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The history of the Aarau horse races is about interned soldiers, exquisite shoes and high stakes.
The pounding is getting closer. Then the racehorses whizzed by. A murmur goes through the audience. Individual cheers can be heard from the tiers. It could have been 1927, 1978 or 2022. The core of the race days has not changed.
The fact that there have been horse races in Aarau for 100 years has a lot to do with the army. Since the middle of the 19th century, Aarau has been a training center for the cavalry. Horses have long been part of the cityscape.
Legend:
At the end of the recruit school, the soldiers paraded through Aarau on their horses.
Archive Ulrich Lehmann
On the site where the racecourse is today, the recruits and horses were trained, for example in cross-country riding. The first racetrack also goes back to the initiative of the military, because the recruits could only learn and train how to gallop on a flat sandy track.
The first official horse race in Aarau took place in May 1921. It was an officer’s hunt for service horses. The races were already crowd pullers back then. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote of 8,000 to 10,000 viewers.
Legend:
The first horse race organized by the Aargau Rennverein took place on May 13, 1923.
Aargau Racing Club
During and shortly after World War II, the facility was converted into a training facility for army horses. The first permanent horse racing track in Switzerland was built as a result. It was built by soldiers, construction workers and interned foreign soldiers.
Italians, Poles and Russians helped to clear and drain the area next to the Aare. A grandstand was also built at the racetrack. Due to the proximity to the Aare, the current president of the Aargau Rennverein, Pascal Steudler, says: “We have the most beautiful racecourse in Switzerland”.
Legend:
A bird’s-eye view of the racecourse in Aarauer Schachen. The Aare flows right next door.
Aargau Racing Club
From then on, horse races took place every year on the new track. Since 1948 also the most prestigious race in Switzerland, the Swiss Grand Prix. In addition, cross-country races, show jumping competitions, dressage competitions and trotting races were and are held on the facility. In 1979 there was even a donkey race, which was already controversial at the time.
The horse races in Aarau were a social event from the start. “We love having celebrities with us, but we’re also happy to have families with children,” emphasizes Pascal Steudler. Aarau doesn’t exude the same flair as St. Moritz. Nevertheless, you can dress festively.
Legend:
In Aarau, too, women like to wear extravagant headgear.
Aargau Racing Club
Fashion companies took advantage of the fact that there were also well-heeled men and women among the audience. From 1948 to the mid-1960s there was a major fashion show as part of the autumn racing days.
14 fashion houses from Geneva and Zurich presented their clothes in the Aarauer Schachen. The shoes came from Bally from neighboring Schönenwerd, which is why the event was called “Bally fashion show”.
Legend:
Mannequins present the latest 1949 fashion to the audience.
Bally Schuhfabriken AG
An integral part of horse racing is betting. It has also been possible to bet on horses in Aarau since 1927. 9,695 francs were paid in in 1927. This income increased until the record day of April 29, 1990. At that time, CHF 241,537 was paid in in Aarau. An important source of income for the organizers.
Legend:
Trotting races have been part of the Aarau horse racing days since the beginning. Here is a photo from 1973.
ETH Library / Hans Witschi
Since 1990, however, betting revenue has been declining. According to the Aargau Rennverein, around 80,000 francs are still being turned over today. The fact that the betting stakes have collapsed is partly due to the wider range of games of chance.
The Aarau horse racing days are still popular today. Thousands make a pilgrimage to the racetrack on race days and wait for the racehorses to gallop past, which still elicit a murmur from them today.