March
Foto: Georg Aerni

Tonhalle Zürich

The Tonhalle Zürich, having undergone a complete programme of renovation between 2017 and 2021, has now been restored to its former glory.

Built at the turn of the 20th century, the Tonhalle has seen many changes in the course of its history. Partially demolished, the building was extended with the addition of the Kongresshaus; much of its original ornamentation was removed; its colourful decoration was toned down and then restored. However, the two concert halls remained substantially unchanged – which is particularly fortunate, as the Grosse Tonhalle is acoustically one of the world’s finest concert venues.

The entire complex is now classified as a historical monument. Thanks to the Zurich electorate, which in 2016 voted by a large majority in favour of a complete renovation, the venue now meets today’s varying requirements both in the auditorium and behind the scenes – and has been restored to its former glory. Following the renovation programme lasting from 2017 to 2021, the Grosse Tonhalle’s old tonal brilliance has also returned.

Foto: Georg Aerni
Foto: Georg Aerni
Eingangshalle (Foto: Georg Aerni)
Vestibül (Foto: Georg Aerni)
Konzertfoyer (Foto: Georg Aerni)
Konzertfoyer Galerie (Foto: Georg Aerni)
Foto: Georg Aerni
Kleine Tonhalle (Foto: Georg Aerni)
Vereinssaal (Foto: Georg Aerni)

The History of the Tonhalle Zürich

The first Tonhalle originally stood on what is now Sechseläutenplatz in Zurich’s city centre. The former Kornhaus building was converted into the Tonhalle in 1867 and demolished in 1896, as the new Tonhalle had been ceremoniously inaugurated on the shores of Lake Zurich in October 1895. The inaugural concerts were conducted by Friedrich Hegar, Chief Conductor at the time, and the composer Johannes Brahms. The Tonhalle on Lake Zurich was designed by the Viennese architects Fellner and Helmer, who had built Zurich’s City Theatre – now the Opera House – only a few years earlier (1891).

Outwardly, the Tonhalle, with its fanciful towers, resembled Paris’s Palais du Trocadéro. The Wilhelminian architecture provided a striking example of urban planning in a central location on Zurich’s newly created lakeside promenade. Modelled on Leipzig’s new Gewandhaus concert hall, the Tonhalle’s small and large auditoria were connected by an elliptical music pavilion for social festivities and short concerts.

In the large concert hall, five striking ceiling paintings depict various musical scenes. The centrepiece is the «Composers’ Heaven» by Viennese decorative painter Peregrin von Gastgeb, which features portraits of Bach, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner and Brahms. To this day, the Tonhalle’s large concert hall has remained one of the best in the world in terms of acoustics and can accommodate a concert audience of more than 1,500.

Due to the Swiss National Exhibition being held in Zurich in 1939, the prestigious Wilhelminian festival building, together with its pavilion and Trocadéro towers, was demolished and a plain conference building designed by architects Max Ernst Haefeli, Werner Max Moser and Rudolf Steiger erected on the same site between 1937 and 1939.

Fortunately, the Tonhalle’s two concert halls were preserved by integrating them into the conference building. The plaster ornamentation and busts of composers in the concert halls, which were considered too lavish, were partially removed. The colourful decorative scheme was replaced by shades of grey and brown, and the pink scagliola columns were whitewashed.

Further conversion, renovation and restoration work followed over the decades. In 2008, a controversial new building designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo was firmly rejected in a referendum. In 2016, however, the City Council’s plans for the repair and renovation of the Kongresshaus and the Tonhalle met with great approval from the Zurich electorate.

After some building delays, the Tonhalle Zürich is thus about to regain its festive aura and will be formally reopened with a concert given by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in September 2021 – its 126th year.

Erkunden Sie die Tonhalle Zürich

Auf diesen Moment haben wir sehnlist gewartet. Nach vier Jahren Renovationszeit öffnet die Tonhalle Zürich wieder ihre Türen.

Audioguides
Erkunden Sie unser Zuhause per Audioguide und erfahren Sie Spannendes zur bewegten Geschichte, Architektur und Akustik der Tonhalle Zürich.

Virtuelle Besichtigung
Flanieren Sie virtuell durch die Tonhalle Zürich mit Google Arts & Culture. In acht Online-Ausstellungen und Videobeiträgen können insbesondere die berühmten Deckengemälde, Ornamente und Dekorationen bestaunt werden, die der Tonhalle ihren ganz besonderen Charakter verleihen.

Öffentliche Führung
Bei einer öffentlichen Führung vor Ort erhalten Sie Einblicke in die Arbeitswelt unseres Orchesters, erleben den Bereich hinter der Bühne und erfahren interessante Anekdoten zur Geschichte und Architektur der renovierten Tonhalle Zürich.

 «Tonhalle Zürich 1895 – 2021»
Noch mehr Einblick in die Geschichte und Architektur der Tonhalle Zürich gibt Ihnen das Buch «Tonhalle Zürich 1895 – 2021», welches anlässlich der Wiedereröffnung im September 2021 erschienen ist.

Baugeschichte und Architektur

Grosse Tonhalle

Erfahren Sie in dieser Online-Ausstellung von Google Arts & Culture mehr über die Grosse Tonhalle, die Restaurierung und die Deckengemälde:

Die Orgel

Die neue Orgel von Orgelbau Kuhn ist eine Hommage an den Klang der Tonhalle Zürich. Wir freuen uns, diesen Klang in zahlreichen Orgelkonzerten und an den Internationalen Orgeltagen Zürich erklingen zu lassen. Mehr Infos

Hier möchten wir die neue Orgel in ein paar Zahlen und Fakten vorstellen:

Die Orgeln in der Tonhalle Zürich

1872
Errichtung einer Kuhn-Orgel in der Tonhalle im neuen Kornhaus

1895
Einbau der Kuhn-Orgel in die neue Tonhalle

1927
Umbau und Vergrösserung der Kuhn-Orgel

1939
Modernisierung der Kuhn-Orgel durch eine elektro-pneumatische Setzereinrichtung

1988
Neubau einer Orgel durch die Firmen Kleuker und Steinmeyer

1995
Wiederaufbau der alten Kuhn-Orgel in der Zürcher Neumünsterkirche

2021
Einweihung der neuen Kuhn-Orgel in der renovierten Tonhalle

Videoclips

Weiterbauen im Dialog. Kongresshaus und Tonhalle Zürich

Kongresshaus und Tonhalle: Öffnung und Aufbruch

Sgraffito und Ornament in Kongresshaus und Tonhalle Zürich