Women, the guild and man's world
250 Years of Zunfthaus zur Meisen
An exhibition mounted by the Zunft zur Meisen in cooperation with the Department of Culture of the City of Zurich and the Swiss National Museum in Zurich.
The Affair
In 1752 Zurich was in an uproar over two stonemason’s widows who submitted a bid for the construction of the Zunfthaus zur Meisen that undercut that of their male competitors – and were promptly granted the commission. The episode offers an opportunity to mount an exhibition covering more than simply the history of the guilds, but which also examines the circumstances in which women lived in Zurich 250 years ago in this jubilee year for the Zunfthaus zur Meisen.
More Female Guild Members than Male
Zurich
in the 18th century was a model city of guilds, with its entire
citizenry, female and male, organised into the Constaffel and twelve guilds
or Zünfte. Furthermore, Zurich’s inhabitants
included a fifth more women than men. The
everyday experiences of female members of the guilds is the main focus of an
exhibition at Zurich's Stadthaus, featuring a series of brief audio plays in
which the prolific historical novelist Eveline Hasler brings to life the
biographies of several of these women.
Men’s Worlds
The guild halls were the setting for most of Zurich's social events, the places where alliances were forged, deals made, and nightcaps drunk. The exhibition rooms in the Zunfthaus zur Meisen are entirely devoted to the significance of the guilds’ drinking chambers, watering holes for all citizens, from poor saddler to well-to-do councilman. Much of what went on there, of course, was simply banqueting and carousing; and, although women were not in principle denied entry, over time their presence in the guild halls began to dwindle, and the worlds of men and women drifted ever farther apart.
«Women, the Guild and a Man’s World»
250 Years of Zunfthaus zur Meisen
29 August to 25 November 2007
The exhibition takes place at two locations:
Zunfthaus zur MeisenTuesday – Sunday 10.30 am to 5 pm
Closed on Mondays
Münsterhof 20, 8001 Zurich
Tel. +41 (0)44 221 28 07
E-mail: kanzlei@snm.admin.ch
Free admission
Stadthaus Zürich
Monday – Friday 9 am to 6 pm
Closed on Saturdays and Sundays
Stadthausquai 17, 8001 Zurich
Tel. +41 (0)44 412 31 23
E-mail: ausstellungen@zuerich.ch
www.stadt-zuerich.ch/ausstellung
Free admission
For further information on the exhibition, please contact:
Markus Brühlmeier, historian and exhibition curator, tel. +41 (0)44 480 25 05, e-mail: arthist@active.ch
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