Zurich’s 1576 map showed power and daily life
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In 1576, the city of Zurich commissioned Jos Murer to create a map, and author Martin Weiss explored Murer’s life and the city he depicted.
Weiss’s research reveals a Zurich shaped by strict religious rules and the hardships of the Little Ice Age, a period of prolonged cooling. While the city was a haven for religious refugees and the impoverished, daily life involved rigid social controls and harsh punishments for even minor infractions.
Zurich’s authorities heavily influenced public life, dictating everything from clothing to the number of guests allowed at weddings. Despite the challenges, Zurich was also a bustling center of craftmanship and trade, with citizens tending gardens and livestock within the city walls. The city drew people from other areas of Switzerland and southern Germany seeking aid during times of hardship, as the local poor relief system provided food and shelter.
Weiss notes that Murer’s map was a tool to project power and present a beautiful image of the city, omitting unpleasant realities like waste heaps. However, the map’s accuracy, showing each house and even the flow of the Limmat river, was remarkable for its time. Murer, a curious and multi-talented artist, saw his cartography as a way to decode God’s plan and showcase his creation, and his map achieved widespread distribution even after his death.
