tradition and modernity

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Last Monday was that time again: hundreds of traditionally dressed guild members and their guests of honor paraded through Zurich to welcome spring in Sechseläuten. This was impressively achieved in mostly bright sunlight. As a guest of the Gesellschaft zur Constaffel, I had the great honor to be present at this joyful celebration and, together with the members of the guild, delve into Zurich customs.

Seeing so many people celebrating centuries of tradition is very impressive. If you add a children’s parade on Sunday the day before, the folk festival extends to all generations. For me, this is a good example of how differently Zurich society identifies with their city.

The tradition is viable and sustainable only because of the commitment, time and energy of many people. As a zoo, we are also such an example and benefit greatly from the great support of the Zurich community. This can only be seen from our guests: 1.4 million of our guests last year came from all over the country, but the vast majority of 75 percent came from the canton of Zurich. About 40 percent of them are from the city of Zurich. All these people with their visit not only support our environmental work. They also help us cover our operating expenses. The zoo manages to finance much of this out of its own pocket, even if annual subsidies from the city and canton are extremely important to us – another example of community support, this time from the political camp.

However, simply covering daily expenses is not enough. Because a zoo that operates in a modern way must constantly develop and keep animals in accordance with the current state of science. Here the zoo has excelled in recent decades due to its great innovative strength, which is impressively demonstrated by the Masoala rainforest or the Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park. Our groundbreaking projects are only possible because, as a zoo, we enjoy an incredibly high level of community support and can fund projects through donations and legacies. We are very grateful. They are once again an example of the strong identification of Zurich society with its city, its traditions and its institutions. Many guilds have represented this role for nearly 700 years. I wish Zurich that people continue to be ready to take responsibility for their vibrant, diverse and innovative city for the next 700 years.

Source: Blick