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A study by the University of Zurich shows how the city of Limmat and its citizens were involved in slavery.
It’s a dark chapter – the era of slavery, which was only gradually abolished in the 19th century. In one study, historians from the University of Zurich explain in detail how the city of Zurich made profits indirectly through the slave trade. Or how citizens were involved, like the prominent Escher family. The most important findings of the study at a glance:
The entanglements of the Escher family: Alfred Escher is known throughout Switzerland as a politician, entrepreneur and pioneer. But his family history overshadows the founder of the credit institution: In the 19th century, the Escher family owned a coffee plantation in Cuba. Almost 90 slaves, more precisely 82 field slaves and five domestic slaves, worked there.
As the study makes clear, Alfred Escher himself was not involved in the slave trade. Nor did he have slaves. Rather, his uncle Friedrich Ludwig Escher ran the plantation. It later passed to Alfred Escher’s father, Heinrich Escher.
Heinrich Escher left his son Alfred a fortune of around a million after his death. The study assumes that the plantation with the slaves contributed to this fortune. However, it is not clear to what extent Alfred Escher’s wealth is based on the achievements of slavery. Like the Escher family, other citizens of Zurich were also associated with slavery.
The tangles of the city of Zurich: As the study shows, the city of Zurich invested in slavery and the slave trade for decades. Like the city of Bern, it owned shares in the trading company “South Sea Company” in the 18th century. The British company traded in slaves.
While the city of Zurich was financially involved, the company kidnapped more than 36,000 Africans. The city of Zurich was able to make a profit from the actions, according to the study. The city of Zurich also invested in slavery through a semi-public interest commission.
Tangles in Zurich’s textile industry: The Zurich textile industry was also associated with slavery. On the one hand, several Zurich companies produced printed cotton fabrics, the so-called indiennes, in the 18th century. These fabrics were mainly shipped through French ports and traded for slaves in West Africa.
At first, most of the cotton used by the indigenous people came from the Ottoman Empire. However, in the 19th century this changed: Zurich’s textile industry obtained mainly cotton from America. Until 1860, the raw material was grown primarily on slave plantations in the southern United States.
