Platzspitz, officially Platzpromenade, is a park in District 1 of the city of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is located next to the

Swiss National Museum The Swiss National Museum () is a museum in Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, adjacent to Central Station and the '' Platzspitz'' park. It is part of the ''Musée Suisse Group'', which is itself affiliated with the Federal Office of Culture ...

() and

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

and bound by the rivers

Sihl The Sihl is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the Zürich, city of Zürich, after crossing the Zürich–Winterthur railway at . It has ...

to the west and

Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...

to the east. The

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of these rivers lies just north of the park. Several tall ''

Platanus ''Platanus'' ( ) is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. The type ...

'' trees grow in the park, which are some of Zurich's oldest trees. The park also features a statue of the Swiss poet

Salomon Gessner Salomon Gessner (1 April 1730 – 2 March 1788) was a Swiss painter, graphic artist, government official, newspaper publisher, and poet, best known in the latter instance for his ''Idylls''. He was a co-founder of the Helvetic Society and the fir ...

and a

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

. At Platzspitz's northern end, two bridges link the park with the neighbouring quarters and the Dynamo youth center. The park shares a

landing stage A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piles or pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, boat docking an ...

with the , served by the ZSG Limmat river cruise.

History

The history of the park goes back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. It was originally used as a hunting and shooting ground in the 14th century, and by the end of the 18th century, the park was also adorned with beautiful

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...

. During the 1980s,

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

users would frequently gather at the park, and attempts to disperse them merely resulted in them regrouping elsewhere. Thus, in 1987, the authorities chose to allow illegal drug use and sales at the park in an effort to contain Zürich's growing drug problem. Police were not allowed to enter the park or make arrests. Clean needles were given out to addicts as part of the Zurich Intervention Pilot Project, or ZIPP-

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

program. However, a lack of control over what went on in the park caused a multitude of problems. Drug dealers and users arrived from all over Europe, and crime became rampant as dealers fought for control and addicts, numbering up to 1,000, stole to support their habit. The once-beautiful gardens had degraded into a mess of mud and used needles, and the emergency services were overwhelmed by the number of overdoses, which took place almost nightly. Platzspitz, or Needle Park as it was then known, became a source of embarrassment to the Zurich municipal council and in 1992, police moved in to clear up the park. The drug scene was then moved to the adjacent area of

Letten railway station Zurich Letten () is a former railway station in the Swiss city of Zurich. It is situated on the old route of the Lake Zurich right bank railway (''Rechtsufrige Zürichseebahn'') from to via . Radical changes to the local railway geography in ...

, which closed services in 1989. This spot was also cleared by police in 1995. Platzspitz has been cleaned up and restored, and today it is presented by the authorities as a peaceful, family-friendly garden.

National Exhibition Vestige

One structure that stands out is the

that stands just behind the Swiss National Museum. It is very close to Zürich's main railway station. The Gazebo is a vestige of Switzerland's first National Exhibition of 1883. It was first built to be a musical pavilion, a function it still serves to this day.

References

{{coord, 47, 22, 51, N, 8, 32, 23, E, region:CH_type:landmark, display=title Parks in Zurich Altstadt (Zurich) Drugs in Switzerland Heroin Sihl Limmat