Where to revitalise in Zurich this summer
Looking for a silent place to get away from the crowds on a warm summer day in Zurich? Places to free your mind, read a book and reload your energies in a green and peaceful setting? Join me in discovering my favourite spots easy to reach by bike, bus or on your feet…
Hidden in Zurich-Riesbach, between Zolliker- and Mühlebachstrasse you will find Villa Patumbah, a gem that even many locals are not aware of. Surrounded by a stylish English park by landscape architecte Evariste Mertens you will discover a listed villa built in 1885 for Karl Fürchtegott Grob, a rich tobacco plantation owner who named the villa after a small village near his first plantation in Sumatra (meaning “a country you are longing for”). Architects Chiodera and Tschudy combined in this villa stylistic elements of Gothic, Renaissance and Rococo periods as well as motifs inspired by the Far East. Today it houses the Centre of Patria Protection. The park is open to public, with a choice of benches and chairs to linger on or lawns to take a nap on a blanket.
Another one of my favourite relaxing spots is just outside the city near the Lindt & Sprüngli chocolate factory: Sulzergut, which looks from outside as a fenced private park with a wooden villa, is actually public and accessible until 10pm. Spread over 6,000 square metres this terrain was bought by the community of Kilchberg in 1970 for 1 million Swiss francs from the inheritance of its last owner. It offers two small pebble beaches for easy access to Lake Zurich, huge sunbathing lawns with enough trees for a little shadow and two benches to sit on. Sulzergut can be reached by bus 165 from the city.
Relaxing on cemeteries sounds weird to you? Not when you choose one of those I tend to spend some of my free time: Eichbühl in Zurich-Altstetten and Sihlfeld in Zurich-Witikon (Kreis 3). As their grounds are extremely vaste and only partly covered by graves, you may get some peace in lush surroundings without being constantly reminded that you are sitting amongst the dead.
Built in 1966 Eichbühl cemetery is one of the youngest in the city, covers a ground of more than 140,000 square metres and is considered an important work of modern Swiss landscape architecture. The grave fields are laid out like terraces in clear lines and the concrete of the buildings symbolically corresponds with the elements water, air and earth. It impresses me every time with its extraordinary width and compactness and offers plenty of space for silence. In most of its parts you are far away from the tombs and don’t feel like being on a cemetery.
A wide array of stone benches invite you to read a book or daydream among meadows and trees giving you full peace of mind. Cemetery Eichbühl can be reached by tram 2 to Lindenplatz followed by a short walk.
An even bigger ground is covered by Sihlfeld cemetery with its 288,000 square metres, which is not only the biggest cemetery, but at the same time the biggest park in Zurich. It’s first part inaugurated in 1877, further sectors were added over the years until the late 60’s. Strolling on the sycamore avenues or taking a break next to sculptures and fountains on a sunny day is mostly rewarding for any park lover seeking for a relaxing moment. Here you are in good company with famous writers like Gottfried Keller, Hugo Loetscher or Johanna Spyri, Red Cross founder Henri Dunant or former Swiss national football team coach Köbi Kuhn, who found their last resting place here. I sometimes make a stop at the tomb of Hulda Zumsteg, former owner of the most iconic Zurich restaurant “Kronenhalle”. She was the one given incredible art pieces by Marc Chagall or Joan Miro which still can be admired today in my favourite bar next to the restaurant.
The park opening hours always depend on the season and the exact time of nightfall. In winter the park is therefore closed earlier than in spring, summer and autumn. You may reach Sihlfeld cemetery by tram 3 (Station Krematorium Sihlfeld).
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