Here is Central in 1907, The Central Hotel is still there but the building next to it has unfortunately been replaced by something far more boring.
Most of the rest is still recognisable.





A coloured view of Bahnhofplatz, circa 1915. Note that the ETH building doesn't have a dome. This was as it ws originally designed by Gottfried Semper, who was furious when the dome was later added. Most of the buildings are still there, but the tram stop shelters and other items of street furniture have caused Bahnhofplatz to become much more cluttered, obstructing the view of Wanner's beautiful station and costing the place much of its dignity.



Bahnhofstrasse, early 20th Century. I'm not sure what these people are doing. Loks like some sort of a market.






Stauffacher 1908. The tram line that turns left here is the Triemli line. This no longer turns here but joins the Altstetten line at the other end of Stauffacher. The locations is atill clearly recognisable thanks to the church tower but most of the other buildings are gone. The building on the left is still there are is now the Helvetia.

both in fact. The Bahnhofstrasse was the mediaevil moat. In Renaissance times the town walls were torn down and a new moat and set of defences built at Schanzengraben. The old moat remained however, and as I said in my previous post, wasn't filled in until the 19th Century. Prior to it being filled in the city was considering having it dredged to permit ships to berth alongside the station. At the time the lakeside railway lines hadn't yet been built and ships were the main means of transport for the lake villages, especially for moving goods. The construction of the railway lines serving both lake shores put an abrupt end to that, however.

If you look at a map, you will see that Schanzengraben follows a zig-zag path. This reflects the thinking of the period which dictated that that was the best way to build defences.

The same thing was done on the other side of town: The original town walls which were on Selergraben were replaced by a new set of defences further up the hill, approximately where the ETH and the university now are. Before the ETH could be built, these had to be demolished, a project that took several years and provided a significant mass of stone that was used for various building projects all over Zürich..

I believe that is correct, as this is what all the books and the historians say. However, popularly this is an area of some contention as there are locals who will insist that Fröschengraben and Schanzengraben are identical.

Just have to say this is a fascinating thread, thanks DB and to everyone contributing

It is such a shame some of those beautiful old buildings were torn down

When I was a student at the University ('sixties, 'seventies), there was a big writing in metal letters, reading "Fröschengraben," over the front entrance of one of the buildings on Bahnhofstrasse. I think that was south of Jelmoli, but not 100 % positive. The door was not flush with the façade, but recessed by two meters or so, if my early-onset Alzheimer's isn't playing tricks on me. I wouldn't be surprised if the writing still were there.

That's right on Bahnhofstrasse, nowhere near the Schanzengraben. Of course that's a rather new thing, as are all those buildings on that side of the Bahnhofstrasse, but I wonder if a house owner would have been stupid enough to waste money on that writing without first verifying is correctness.

Maps affectionados.... on another note

Go to Google Earth
select the middle of the Atlantic ocean
A little to the left of the Portuguese Acores islands off the coast of Africa
You will see icons indicating:
World Globe 1790
World Globe 1812
Celestial Globe 1792

enjoy ! (I love it)

Why is there a raised bit of the Limmat on the nearside? It isn't there now. What was it for?

There used to be numerous water-powered mills along the Limmat, both on islands (since removed) and on the banks. Hence such street names as Neumühlequai and Mühlegasse. To be able to capture enough water, some mills diverted headstocks from the main river. I assume this one would have continued underground in a pipe or channel to feed the next mill on this side of the river.

One thing I like to show friends visiting Zürich is the Roman Bath ruins underfoot in an alley in Niederdörfli. For those of you who havent seen this, its pretty neat. in the sides of the walls they have a window showcasing the bath tools (brushes and such) that were found there.

Something else that is interesting in this picture is that the tram in the middle is not blue and white like the other Zurich trams but the dark green of an old Oerlikon tram (prior to ca. 1931 they were a separate company).

One of these has been restored and is on display at the Tram Museum.

Not really related, but I wonder why this never occurred to me before.

Why is Sihlquai called Sihlquai, seeing only a very short bit of it is actually alongside the Sihl and the rest follows the Limmat. Okay, the name Limmatquai is taken but surely Sihlquai is utterly misleading as a name?

I couldn't find this. Is it possible I need a newer version of Google Earth?

These photos and stories are really interesting. Thanks all..

Somewhere around Staufacherplatz..

Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl

Great map here.

Paradeplatz 1888

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...tz_ca_1888.jpg


Sprüngli 1900

http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewik...ungli_1900.jpg


Alte Tonhalle

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Crich_1900.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Crich_1929.jpg

http://www.andreas-praefcke.de/carth...h_tonhalle.htm


Bucheggplatz 1959

http://www.vbz.ch/vbz_opencms/export...latz_gross.jpg


VBZ 1900

http://www.vbz.ch/vbz_opencms/export...1900_gross.jpg


Bellevue 1890

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Crich_1890.jpg


View from St. Peter 1870

http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/...Peter_1870.jpg


Stock market 1890

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Crich_1890.jpg

If anyones wondering where these are, it's in a little alley coming off the weinplatz infront of the storchen. It's really worth checking out if you're in the area anyway.

The alley is called Thermengasse. It start next to the Pastorini toy store.