Exploring Zurich’s Historic Bahnhofstrasse

Dennis John Olmstead is a Connecticut consultant who focuses on areas such as corporate tax law and sustainable business growth. Having lived and worked extensively abroad, Dennis Olmstead speaks both German and French and spent time in Zurich while a managing director at UBS in the 1990s.

One of the iconic boulevards in Switzerland’s capital is Bahnhofstrasse, which runs half a mile from the central train station toward Lake Zurich. It was originally a civic moat known as the Froschengraben, populated by croaking frogs. The construction of the modern street occurred in the 1850s when the city’s central station was constructed and formerly unpaved paths gave way to a latticework of streets anchored by a major thoroughfare.

Today, the street still has a distinctive turn-of-the-century feel, distinguished by functional, five-story, neo‐classic buildings that house flagship locations of some of the world’s best-known banks, watchmakers, and jewelers. One of the early landmarks still standing is the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt building (1854), which is now occupied by Credit Suisse. A distinctive, blue-striped tram runs down the pedestrian-friendly street’s center, taking visitors toward the lakefront. Bahnhofstrasse is particularly striking during the winter season, as more than 12,000 LED lights are strung to create a Christmas fantasia that attracts shoppers to the area.