«Chemical Landmark» 2016

On September 9, the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) awarded the «Chemical Landmark» 2016 to the former Institute of Chemistry of the University of Zurich. The celebration at the Rämistrasse 74/76 attracted an audience of about 60 participants to this oldest still preserved building of the university. The new head of the Department of Chemistry, Prof. Karl Gademann opened the session and moderated through the day’s program under the motto “honor the past, embrace the future”. The president of the university, Prof. Michael Hengartner thanked the SCNAT for the distinction and emphasized that employing excellent scientists is only one key ingredient to success, and that research-assisting infrastructure is another key ingredient. Representing SCNAT, Prof. Christian Bochet welcomed everyone and shortly introduced the academy and the «Chemical Landmark» program, which aims at keeping alive the memory of important historical events and persons in the field of chemistry in Switzerland. In her laudation, Prof. Cristina Nevado gave an insight into the history of chemistry at the University of Zurich, Dr. Roland Kunz expanded the historic view with an architectural retrospection and Prof. Roland Sigel and Stephan Borger neatly moved on to the future of chemistry at the University of Zurich and their building infrastructure: Starting 1833, chemistry at the University of Zurich began as a success and immediately grew. Relocations and expansions were necessary several times, and from 1893 on, with Alfred Werner as young professor, the spatial constraints increased further. He attracted so many students that the lecture halls were overcrowded. Additionally, the lab space was ‘untenable’, even known as ‘the catacombs’. Due to their use of the cellars as labs, the chemists were even reprimanded for incurring too large a bill for artificial lighting. Only after Werner threatened to accept a call from the University of Vienna, did Zurich agree to finance a new building for chemistry. For 1.4 Million Swiss Francs, the ‘Kantonsbaumeister’ H. Fietz constructed the new building, which housed the ‘neue Kantonsschule’ as well as the chemistry