Bed and Breakfast in Winterthur

Founded by the Earls of Kyburg, Winterthur received its town charter by the Habsburgs in 1264. With around 110,000 inhabitants, it is the second largest city in the Canton of Zurich. Nestled amidst wooded hills, it borders the wine country to the north and is considered the gateway to Eastern Switzerland. Winterthur owes its reputation as a Garden City to the urban planning of the inter-war period. Many green spaces and allotment gardens are still part of the townscape. The cultural offerings in Winterthur are particularly diverse, including 18 museums with top-class collections of national and international reputation, several theatres, numerous concert events, an annual music festival, and much more. Visitors interested in castles and palaces will get their money’s worth in Winterthur. With hotels, authentic bed & breakfasts, apartments, charming rooms or private properties in all price categories, Winterthur offers diverse accommodations targeted at both tourists and business travellers. Winterthur was once an important industrial city. Famous names of the once-thriving machine industry are located here, such as Sulzer, Rieter, and Geilinger. The economic crisis in the 1930s hit the city hard. The machinery industry declined in significance, and the change to a service and commercial town began after the 2nd World War and continues to this day. Winterthur became a dynamic city whose skyline continues to grow. Famous examples include the Sulzer Building (at 92.4 m, the tallest building in Switzerland until 2003), plus the high-rise buildings Swisscom and the Kantonsspital (cantonal hospital). In 1874, the Technikum (Institute of Technology), where Einstein taught, was founded in Winterthur. The Institute merged with other schools in 2007 to form the ZHAW, one of the leading Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences, further enhancing Winterthur’s reputation as an educational site.