1916: Dada soirée at the Zunfthaus zur Waag
When talking about artistic avant-garde in Zurich, there is no way around Dada and, right in the middle of it all: the Zunfthaus zur Waag. In the summer of 1916, the first public Dada soirée took place in our building on Münsterhof. It was an evening that made art history and forever marked Zurich as the birthplace of a movement that questioned everything: language, logic, and conventions.
Zurich in the summer of 1916: While World War I rages everywhere, something completely new is emerging in the heart of Zurich's old town—a movement that turns art, language, and thinking upside down. At the Cabaret Voltaire on Spiegelgasse, a group of artists calling themselves Dada is forming. What initially sounds like a joke quickly becomes a symbol of creative freedom, experimentation, and new beginnings.
On July 14, 1916, the first public Dada soirée took place at the Zunfthaus zur Waag. In our historic rooms, where guild members used to meet and trade, sound poems, improvisations, and provocative texts were recited that evening. Among the performers was co-founder Hugo Ball, who began his opening manifesto with the words: "Dada is a new art movement. You can tell by the fact that no one knew anything about it until now, and tomorrow all of Zurich will be talking about it."
It was an evening full of irritation and inspiration – an evening that showed that art knows no boundaries. The Zunfthaus zur Waag provided the setting for this bold premiere: a house with centuries of cloth weaving tradition, which became the stage for an artistic revolution on that summer evening. Why here? During the war, Zurich was a place of neutrality and thus also a refuge for thinkers, poets, and visionaries from all over Europe. Between the narrow streets and venerable walls, they found space for new ideas, for freedom of thought and action.
Kunsthaus Zurich, library, gift from Hans Bolliger, 1980
Today, more than a century later, the Zunfthaus zur Waag not only commemorates this historic moment, but also continues to embody its spirit: open to encounters, inspired by culture, rooted in history. Here, historic architecture meets contemporary cuisine, tradition meets inspiration. And anyone who walks through our old guild rooms today may still sense something of the spirit of optimism that filled Zurich in 1916 – when Dada quietly said: "Everything is possible."
A visit to the Zunfthaus zur Waag is therefore not only a culinary experience but also a little journey through time. To a place where art, culture, and hospitality have always gone hand in hand.
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