Monument Huldrych Zwingli – Zurich’s First Reformer

Zwingli was Zurich’s first reformer. His theology gave rise to the Reformed Church.

Both Zurich’s government and Huldrych Zwingli were against the practice of mercenary soldiers, which is why Zwingli was chosen to be the minister of Grossmünster church.

This brilliant orator persuaded Zurich’s council and population to accept his ideas and published the first Reformation writings in 1522, inciting the wrath of the bishop and the Pope. The Reformation spread from Zurich across the entire German-speaking area of Switzerland.

The Zwingli monument at the Wasserkirche (water church) was created by Austrian sculptor Heinrich Natter and officially unveiled in 1885.