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According to the study, the house inscriptions were later than expected. This further fuels the debate.
The debate about the controversial Zurich house inscriptions with the word “Mohr” received new wind on Tuesday. Specifically, a new ETH study states that the two inscriptions “Zum Mohrenkopf” and “Zum Mohrentanz” were not added until the 20th century.
Names «old», inscriptions «new»
The houses in Zurich’s old town have had their names for a long time, as Ashkira Darman, an author of the 124-page study, explained to the media on Tuesday. The corresponding inscriptions, however, apparently only appeared later.
For centuries there is no evidence for these inscriptions. “Even in an inventory from 1918, no inscription was mentioned,” said Ashkira Darman, historian and history teacher at the Realgymnasium Rämibühl in Zurich.
Legend:
The house with the name and the inscription “Zum Mohrentanz” is one of the two disputed houses.
Keystone / Gaetan Bally
The historian also referred to the finding that photographs from the first half of the 20th century did not show such writing. The inscriptions were therefore made in the last century.
This is probably new knowledge for many people, since it was assumed that the inscriptions had existed for a long time. The two houses with the controversial inscriptions were already mentioned several centuries ago.
«Invention of the old town»
According to Darman, the inscriptions were created in a process that could be described as the “invention of the old town”. At that time, Zurich’s old town was upgraded. As a result, no “unbroken historical tradition” could be established, stated the historian, who prepared the study together with her colleague Bernhard Schär.
This is good news for the Zurich City Council. Because the city is arguing with homeland security in court: It’s about whether the house inscriptions, which are considered racist, can be covered or not.
And just last week, the Zurich city council, which decided to cover in April 2021, suffered its first defeat. The building appeal court did not allow the city to cover the house inscriptions “Zum Mohrenkopf” and “Mohrentanz” in Zurich’s old town. These are houses with protected facades, according to the building appeals court.
Legend:
The house inscriptions, which are considered racist, are a thorn in the side of the Mayor of Zurich, Corine Mauch (SP).
Keystone / Ennio Leanza
The city plans to move the case forward
But the city does not want to accept that and plans to take the case to the administrative court. Mayor Corine Mauch (SP) saw herself as confirmed by the report commissioned by the city itself.
This shows impressively how society has been shaped by racist stereotypes for centuries. Covering the inscriptions is not enough, but “we can show that we do not tolerate racism in public spaces”. However, the mayor did not want to comment on the ongoing process on Tuesday.
It remains to be seen whether the city will be right before the next instance, or whether the administrative court will rule in the same way as the building appeal court if it moves on. In any case, the study makes no concrete statement about how exactly the house inscriptions should be dealt with.