In 1963 the lakes in Switzerland froze over
60 years ago today, 100,000 stormed Lake Zurich
On February 1, 1963, the police opened Lake Zurich to the public – and people came from all over Switzerland. It was the first of many other lakes to freeze over in Switzerland.
Published: 25 minutes ago
1/7
The last Zurich Seegfrörni lasted from February 1 to March 8, 1963 with a few days break.
Daniel ArnetEditor of Sunday Blick magazine
A wonder! Suddenly more than 100,000 people can walk across the water at once, because 60 years ago today, on February 1, 1963, at 12 noon sharp, the police released Lake Zurich. Crowds of people stream from all banks onto the more than ten-centimetre-thick sheet of ice.
“The ice festival in the city has begun,” writes the “NZZ” on the same day in its evening edition. With ice skates, sleds or simply with winter boots, young and old dare to venture onto the frozen water. The Seegfrörni on Lake Zurich is a rare event that lasted in 1929 and hasn’t happened since 1963.
“Chestnuts on Lake Zurich – you can’t miss that”
A folk festival for which the industry also ventures onto the slippery slope. “The only thing I specifically remember is a chestnut stand in the middle of the lake,” says Zurich-born Swiss writer Charles Lewinsky (76, “Melnitz”), who was a teenager at the time. “And eat chestnuts on Lake Zurich – you can’t miss that.”
At that time, the ice age prevailed on around 88 square kilometers of the lake between Rapperswil SG and Zurich. Of the larger Swiss lakes, only the relatively shallow Lake Constance froze completely at the same time. The last total freezing over of Lake Neuchâtel dates back to the winter of 1879/1880.
Smaller but deeper lakes such as Lake Brienz in the Bernese Oberland or Lake Walen in eastern Switzerland have never frozen over in living memory. This has to do with the conditions for ice formation: the water surface only freezes over when the densest water of four degrees Celsius reaches the bottom and the lake does not exceed this temperature anywhere.
“Seegfrörni” has been listed in the “Duden” since 1963
A rule of thumb states that it takes around 200 negative degree days for Lake Zurich to freeze over to a sustainable extent. This means, for example, that it must never get warmer than minus 5 degrees for 40 days in a row – a value that will hardly be achievable in view of global warming in the coming decades.
In 1962 there was a cold snap from mid-November through December 9 and from Christmas through the end of the year. From January 22, 1963, the Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft had to cease operations. Ice skating instead of boat trips were next on the agenda.
On March 9, 1963, the last dreams of ice melted away and Lake Zurich is no longer completely frozen to this day. But something has remained of this event to this day: In the same year, the “Duden” included “Seegfrörni, die” as a Swiss word in the lexicon. If it can no longer be experienced, then at least it can be officially read.
Were you also on a frozen lake in 1963? Or do your parents still have pictures of it? Send them to us right away using the reader reporter access in the Blick app (iOS / Android) and briefly explain what you experienced back then.
The reader button is at the bottom of the menu bar.
Send us your photos and videos directly with the Blick app!
In our app there is direct access to become a Blick reader reporter in the menu bar at the bottom. This allows you to easily send us your videos and photos. What do you have to do? Choose the file you want, add a short description, give your phone number and send!
Click here for the data protection regulations.
The reader button is at the bottom of the menu bar.
In our app there is direct access to become a Blick reader reporter in the menu bar at the bottom. This allows you to easily send us your videos and photos. What do you have to do? Choose the file you want, add a short description, give your phone number and send!
Click here for the data protection regulations.