Zürich NEUerschienen 2020
«Zürich NEUerschienen» presents newly acquired Turicensia – topical, recently published books, audiobooks and other media with a connection to the city and canton of Zurich.
An eventful decade in pictures
December 2020. Our new library system is up and running. The illustrated book “Zürich in den 1970er Jahren” is one of the first publications to be added to the collection. It was edited by the journalist and crime writer Raphael Zehnder, who tells the story of an eventful decade through 300 photographs.
Zehnder shows us a woman waiting for a tram and youngsters fishing, but also the then new Hardau tower blocks and the Red University during anti-capitalist week. He has a particular interest in the everyday lives of people who call Zurich home. He knows the city – in which his criminal investigator Benedikt Müller solves five cases – like the back of his hand, having lived here himself for more than two decades.
You can find “Zürich in den 1970er Jahren” and other media containing pictures of the city and canton in our Turicensia Lounge and the Zurich Bibliography.
Walking the city
November 2020. “Wandern in der Stadt Zürich” – this time round, our book about Zurich is not new but an old favourite. Our most recent acquisitions are currently in the stacks, awaiting processing. Cataloguing recommences in December, when the new library system is ready for use.
In this volume of text and illustrations, Ursula Bauer, Jürg Frischknecht and Marco Volken suggest 16 walks around Zurich, from the “Wild West” via the city centre to Witikon. Bauer/Frischknecht literary walking guides are well known, and an entertaining way of exploring the world without even leaving your sofa.
More guides to exploring the city and canton on foot can be found in the Turicensia Lounge and the Zurich Bibliography.
The Töss Valley – a wonder of nature
October 2020. Countless waterfalls cascade and splash in Rudolf Bolliger’s adoptive home of the Töss Valley. Varying in size from large to small, the “Giessen”, as they are known, are a unique natural spectacle.
The author has spent years exploring the area south-east of Winterthur, lighting on waterfalls with such evocative names as Chatzentobel, Bärenbort and Fuchslochholz. He has documented their diversity in the words and pictures that make up “Giessen im Tösstal”. There is also a section on the local geology.
“Giessen im Tösstal” can be found in our Turicensia Lounge. Further books, articles and even a map of the Töss Valley are catalogued in the Zurich Bibliography.
The wild years
September 2020. Two journalists and a photographer embarked on an ambitious, long-term project to follow a secondary school class for four years, from their first day right through to their leaving party. The result is a multimedia report that was broadcast on all the NZZ channels and has now been published in book form by NZZ Libro.
Through words and pictures, readers can immerse themselves in the world of Katarina, Denise, Cristian, Mattia and their classmates at the Cantonal School Enge. The students themselves share their thoughts, while experts from the fields of psychology and educational science shed light on the young people’s experience of the world.
“Good journalism is alive and well!”, writes Luzi Bernet, editor-in-chief of NZZ am Sonntag, in the foreword.
“#GymiZyte” is available in our Turicensia Lounge. For more about secondary schools in Zurich see the Zurich Bibliography.
Live, work, race your bike – Zurich architecture
August 2020. A comprehensive architectural guide covering the entire city of Zurich and its history has recently been published. It presents some 1,200 structures, from the Predigerchor and the open-air velodrome to nameless residential and business premises. Werner Huber and his co-authors cover everything from iconic structures to the controversial and less spectacular examples of Zurich’s architectural history.
The book includes illustrations and brief descriptions of all the objects, many of them complemented by plan views. An architectural overview places the catalogue in context.
“Architekturführer Zürich” can be found in the Turicensia Lounge. More literature about structures in the city can be found in the Zurich Bibliography.
Into Zurich’s back country
July 2020. Writer Caroline Fink, who has made Zurich her home, documents the Sihlwald in words and pictures, introducing the flora, fauna and places to visit on foot or by bike, and taking readers on a journey through the four seasons.
“Sihlwald – wild und schön” also tells the story of this important Zurich forest, which for a long time supplied wood to the city. In the latter years of his life, Salomon Gessner was responsible for managing the forest, and he loved spending his summers in the forester’s house, which survives to this day.
Follow in Gessner’s footsteps and escape the heat of summer with a leisurely walk on one of the many cool paths through this area of Zurich’s back country.
The book is available in the Turicensia Lounge. For more literature about the Sihlwald see the Zurich Bibliography.
Zurich in plants
July 2020. Did you know that 1,757 different plant species grow in the wild in the canton of Zurich – including rare and somewhat unexpected types such as orchids and carnivorous plants?
“Flora des Kantons Zürich”, published by Haupt Verlag, forms part of a project by the Zurich Botanical Society. Some 250 botany enthusiasts volunteered to collate plant data and photos from all over the canton for this synoptic publication. In addition to the book, the extensive collection of data has also been incorporated into a website.
A selection of literature on plants in Zurich can be found in the Turicensia Lounge and the Zurich Bibliography.
Stories from little Nando
May 2020. It is not a brand new publication, but it recently received the first Swiss Children and Young People’s Book Prize: The graphic novel by Nando von Arb from Zurich tells the story of a patchwork family from the perspective of little Nando. Funny and melancholic, sometimes colourful and sometimes monochrome, “3 Väter” is the very personal work of a young artist for readers of all ages.
You can find a selection of comics and graphic novels published in Zurich at the Zentralbibliothek.
Another case for Ääschme
April 2020. The crime novels of Zurich author Viktor Schobinger are not just exciting: they are also a treasure trove of the local dialect. This case for Police Lieutenant Ääschme leads us into unfamiliar gardens and familiar linguistic realms:
«Normaal!?» lachet der Ääschme, «wèr wäiss scho, was normaal isch! Normaal isch, was di mäischte für normaal halted. Das änderet mit de ziit und mit em land. Und gaad i d gsetz ii. Und phèr gsetz wììrt gschtraafft, was z abnormaal isch.»
This crime novel, along with other books by Viktor Schobinger, can be found in the Turicensia Lounge and the Zurich Bibliography.
Street names of Winterthur
March 2020. History, politics, literature, urban design plans and, not least, famous personalities are just some of the sources for Swiss street names.
For the first time, Chronos Verlag has published a Neujahrsblatt der Stadtbibliothek Winterthur in the form of a register containing background information on all the 1,100 street names in Winterthur. It contains photographs, historical town plans and accompanying texts by six authors.
“Von Ackeret bis Zytmoos” can be read in the Turicensia Lounge after the Zentralbibliothek Zürich reopens.
For more literature about Winterthur see the Zurich Bibliography.
A European in Zurich
February 2020. There is more to this book than its title suggests: it explores not just Emil Oprecht the publisher but also his family life and the cultural and social milieu in which he worked. His actions are defined by far-sightedness and moral courage.
In his latest work, the historian Christoph Emanuel Dejung describes a fascinating period in which Zurich became a haven for European authors fleeing persecution. In the video interview “Was verdanken Exilautoren dem Verleger Emil Oprecht? – Einsichten & Klartext” he talks to Anne Rüffer of rüffer&rub publishers about the new book.
“Emil Oprecht – Verleger der Exilautoren” can be read in the Turicensia Lounge.
For more literature about personalities from Zurich see the Zurich Bibliography.
Portrait of a village
January 2020. “Sternenberg” by Markus Brühlmeier and Ursula Eichenberger is a lovingly compiled portrait of a Zurich village that became famous in 2004 thanks to the film of the same name. Historical images illustrate the village’s history, while photographs by Tom Kawara depict life there today in full colour.
You can browse through the book in the Turicensia Lounge.
For more literature about Sternenberg and the commune of Bauma see the Zurich Bibliography.