Statue of Alfred Escher

Statue of Alfred Escher

The statue standing atop the memorial
Location	Bahnhofplatz, Zurich, Switzerland
Coordinates	47°22′38″N8°32′24″E / 47.37713°N 8.53996°E / 47.37713; 8.53996
Designer	Richard Kissling
Type	Statue
Material	Bronze (statue) and granite (base)
Opening date	1889(136 years ago) (1889)
Dedicated to	Alfred Escher

The Statue of Alfred Escher is located in the city centre of Zurich, Switzerland. It stands in Bahnhofplatz, ^[1] in front of the southern entrance of the main building of Central Station ^[2] (Hauptbahnhof or HB, completed in 1871) and at the northern end of Bahnhofstrasse, the city's shopping avenue. ^{[3] [4]} The statue, which is made of bronze, was designed by Richard Kissling (1848–1919) and was erected in 1889. ^[5] Alfred Escher (1819–1882) was a Zurich-born business magnate, banker, railway pioneer and politician.

The statue stands atop a granite memorial fountain with a small garden on its eastern side and two tram stops of the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund transport network on its western side. The water from the statue's base forms an additional fountain in the underground level below the square, now a shopping centre named ShopVille. ^[6]

History

In February 1883, a committee was formed for the purpose of erecting a memorial statue to Alfred Escher. The commission went to the sculptor Richard Kissling. The Alfred Escher memorial was erected outside Zurich Central Station and was inaugurated on 22 June 1889. About the memorial's granite base are figures representing progress and industry, while a bronze child holds a wreath of immortality. ^[7]

Images

• 
  Bahnhofplatz pictured in 1902, looking west
• 
  Statue and memorial
• 
  The statue faces Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's main shopping avenue
• 
  Fountain in ShopVille, below Bahnhofplatz

References

1. "Alfred Escher||Alfred Escher (1819 – 1882) – the Designer of Modern Switzerland". www.zuerich.com. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
2. Oltermann, Philip (22 March 2023). "Switzerland's national pride dealt heavy blow by the merger of its banking titans". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 27 May 2025.
3. "Alfred Escher Statue". www.zuerich.com. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
4. Walker, Owen; Morris, Stephen (24 March 2023). "Credit Suisse: the rise and fall of the bank that built modern Switzerland". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
5. Baedeker (Firm), Karl (1901). Switzerland and the Adjacent Portions of Italy, Savoy and Tyrol: Handbook for Travellers. K. Baedeker. p. 41.
6. Eugster, David (1 October 2020). "Shopping underground". Swiss National Museum - Swiss history blog (in German). Archived from the original on 13 December 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
7. Hearst's Magazine, the World To-day. World Review Company. 1911. p. 1472.