Federal Court: advertising monitors in Zurich's Niederdorf must go
The four advertising monitors on the "Zum Brotkorb" building in Niederdorf have to go. The Federal Supreme Court has also rejected the second appeal by the operating company. Following an initial decision, the company had replaced the banned large screens with two smaller ones.
Originally, a 50-inch flat screen was installed in each of the showcases at the property at Niederdorfstrasse 77. On the monitors, still images alternated every 10 seconds with advertisements for companies based in the buildings as well as for other stores and businesses.
Sensitive environment in terms of monument preservation
The Office for Urban Development ordered the removal of the screens in 2006, which was confirmed by the Federal Court in 2008. The operating company CityLights subsequently installed two smaller 30-inch monitors in place of the large screens. However, the Office for Urban Development also demanded their removal.
The operating company appealed to the Federal Supreme Court, which has now once again rejected its appeal. The judges in Lausanne supported the view of the Zurich authorities that the third-party advertising on the four monitors did not take sufficient account of the sensitive historic environment in Zurich's old town.
Avoid prejudice
This is particularly true in view of the fact that the "Zum Brotkorb" building in question is a listed building. In a small-scale environment, any form of illuminated or luminous advertising is highly visible.
The building authorities' fear that the approval of the controversial monitors would create a precedent that could lead to an aesthetic impairment of the old town over time appears justified against this background.
CityLights does not want to dismantle
The fact that shop windows in the surrounding area are designed similarly or even more conspicuously for the purpose of self-promotion is irrelevant. The Federal Supreme Court had already stated in its 2008 ruling that different treatment of self-promotion and third-party advertising was permissible in principle.
Jürg Knecht from CityLights does not want to remove the controversial monitors despite the ruling from Lausanne, as he explained to the SDA news agency on Tuesday. Instead, he will only allow his own advertising to flicker across the screens in future, which is apparently permissible. (SDA)
