Zurich city archives publish historical accident images
The Zurich City Archives is making parts of its photographic collection available online. It has published three thematic photo galleries.
The categories are: Accident and crime scene images from the city police, industrial photographs from Escher Wyss AG and historical images from Sihlwald. Since Wednesday, you can click through "Zurich's history in pictures" on the Internet, as the city writes in a press release. For example, the accident photos taken by the Zurich city police's identification service between 1920 and 1960 also document Zurich's urban development and economic and social changes. A selection from the company archive of Escher Wyss AG provides an insight into the activities of one of the city's most important industrial companies. And the photographs of the Sihlwald forest, which show its maintenance and use at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, reveal its economic importance.
These three themed picture galleries are linked to an online form which can be used to order and use the photographs from the city archive.
Some historical images, such as the city police's accident pictures, were already available online. According to city archivist Anna Pia Maissen, however, they could only be found via a complicated expert search. "Now anyone interested can find these photographic treasures more easily and quickly."
As Maissen told the news agency SDA, the images are used for commercial purposes, such as book publications, online image series, statistical reports, advertising or illustrating articles. On the other hand, the images are also widely used by private individuals. Images documenting the industrial age in particular are used as posters to decorate many apartment walls.
The city archive wants to make further themed picture galleries available on the Internet. For example, a collection of historical photographs of Schauspielhaus performances is planned. (SDA)
