STIFTUNG ZUM GLOCKENHAUS
Sihlstrasse 33, 8001 Zurich
The history of the Glockenhof

As a relic of the Ice Age, the terminal moraine of the Linth Glacier was located here, which the
Romans passed on their way to the fort on the Lindenhof. In the Middle Ages, St. Stephen's Chapel, which belonged to the Fraumünster Abbey, stood on the moraine hill. It is thought to have
been built in the 4th century at the time of the Christianization of Zurich and thus of the
city saints Felix and Regula. The chapel was demolished during the Reformation.

In 1433, the bell and port founder Hans Bartholome Füssli acquired a house
with a herb garden near St. Stephen's. In 1480, he added another garden with a residential building, the "Glockenhaus", which was only
demolished in 1908. The Füsslis built a foundry on the site. In 1645, the foundry was
expanded in order to be able to cast "Böller" and larger
guns on behalf of the Zurich Council. With Wilhelm Conrad Füssli (1785-1843), the Füssli foundry went out of business after
400 years of existence and 13 generations.

In 1856, Caspar Escher, founder of the Escher-Wyss machine factory, bought the site and his
daughter Mathilde Escher later had the St. Anna Chapel built on the hill. She ran a home for infirm children on the first floor. The old "Glockenhaus" became the
parish house of St. Anna.

In 1908, the Mathilde Escher Foundation sold the site to the Christlicher Verein Junger
Männer Zürich 1. In 1911, the Glockenhof hotel and clubhouse were inaugurated, with the Stiftung zum Glockenhaus as its
sponsor.

The first Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in London in 1844 with
the aim of spreading the Christian message among young men, but also to address their
social needs. In 1855, similar women's groups were founded in England, which
became known as the Young Women's Christian Association (YMCA) in 1877. In quick succession, such associations
emerged worldwide, such as the YMCA Zurich 1 in 1887. In 1912, the scout division
Glockenhof was founded as the first division in German-speaking Switzerland. In 1976, the YMCA
and YMCA merged to form the YMCA/F and Cevi Zurich 1 respectively.

In 1996/97, the clubhouse was completely renovated and reopened on April 1, 1997 as Cevi-
Zentrum Glockenhof.