Winterthur Tourist Attractions

Art treasure and a cultural inheritance bearing witness to the thriving craftwork of former times are good reasons for paying a visit to Winterthur. The little triangular Old Town still preserves streets with rows of old burghers' houses. Of special interest are the Waaghaus (weigh house) in Moorish-Gothic style, the former Early Classical Stadthaus, also the Oberes Spital (upper hospital, 1790) and the old Unteres Spital (lower hospital, 1806-1814), now an old people's home. The semi-detached house "Zur Geduld" with an Early Baroque facade was built between 1690 and 1717; the "Hans zum Adler" at the Obertor (upper gate) is an elegant example of Roccoco. The fascinating graffiti on the Hans zum Hinteren Waldhorn where the Winterthur painter Hans Haggenberg lived from 1440 to 1494, have also partly survived.

The town church of Winterthur, a three-aisled basilica, was built 1264-1615; its two 65 m/213ft high towers were added in 1659 and 1794.

In the Winterthur Marktgasse stands the Early-Classical town hall (18th-19th C.); in its assembly hall can be seen a magnificent stucco ceiling by Lorenz Schmid. On the ground floor, Josef Bösch created a shopping arcade in Italianate style at the end of the 19th C. and this links the Marktgasse with the Stadthausstrasse.

The Winterthur industrial museum houses a fine collection of applied and decorative art and occasionally special exhibitions.

The Winterthur Museum of Art at Museumstrasse 52, northwest of the Stadthaus, contains pictures by Swiss painters of the 16th-20th C. (including 25 portraits by Anton Graff of Winterthur), works by French artists from the Impressionists onwards (Van Gogh, Bonnard, Vuillard, Maillol) and by German artists (Marées, Corinth, Hofer). Also to be seen are works by modern artists (including M. Tobey, N. de Staël, F. Glarner and H. Antes and a large collection of drawings.In the same building is the municipal Natural History Museum (paleontology, zoology and reliefs of Swiss landscapes).

The old town of Winterthur is bounded on the north by the Stadthausstrasse, which runs east from the station. At No. 6 is the Galerie Oskar Reinhart, with a fine collection of works by Swiss, German and Austrian artists of the 18th-20th C., including many Romantics (C. D. Friedrich, K. Blechen, F. Hodler, A. Böcklin, L. Richter, R. G. Kerstling, P. O. Runge, R. F. Wasmann, etc), and modern Swiss artists, including F. Hodler, C. Amiet, G. Segantini and G. Giacometti.

In a rear wing (No. 20) of the Winterthur Rathaus can be seen the Kellenberger Collection of Watches and Clocks (sundials, sand and oil timepieces and especially mechanical clocks of 16th-19th C. In the same building is the Jakob Brimer Collection of paintings by minor Dutch masters of the 17th C., together with miniatures by English, French, German and Swiss artists of the 16th to the 19th century.

At the east end of the Stadthausstrasse in Winterthur stands the Stadthaus, a prestigious building of 1865-1869, built by Gottfried Semper and enlarged 1932-34; inside is the concert hall of the Collegium Musicum (1629); the hall extends over three stories.

Not far from the Winterthur town park can be seen the theater (Theater am Stadtgarten), opened in 1965. The building, in echelon form, was designed by Frank Krayenbühl.

In the Technorama of Switzerland, science and technology are presented in a vivid manner to the visitor in the fields of energy, processing of materials, textile technology, measurement, building, home and hobbies, information, physics, safety at work. Apparatus, materials and experiments which visitors can do for themselves form an intrinsic feature of the complex.In the grounds of the museum there is also a miniature steam railroad and a laboratory for young people.

To the north of Winterthur at Haldenstrasse 95 in Römerholz is the celebrated private collection of the great art patron Oskar Reinhart. It includes works by a large number of old masters, including Cranach the Elder, Breugel the Elder, Grünewald, Rubens, Rembrandt, El Greco and Goya, and paintings by 19th C. French artists, including Corot, Courbet, Daumier, Delacroix, Renoir and Cézanne.

Decorative painting and carving can be seen in the rooms of Schloss Wülflingen (Wülflingerstrasse 214) which is now a restaurant. Ch. Kuhn painted the panels in the law court; the Salomon-Langholt Room has 17th C. decoration; the "Rose Room" is Roccoco style. In almost all the rooms can be seen examples of stoves decorated in the Winterthur style.

The Frauenfeld road (N 1) leads to the Winterthur suburb of Oberwinterthur (445 m/ 1,450ft), on the site of the Celto-Roman settlement of Vitodurum. The 14th C. wall-painting in the Romanesque church (12th C.) is interesting.

This annual three-day festival takes place during the last weekend in late June or early July in honor of Saint Alban. The festival was first held in the 13th century but did not become an annual event until the early 1970s.Food and craft stalls, concerts, dance performances and other traditional events are held throughout the weekend.

This country house c 1787 contains Roman artifacts and a model of the city during Roman rule.As the original owner of the house, Johann Sebastian von Clais, knew the inventor Benjamin Franklin, the house is said to have possessed the first lightning conductor in Switzerland.

A rich collection of antique Swiss coins and medals plus examples of Greek and Roman work.

A collection of paintings of Dutch and Swiss 17th C masters plus a collection of miniatures.

An international modern photo exhibition with changing displays.

Surrounding sights of Winterthur include Schloss Hegi, Eschenberg, Kyburg and Schloss Mörsburg.