Rote Fabrik

{{Infobox building

| name = Rote Fabrik

| image = Image:Rotefabrik.jpg

| image_alt =

| image_size =

| caption = Rote Fabrik, viewed from Seestrasse

| map_type =

| map_alt =

| map_dot_label = Rote Fabrik

| location = Zurich, Switzerland

| address = Seestrasse 395

| completion_date = {{start date and age|1892}}

| architect = Carl Arnold Séquin-Bronner

| architecture_firm = Sequin and Knobel

| website = {{url|https://rotefabrik.ch}}

}}

Image:Zürich - Wollishofen - Rote Fabrik IMG 1018.JPG]]

Rote Fabrik ({{lit|Red Factory}}) is a former factory in the Wollishofen neighbourhood of Zurich, Switzerland. It is now used as a music venue and cultural centre. It is so named because the buildings are made of red brick, but also because left-wing parties were part of the campaign to turn the location into a cultural centre.

History

=The factory=

The Rote Fabrik was built in 1892 for the Seidenfirma Henneberg company, according to a design by the architect Carl Arnold Séquin-Bronner. In 1899, the Henneberg company was taken over by the Stünzi Söhne Seidenwebereien company, based in Horgen. In 1940, the factory was taken over by the ITT Corporation. In 1972, the city acquired the factory and planned to demolish the building in order to widen the adjacent Seestrasse.{{cn|date=February 2022}}

= The cultural centre =

In 1974 the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) launched a proposal to transform the factory building in the Wollishofen neighbourhood of Zurich into a cultural centre.{{cn|date=February 2022}} The derelict factory was squatted.{{cite news |title=Exodus In Zurich |url=https://squallmagazine.com/f/f14-11-exodus-in-zurich.html |access-date=19 February 2022 |work=Squall Magazine |issue=14 |date=1996 |language=en}} As a result, studios were set up for artists and cultural events were held. In 1977, voters made the choice for the preservation of the building and use as a cultural centre.{{cn|date=February 2022}} It was planned to host exhibitions and events and to serve as a music venue.{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=Jan |series=Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements |title=A European Youth Revolt: European Perspectives on Youth Protest and Social Movements in the 1980s |date=2016 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-1-137-56570-9 |pages=243–257 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-56570-9_17 |language=en |chapter=Defining Political Dissidence: The Swiss Debate on the Riots of 1980–81|doi=10.1007/978-1-137-56570-9_17 }}

In 1980, it became known that the Zurich Opernhaus (Zurich Opera House) was renting the Rote Fabrik for storage space and that it would be granted CHF 61 million for renovations. Youth activists were outraged that there was no money for a social centre. A three-day festival at the opera house began on 30 May 1980 and around 200 uninvited young protesters came to demand an autonomous youth centre. The {{lang|de|Stadtpolizei Zürich}} and state Kantonspolizei Zürich police corps had been informed beforehand, and stationed themselves in the foyer of the opera house. When the young people occupied the stairs, the demonstration became a street battle, the police using water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets.{{cite web|url=http://www.srf.ch/kultur/im-fokus/der-archivar/der-heisse-sommer-1980-zueri-braennt|title=Der heisse Sommer 1980: "Züri brännt"|publisher=SRF Kultur|author=Franz Kasperski|language=German|date=16 January 2015|accessdate=17 January 2015}} The riots became known as the Opernhauskrawalle (Opera House riots).A first political compromise was the so-called AJZ, a temporary youth centre near Zurich main station. The most prominent politician involved was Emilie Lieberherr, then member of the city's executive ({{lang|de|Stadtrat}}) authority.{{cite web|url=http://www.srf.ch/player/tv/archivperlen/video/diskussion-zu-den-zuercher-jugendunruhen?id=05f18417-ec5b-4b94-a4bf-293312e56afe|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140519113646/http://www.srf.ch/player/tv/archivperlen/video/diskussion-zu-den-zuercher-jugendunruhen?id=05f18417-ec5b-4b94-a4bf-293312e56afe|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 May 2014|title=Diskussion zu den Zürcher Jugendunruhen ("CH-Magazin" vom 15.7.1980)|publisher=SRF Kultur|language=German|date=15 July 1980|accessdate=17 January 2015}}

On 25 October 1980, the cultural centre Rote Fabrik opened. Music and theater were the focus of activities. Some independent theater groups which gained increasing influence in the local cultural scene made their debuts at the Rote Fabrik. A referendum in 1987 decided that the Rote Fabrik should be used as an alternative cultural centre and also subsidised.{{cite web |title=The revolution that set Zurich streets ablaze |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/the-revolution-that-set-zurich-streets-ablaze/8959528 |website=Swissinfo |date=30 May 2010 |access-date=19 February 2022 |language=en}}

The centre has hosted authors such as Günter Grass and Alice Schwarzer and bands such as Bad Religion, Manu Chao, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.{{cite web |title=Rote Fabrik |url=https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/nightlife/rote-fabrik |website=www.zuerich.com |access-date=19 February 2022 |language=en}} The centre also has a contemporary art gallery called the Shedhalle and a restaurant, Ziegel oh Lac.

In the early 1990s, the area was redeveloped. In 2002, the subsidies were adjusted to 2.3 million francs. With this money it became possible to organise more than 300 events annually.{{cn|date=February 2022}}

In 2012, a large fire fought by 50 firemen destroyed artists studios.{{cite news |last1=Vaudan |first1=Lucienne-Camille |last2=Wertheimer |first2=Pia |title=Rote Fabrik: Feuer nach Stunden unter Kontrolle |url=https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/zuerich/region/rote-fabrik-feuer-nach-stunden-unter-kontrolle/story/21358693 |access-date=19 February 2022 |work=Tages Anzeiger |date=13 June 2012 |language=de}} A history of the Rote Fabrik entitled Bewegung tut gut (Movement is good) was published in 2021.{{cite news |last1=Büttner |first1=Jean-Martin |title=Jubiläum einer Zürcher Institution – Leben und weiterleben in der Roten Fabrik |url=https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/leben-und-weiterleben-in-der-roten-fabrik-780293435824 |access-date=19 February 2022 |work=Tages Anzeiger |date=26 September 2021 |language=de}}