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Helvetiaplatz (Zürich)

District 4 of Zürich

The Helvetiaplatz in Zürich is located in the District 4 (ger.: Kreis 4) at the corner Langstrasse and Stauffacherstrasse. The first project of pastor Ernst Sieber's Sozialwerke Pfarrer Sieber for homeless people started at Helvetiaplatz in winter 1963; the foundation is still based in Zürich-Aussersihl. The place is well known because of the demonstrations on 1 May and against the World Economic Forum. Otherwise peaceful and multicultural events or demonstrations take place there. In the years 2006 and 2007 there was a great champion celebration after the FCZ (one of Zurichs Soccer Teams) won the Swiss Axpo Super League. Every Tuesday and Friday from 6 to 11 o'clock you can find a market with a wide range of food products. Directly at the Helvetiaplatz you can find the Volkshaus where there are regular events such as concerts or parties. Next to the Helvetiaplatz is the Kanzleiareal with a schoolhouse, the cultural centre called Kanzlei and the alternative Cinema and Bar named Xenix.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Helvetiaplatz (Zürich) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Helvetiaplatz (Zürich)
Stauffacherstrasse, Zurich Kreis 4

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N 47.37613 ° E 8.52691 °
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Helvetiaplatz

Stauffacherstrasse
8004 Zurich, Kreis 4
Zurich, Switzerland
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Ristorante Cooperativo

The Ristorante Cooperativo, colloquially known as Coopi, is a restaurant in Zürich, Switzerland, known for its association with 20th-century left-wing political figures as well as the anti-fascist, trade union and Italian immigrant movements in Switzerland. The restaurant's roots are in the Società Cooperativa Italiana Zurigo, founded by Italian immigrants in 1905 for "furthering Socialist cooperation". Apart from a library, the society also founded the Ristorante Cooperativo to allow immigrants to eat at affordable prices, and continues to operate it today. During World War II, the Cooperativo became a nexus of Socialist resistance against European Fascism, as many exiled Italian socialists fled to Switzerland. Among them was Filippo Turati, the founder of the Italian Socialist Party, whose bust still graces the restaurant. The Coopi was also where the Avanti! and L'Avvenire dei Lavoratori were being edited during the war years. These newspapers, the only Italian-language media in opposition to the Fascist regime at the time, were regularly being smuggled from Zürich to Italy in double-bottomed suitcases. In the post-war years, the restaurant became a meeting-point of the Zürich left-wing intelligentsia, particularly during the student movement's heyday in the late 1960s. The later Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger was among the Coopi's regular guests as a student. Led by the later National Councillor Ezio Canonica, the Coopi was also the base of the opponents of James Schwarzenbach's anti-immigration initiatives of the 1960s. In its time, the Coopi has seen many internationally famous patrons. While still a member of the Italian Socialist Party, the later Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ate at the Coopi in 1913 after speaking at the May Day festivities in Zürich. Vladimir Lenin is reported to have eaten his last meal in Switzerland at the Coopi before covertly traveling to Russia in 1917, and the German communist writer Bertolt Brecht also patronised the restaurant during his stay in Switzerland. Brecht is said to have asked why the restaurant had a portrait of Karl Marx but lacked those of Soviet leaders Lenin and Joseph Stalin, and was told that the Coopi was "not a place for dictators, not even on the walls". More recently, Gerhard Schröder, then still Chancellor of Germany, ate at the restaurant after opening a Schang Hutter vernissage in 2004. Originally located at the Zwinglistrasse, the restaurant moved to the Militärstrasse 36 in 1912 and to the Strassburgstrasse 5, in 1970 (47.3727°N 8.5282°E / 47.3727; 8.5282 (Ristorante Cooperativo (1970-2008))). In 2006, the media reported that the Coopi may have to close its doors in 2007 because the city government intends to increase the rent for the restaurant building which it owns. According to the Società Cooperativa, replacing the 1970s flexible rent arrangement with a current market level rent would ruin the restaurant. In 2008, it moved to St. Jakobstrasse 6 (47.3737°N 8.5281°E / 47.3737; 8.5281 (Ristorante Cooperativo (location since 2008))).

Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl
Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl

The Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl was a battle of the Old Zürich War that occurred on July 22, 1443, resulting in a defeat for Zürich. The battle took place outside the gates of Zürich, beyond the Sihl (today's Aussersihl district). The troops of Zürich, with Habsburg reinforcements, met the attacking confederates on the Sihlfeld north of St. Jakob on July 21. The confederation army, which numbered about 6,000 men, was met by Zürich's disorganized troops and about 500 Austrian knights. The following morning the confederation army attacked the front and then the left flank of the army. Zürich's forces were pushed back and had to escape across the Sihl into the city. The confederates did not have the means to lay siege to the city and withdrew. The defeat of Zürich was thus not decisive, and the war continued until 1446. The commander of the Habsburg forces, Albrecht Freiherr von Bussnang, was killed behind the altar of the St. Jakob chapel. According to Zürich chroniclers, Zürich's burgomaster Rudolf Stüssi fell at this battle amongst the defenders of the bridge across the Sihl. Stüssi was covering his troops' retreat when he was killed by a confederate hiding below the bridge.This account, which emphasizes the burgomaster's bravery, is considered Zürich propaganda by historians. Another version of the story has Stüssi stopping in the middle of the bridge, brandishing his broad battle-axe and shouting, "Halt, citizens, halt!" To this a man of Zurich cried, "May God's lightning blast thee! All this evil comes from thee alone," and ran him through with his lance.Additional accounts from Zürich chronicles state that the city was saved by the gatekeeper's wife, one Anna Ziegler, who managed to lower the portcullis of the Rennweg gate just as the pursuing confederates were about to enter the city.