Friday 29 July 2016 was the date set aside for a summer event by ZIWA's Discovering Zurich and Switzerland group. Winterthur is well known for its industrial heritage, as ZIWA members know well from previous visits to the town, but today's trip was slightly more quirky than before. Twelve ladies took the train one step beyond to Winterthur Grueze where we were met by our guide for the morning, industrial archaeologist Dr. Hans-Peter Baertschi, who led us back in time to 1895. Behind the factory door, we were surprised to uncover an active workshop with the original machinery for making nails still in working order.
The northern town's industry dates back to the 19th century and before, when grain, rope, nails and textiles were processed or manufactured. Out of these raw materials, the production of clothing and the machinery to run the mills also evolved. It turned out the manufacture of machinery was more profitable, and hence Switzerland's first machine factory producing steam and diesel engines was located here. In the first half of the 19th century, there were seven railway lines providing transport in the north of the country from Lac Leman to the Bodensee. However, the railway company went bankrupt in 1877, and the town switched over to producing consumer goods and farm produce. The late 20th century saw the decline of the last major Swiss brewery, Haldengut, which was taken over by Heineken ten years ago. So Winterthur's industrial heritage has now all but vanished.
However, at the show workshop in Grueze, thanks to Dr Baertschi, a working nail factory has been lovingly maintained and is run as a family business which employs ten people, two of them women. At the old plant using the original machinery, we saw nails, screws and staples being made. These high quality products are sold to a specialist market and are also used in the production of window fasteners and in railway sleepers and telegraph poles. The raw material comes from the Saar region of Germany, but the end product is sold to the hobby market, using its own on-site packaging materials. On our tour, we saw a machine stamping out the nail heads, wire being transformed into small nails, and other old machinery including an anvil and smithy. At the factory museum, there was a display of Winterthur's historic products as well as books and postcards on display.
After this step back in time, the group returned to the modern town centre for lunch before the return journey. Thanks to Rowena Woollard for finding this hidden gem.
Julia Newton, 31 July 2016.
