugural visit in 1045, the emperor expressed his generosity by granting several much sought-after privileges to the Fraumünster Abbey: the abbess was now allowed to strike her own coins. The coinage prerogative also included the right to hold markets and demand tolls. And, as if all this hadn't been enough, Emperor Henry elevated the abbes to imperial princess.
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Sechseläuten procession
Coinage, market and tolls were important for a growing economy, as they were the "cash cows" of the Middle Ages. For whoever owned the minting prerogative cashed the seigniorage, and those entitled to hold a market received the tolls.
With Emperor Henry's generous gift to the Fraumünster Abbey in 1045, the abbess became de jure and de facto the ruler of Zurich. Not only was she the spiritual leader, she also held the political and economic power.
After knowing all this unbiased visitors to the beautiful town on the Limmat naturally ask themselves why contemporary guildsmen still exclude the "Fraumünster association" from the annual Sechseläuten procession (a festivity of the Zurich guilds marking the beginning of spring). After all, the procession only took place for the first time in 1818.
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Bracteate, minted by the Fraumünster Abbey after 1261
Zurich experienced its first economic height under the emperors of the House of Hohenstaufen. The power of the town's ruler, the abbess of the Fraumünster thus, grew constantly. After having received the minting, toll and market privileges in the 11th century, she 100 years later controlled a great deal more. All the business affairs, from the lucrative salt trade to the control of mills, bakeries and markets, as well as rights of lower jurisdiction, were in the hands of the noble abbess.
So what did the designs of the coins issued by Abbess Mechtild of Wunneberg and Abbess Elisabeth of Wetzikon show? As they were pious Benedictines, the image had naturally to religious, and if possible directly related to the convent. This coin thus depicts Saint Felix. His sister, Saint Regula, was also illustrated on coins. Yet how did Zurich acquire its two saints?
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The martyrium of Felix and Regula
Felix, Regula, Charlemagne, Louis the German and Hildegard – these are the foundation stones of medieval Zurich, and the substrate of which the small village of Turegum would blossom into the proud town of Zurich.
Felix belonged to the legendary Theban Legion which was massacred right down to the last man in St Maurice around 300 AD. The reason for the massacre: Emperor Diocletian and his co-regent Maximian demanded of the Roman legion that it revered the imperial cult. However, the soldiers and officers of the Theban Legion were all Christians, and thus didn't want to have anything to do pagan cults. They were ready to die a martyr's death, just like their savior. Felix learned about this ominous punishment and fled to Zurich with his sister Regula.
Yet Felix and Regula couldn't escape the persecution of the Christians for long. In the end they were captured, tortured and executed.
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Wasserkirche
Many paid for their Christian belief with torture and execution. However, it wasn't enough to face death courageously to become a saint. That actually needed a lot more, namely a sign of God. And this is exactly what happened with Felix and Regula: after their heads had been chopped off on an island on the Limmat, the bodies of Felix and Regula didn't just collapse. No, the two corpses picked up their heads, crossed the wooden bridge and walked slowly uphill until they finally collapsed on a small slope.
God thus revealed Himself in the village of Turegum. Subsequently this was reason enough for Christians to come on pilgrimage to Zurich. Before long the Wasserkirche (Water Church) was built on the spot of the double execution, and it soon became the most important place of pilgrimage north of the Alps.
Quite a pretty legend, isn't it? Naturally Charlemagne and his grandson, Louis the German, knew about the tale and paid homage to the two saints in their manner. Charlemagne had the Grossmünster Cathedral built over their graves. And Louis' gift and order to his daughter Hildegard were due to the adoration of the two saints. You can see the execution stone on which Felix and Regula lost their lives but not their faiths, in the crypt of the Wasserkirche.
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Grossmünster
Grossmünster, Wasserkirche and Fraumünster – Zurich's three most important churches are all linked directly to the legend of the two saints Felix and Regula. Throughout the Middle Ages pilgrims came to Zurich to pay reference to the two martyrs. This was obviously good for business, for the pilgrims needed board and lodging as well as devotional objects. Commerce was thus brisk in front and inside of the Wasserkirche. Disabled people dragged themselves to the fountain to drink of the miraculous water. Believers awesomely touched the execution stone. Pilgrims' pennies and other pilgrimage souvenirs were sold. The later conflict between the Wasserkirche and the Grossmünster was pre-programmed – though quite some time was still to pass before then.
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Bracteate, minted by the Fraumünster Abbey under Elisabeth of Spiegelberg (1298-1308)
Naturally, the abbess of the Fraumünster supervised any business to do with the pilgrimages, market and tolls. Around 1300, the Fraumünster Abbey was at the height of its power, and the ruler of Zurich was proud to have herself depicted on her coins – as Elisabeth of Spiegelberg on this pfennig. But be careful, noble Elisabeth, can't you see the signs of the times? If this question had been asked of the imperial princess of Zurich, she would have laughed out aloud. How could any of those men whom she – the ruler of Zurich – had appointed as mayor, customs officer and mint master, ever be dangerous for the convent?
However, even imperial princesses can't put a stop to the demands and tendencies of their time. And things were moving in another direction – not only in Zurich, but in the entire Holy Roman Empire. When the three counties of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden met and swore their defensive alliance on the Rütli, nobody envisaged the consequence of this act. Yet countless battles and victories over the imperial army made the Swiss alliance attractive for the surrounding regions as well. In 1351, Zurich joined the confederation as the fifth allied partner. At first glance this was a small step, but it had consequences for the political and economic development of the town – and of the entire confederation.
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Guild house "Zur Kämbel"
Isn't the guild house "Zur Kämbel" magnificent to behold? In this tour it is a representative of all those tradesmen, merchants and handworkers whose transactions were subject to the guild laws of the city mayor Rudolf Brun.
The rich people of medieval Zurich already liked fine, superior garments. The craftsmen assembling in the guild house "Zur Kämbel" were retail dealers, yet the house had originally belonged to the pelt mongers. Hence the name, for "Kämel" was the medieval term for an Angora goat whose fleece is wonderfully soft and hairy.
How did the economic boom in the later Middle Ages come about? The Crusades and the afterwards growing trade with the Levant proved to be economic stimuli, not only in northern Italy, but also in the whole of the Holy Roman Empire. Being part of that empire turned out to be quite profitable for Zurich and the old Swiss confederation.
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Dicken (1/3 taler), minted by the city of Zürich about 1504
Trade creates prosperity. After the crusades larger, heavier silver coins were needed to master the growing business transactions. Just like in Berne and Sion, Zurich had large silver coins minted in the new Italian fashion. In Zurich, however, they were called dicken (meaning fat) for their weight, rather than testoni.
Yet our dicken doesn't stand for prosperity only. It also represents two historically important aspects of Zurich. The inscription "MONETA NOVA THURICENSIS" reveals that the minting prerogative was now with the town instead with the abbess of the Fraumünster. This was a further step in the deprivation of the abbess's privileges. Nominally still the ruler of Zurich she was not able to prevent the gradual withdrawal of her rights, since she didn't have any instruments of for power, and even the human resources were inadequate: six noble ladies weren't enough to keep check of a town that was rapidly growing.
The councilors didn't seem to trust their new power entirely, for they still placed Felix and Regula on the obverse of the coins. Felix and Regula were not only the saints of Zurich, they were also represented on the seal of the Fraumünster Abbey. Hence the motif on this dicken is nothing else than an attempt made by the town to legitimise its still unfamiliar minting activity.
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Guldiner, minted by the city of Zurich in 1512
Zurich's city saints were still depicted on the coins in 1512. Yet a mysterious multiplication seems to have taken place. Along with Felix and Regula there is now a new saint on this guldiner – it is the imaginary Saint Exuperantius. How this increase came about is not entirely clear – one interpretation is that Zurich owed this new saint to a badly translated text, as the Latin word "exuperantius" is the comparative of "exuperans" (meaning excellent). Somebody not quite fluent in Latin might have thought the adjective supposed to describe Felix and Ursula was a proper noun. Be that as it may – since the 16th century, Zurich has three city saints.
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Zwingli Monument in front of the Wasserkirche
The guildsmen slowly deprived the once mighty Fraumünster abbess of her power over the centuries; yet it was one single man who finally gave her the kiss of death: Huldrych Zwingli, an eloquent catholic priest. His militant sermons initiated the Reformation in Zurich. Zwingli stamped Zurich with a mark of Protestantism that is noticeable right to this very day.
Zwingli was a fascinating combination of a devout Christian and a veteran soldier. He was not finicky with the points of interest in Zurich, the Wasserkirche and the Grossmünster. The churches were emptied, the frescoes destroyed, the crypt and fountain of the Wasserkirche filled up. The last abbess of the Fraumünster, Catharine of Zimmern, a friend and fervent follower of Zwingli, handed over the Fraumünster to the loyal town custodians and married a mercenary leader and knight, Eberhard von Reischach. Side by side, Reischach and Zwingli fought at the memorable battle near Kappel in 1531. Side by side both lost their lives on the battlefield.
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Half gold crown undated, minted by the city of Zurich 1550- 1560
Shortly before the Reformation, the free imperial city of Zurich was awarded with a coveted privilege: the right to mint gold coins. Nothing could illustrate Zurich's economic importance better than this. It is quite ironic that Zurich received this privilege from a fervent catholic, namely Charles V, one year before the outbreak of the Reformation.
Emperor Charles had difficulties with the Swiss confederates now and again. He was repeatedly confronted with them as mercenaries in the French army. Swiss soldiers could also be met in the papal army. Moreover, the obstinate confederates did not consider Charles's imperial coin reform. Zurich may have had the imperial eagle struck on its gold crowns; yet the town's self-assertive nature prevented the gold content from being prescribed by the emperor.
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Fashion show
The ladies of Zurich are extremely fashion-conscious, and not just since the introduction of the Bolero award! Where does this flair for textiles come from?
War does not only involve pain, misery and poverty; it sometimes also accelerates the transfer of know- how. This happened in Zurich in 1550, when the town became a stronghold of Protestantism. Many Protestants fleeing from Catholic persecution came here. The refugees brought Zurich a considerable economic upswing with their knowledge and contacts in cloth trade, particularly in cotton. Unlike other textile sectors, the cotton industry was not controlled by the guilds in Zurich, but could be carried out freely. This was a welcome economic niche for the newly arrived immigrants. They launched a whole new industry and gave work to many local women.
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Heller undated, minted by the city of Zurich in the 16th century
Not only Zurich's coins circulated in the markets of Zurich in the 16th century. Far from it, for coins from the other Swiss confederates, from France and Italy as well as from the Holy Roman Empire were used in Zurich, too. It was difficult to keep track. For that reason the customs and moneychangers had assessment lists which provided information about the relative values of various kinds of money. The amounts could be calculated pretty correctly, but how did one settle the small differences in value between the various kinds of coins? That's why one had divisional coins – in Zurich it was the heller or haller, struck on one side only.
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Stateroom at the old Seidenhof
Despite Zwingli's opposition to mercenary services: a commander of mercenaries could still become rich and prestigious in Zurich around 1610. Yet military service was not the only means to become rich and distinguished any more: successful manufacturers of textiles, in particular of silk, climbed the social ladder too. This is a stateroom from the old Seidenhof (the silk factory) from 1610. This room, as well as the reception rooms of the Fraumünster Abbey and other representative rooms of Zurich, can be viewed at the Swiss National Museum.
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Ducat undated, minted by the city of Zurich about 1630
The Reformation got rid of saints and idols, yet a hundred years later, the city saints Felix and Regula were back in Zurich and very much en vogue again! As though nothing had happened, Zurich's new gold coins, the ducats, depicted the two saints with their heads under their arms.
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City wall
1642 – the Thirty Year's War was still waging, and it wasn't certain whether the Swiss confederation would get dragged into the war between the Protestants and the Catholics. However, it would be wrong to see the imminent threat of war as the only reason for the construction of Zurich's entrenchments.
The ravages of war brought refugees from southern Germany. At the same time Zurich expanded the lands under its dominion, and the population in the city grew rapidly. Soon there was a shortage of space within the city walls. As a result Zurich's guilds closed themselves off and refused to accept new members. Yet, since everybody living in Zurich had to be member of a guild, this meant: settling in Zurich was not possible any more.
To protect itself against the influx of its own countrymen, the proud little town on the Limmat River built a new defense system outside the old city walls. They were the preliminary signs of the Ancien Régime with its mentality of eliminating every innovation that could endanger the traditional potentates.
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Waser taler, minted by the Republic of Zurich in 1660
In 1660, when this taler was struck, Zurich's most important export article were still young men who hired themselves out as mercenaries. Their most important employer was the king of France. However, as lucrative as the mercenaries may have been, their profession was very controversial in Zurich since Zwingli's time.
The city mayor Johann Heinrich Waser, who had this taler struck, was a supporter of the mercenary system. He was therefore ill reputed among the opponents of mercenaries, who slandered him to work for the French and against the interests of his hometown. Waser's enemies tried him several times for corruptibility – without success. And they spread the rumour that the crown above the Zurich coat of arms and the small lily – the heraldic symbols of the French Bourbons – on Waser's coins were the signs of his alliance with France, and thus labeled the Waser talers as "talers of arrogance."
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Florhof
Simmering liquids, hissing noises and nasty smells pervaded the atmosphere of 18th century Zurich. No, for once this wasn't due to political confusion. All these noises and smells stemmed from the textile manufacturers and their so-called fabriques or factories like the beautiful Florhof shown here. Would anyone nowadays staying in this elegant hotel ever imagine that in 1710 80 textile workers sweated over their work at 20 ovens with boiling water? Sheep wool was cleaned and combed at the Florhof.
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Schanzentaler undated, minted by the Republic of Zurich about 1702-1709
10,000 inhabitants in the town and 150,000 in the country – this was the proportion of the population in the Republic of Zurich in the 18th century. In other words, politically and economically, 150,000 inhabitants depended on the goodwill of 10,000. For the town decided what would be sold on the market, and the city's guilds decided who could live and work in Zurich. But how long would Zurich manage to keep its own rural population outside the city walls? The fortifications are depicted proudly on this so-called "entrenchment taler."
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10 ducats, minted by the Republic of Zurich in 1724
"All men strive after gold and set their hearts upon it." This 10-ducat coin reveals the good financial state of the Republic of Zurich in the 18th century. No other Swiss confederate state was circulating as many gold coins as the town on the Limmat. Double ducats or even 10-ducat coins were more than just money, however. They were also offered as prestigious gifts to impress and flatter the receiver. It's hardly surprising then that the best engravers were employed to make such noble coins, here it was Hans Jakob Gessner.
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Soldiers of the time of the French Revolution
It needed a small Corsican thirsting for power to awaken the states of the Swiss confederates from their rigid, sclerotic state and make them accept that times had changed.
The Napoleonic soldiers raged throughout Europe like a forest fire, making all the old political structures collapse. "Liberty, Fraternity and Equality," was the noble motto. The rural population of the Republic of Zurich welcomed the French troops as their liberators in 1798. At long last the political and legal preponderance of the town had been broken. And at long last the old town privileges had been eliminated by the roar of the French canons.
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40 batzen (new taler), minted by the city of Zurich in 1813 during the time of mediation
Napoleon forced a centralistic structure on the Helvetian Republic with an iron hand. The mintage of the states was abolished and a single currency of French design was introduced. Soon, however, the French Emperor had to realise that the headstrong Swiss confederates could not dealt with this way. As from 1803, the Swiss states minted their own coins once again, and so did Zurich. This is one of Zurich's last talers, dating back to 1813, i.e. the Napoleonic times. The German Peter Bruckmann cut the die. Actually this is rather surprising, considering that Zurich had been one of the European centres of gold and silver smithies just 60 years earlier.
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Bourse, todays chamber of commerce
"Knowledge is power," and whoever spreads knowledge can trigger the economy unexpectedly. In 1843, the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" published the rates of the Paris stock exchange for the first time, thereby laying the foundation stone for a profitable institution, which has marked Zurich's economic life to this very day.
In 1877, Zurich built its first stock exchange. However, already 50 years later the building had become too small. Its location is still reflected in the name of street, "Börsenstrasse." In 1930, the stock exchange moved to a new location, where it remained for over 60 years. From this house, streams of money flowed into the Swiss economy. The construction of the exchange – the logical conclusion of a development that had begun in the year 835 with Hildegard's royal order – was a truly notable success story.
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5 Francs, minted by the Swiss Confederation in 1850
"One Nation, one currency." After the victory of the Liberals over the Conservatives in the Swiss civil war of 1847, the Swiss Confederation became a federal state. And ever since the Swiss franc had been introduced as national currency in 1850, payments were made in "Fränklern" (1-franc coins) and "Fünflibern" (5-franc coins) in the blue town on the Limmat. And this is still the case today, whilst the neighboring countries of Switzerland use the euro as single currency.
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