Currents
June 2019
Globetrotter
MAID FOR TODAY
954-968-0063
By: Max Edwards
Zürich, More Than Banks
Zürich, Switzerland’s largest city, with 400,000
residents, resonates as a center of wealth, of finan-
cial discretion, and of Swiss reliability. Among Euro-
pean cities, few better deserve the appellation “ele-
gant.” Even by Swiss standards, Zürich is expen-
sive, but visitors are rewarded with immeasurable
cultural value.
Celtic settlements existed in Zürich in the 1st cen-
tury BC on the Lindenhof hilltop. Romans later built
a fortress here, and succeeding dynasties, including
the Carolingians, built upon this vantage point. In
1218, Zürich became part of the Holy Roman
Empire, but soon forged its independent identity. By
the Middle Ages, Zürich’s merchant guilds developed
and grew rich in the wool, silk, linen, and leather
trades.
As a result of its stability and neutrality, Zürich
emerged, after both World Wars, as a financial cen-
ter, and is now the world’s largest gold market. In
spite of its achievements, Zürich is the consummate
practitioner of modesty. The grey suits of Zürich’s
stolid bankers serve to comfort those offended by
today’s neon-saturated world of celebrity and brag-
gadocio.
But is there pleasure to be had in sober Zürich?
Indeed, there are festivals and concerts, and a
plethora of boating and swimming activities on the
city’s lake, the Zürichsee, and on its river, the Lim-
mat. The world’s longest swimming race, from Rap-
continued on page 12 >
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