Switzerland: The Platzspitz, or "Needle Park" 2

Before reading this post please read the one posted immediately before...

I took a walk in the "The Platzspitz" today, and as my previous post mentions it is a relatively "normal" park in the centre of Zurich.... to be honest though, it did seem a little eerie. It was very quiet and tucked away behind the Landesmuseum...

Not many people and a couple of relatively shady characters hanging around... on the surface though, it looked pretty ok.... maybe I had some pre-concieved ideas here...

Click on the smaller pictures for a better view!

Grafitti near the entrance to the park...

I know it has been 15 years but there was nothing other than the Grafitti on the sign near the entrance which gave away what "The Platzspitz" was "Needle Park". It is merely a memory to some, but substantially more than that to those who came here...

For R&R, on the 13th October, 1989, I hope that it was forever... and I hope forever was everything they had hoped it would be....

Switzerland: The Platzspitz, or "Needle Park" 1

There are two posts relating to Needle Park. This one on the history and then another on what it looks like today... see the link at the end of this post...

The Platzspitz is a park area in Zurich on the edge of the Limmat River. Relatively non descript as far as Zurich goes.

I have found it interesting for one reason. That being about five years or so from the late 80’s to the early 1990’s.

The Platzspitz was an area designated by Zurich officials where the purchase and sale of drugs was legalised and obviously consequently the usage. It earned the name of “Needle Park”.

The park was closed in February 4, 1992, when Zurich police move into the Platzspitz and cleared away the addicts. It seems that the Swiss (public) at the time were not prepared to both see the problem head and deal with the negative publicity (government and public) that this idea generated.

Needle Park was a “well intentioned” idea in an attempt to try and prevent the spread of disease (through the provision of clean syringes) and to try and bring usage into the open to deal with the problem better. At any one time there around 25% of all “inhabitants” were foreign, and the ratio was a lot higher for dealers.

Here is an excerpt from an article which appeared in the “New York Times” September 27th, 1990.

“The strange scene has been a fixture in Zurich for several years, tolerated by city officials who are convinced that drug use should be regarded as a sickness rather than a crime. Social and medical workers estimate that about 300 to 400 heavy drug users live in the park without shelter, toilets or showers, and that as many as 3,000 others pass through daily to buy and use drugs………..the midway of the grotesque carnival is a concrete path along the edge of the Limmat River, lined with makeshift counters covered with neatly arranged spoons, bottles of water and paper cups bristling with slender, disposable syringes. The crowd thickens as night falls and drug hustlers work their way through the sea of bodies clogging the path, calling out ''Sugar, sugar, fine sugar!'' when they mean heroin, and ''Cokay, cokay!'' for cocaine……..the other night, three men crouched under a park lamppost, dividing a white powdery pancake of heroin with a Swiss Army knife. Next to them, a woman lay in the dirt in a stupor. Four or five men were intensely working needles into their arms. A woman in a striped sweater probed for veins in one hand, blood streaming down her fingers, as a woman in leather pants and stained blouse wobbled past, a bloody syringe dangling from her neck.”

Most of the Swiss that I have asked about it seem a little embarrassed by the project. I have seen varied reports on the “success” of Needle Park. I imagine it really depends on whom you speak to or your current situation in terms of experience.

I have been unable to find many pictures of an “inhabited” Needle Park, and have posted here what I could find.

My feelings are not really clear to me at the moment and I think it will depend on my on personal circumstances. There may be no right or wrong answer, but this weekend I will walk through The Platzspitz, I will enjoy the trees, the grass, and the clean benches and will only try for a minute or two to imagine what those people were going through in this very same spot 15 years ago. Because anything longer may mean that I will have to confront the fact that this problem exists. For me, like most others, that would be too hard.

I wonder what they were feeling, what got them to this point…I also wonder where they are now, what they are doing and how many of them died from their addiction. How many of them sacrificed themselves for drugs and how many of them will continue to do so...

Switzerland currently has one of the most “progressive” drug policies in Europe and the world. They have what they call a series of harm reduction measures for drug addicts which supposedly tries to “prevent, treat, reduce harm and enforce legislation.” Needle exchanges are available where addicts can swap used needles for clean ones. Injection rooms are available where heroin users can inject their drug away from the streets, and under the supervision of trained medical staff. Currently Switzerland is the only country in the world to operate a widespread, government funded programme of heroin prescription. It should be stated that Switzerland is believed to be making progress on this "new" approach to combating drugs...

Until I have the answer to the true success of Switzerland’s policy, since, like many things it dependant on to whom you speak, I will continue to be confused about this success or faliure. I wonder if anyone knows the answers to solving drug enforcement and I wonder if we will ever know how to cure addiction.

Here are some photographs of Needle Park. Credit should be given to skatepunk.com. Please go and visit and see their account of how the pics were taken... it is a pretty interesting train of events!

James Joyce was an Irish author who moved to Zurich when World War 1 broke out in June 1915.

One of Joyce’s favourite areas was the industrial quarter around the Platzspitz Park in Zurich.. clearly he did not see these views...

SEE MY NEXT POST FOR WHAT I FOUND WHEN VISITING "NEEDLE PARK" EARLIER THIS YEAR (2009) - LINK BELOW

Alone

The noon’s greygolden meshes make
All night a veil,
The shorelamps in the sleeping lake
Laburnum tendrils trail.
The sly reeds whisper to the night
A name—her name—
And all my soul is a delight,
A swoon of shame.

James Joyce

NEEDLE PARK IN 2009... http://picturesandperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/04/blog-post.html

Switzerland: The Sprayer of Zürich: Harald Naegeli

This story caught my eye on Swissinfo.org. I change my view daily on this topic, but before going into it, some background, once again courtesy of Wikipedia (for the most part):

Harald Naegeli was known in the 70's as The Sprayer of Zurich. He has a classic education as an artist.

Naegeli's graffiti appeared beginning in September 1977 on the walls of Zürich. He used black spray-paint to paint wire frame figures on the walls of public and private buildings alike. He painted his graffiti anonymously at night, in places all over the city. The figures provoked a heated controversy in Zürich and indeed in Switzerland in general.

So called intellectuals and artists recognized the artistic value of Naegeli's works early on, but the general public and the Swiss authorities saw it only as an illegal and malicious defacement of property. Naegeli himself later said that he saw himself as a political artist and his graffiti was a political statement against the increasing anonymity in the city. The authorities issued an arrest warrant for him, but he was apprehended only in June 1979 when he returned to one of his paintings to collect his glasses that he had forgotten there.

Until then, he had painted some 900 graffiti in Zürich. He evaded the trial by fleeing to Germany yet was sentenced in absentia to nine months in jail and a fine of CHEF 206,000. His lawyers appealed, but the Supreme Court of Switzerland confirmed the sentence in November 1981. Since Naegeli had left the country, the authorities of Zürich issued an international arrest warrant for him. 72 Swiss artists signed a petition demanding that this arrest warrant be retracted, to no avail.

Germany gave more credibility to his work and he continued to paint his artistic wire frame graffiti in Cologne and Düsseldorf, and although they were not unanimously welcomed there either they caused much less discussion than they had in Zürich. Clearly he believed that there were anonymity issues in Cologne and Düsseldorf.

In Cologne, he produced in 1980/81 a cycle of about 600 graffiti but most of these works were removed already the day after their creation by the city cleaning department. The mayor of Osnabrück even invited Naegeli to spray in his city, but Naegeli declined the offer.

The one comment I found amusing was one from an Adolf Mushg, an apparently eminent Swiss writer and later professor for literature at the ETH in Zürich and one of the 72 artists who had signed the petition, commented later: "He doesn't work on commission. He does not sell out his rage". "Sell out his rage" seems a strange choice of words to me but then I am neither a writer nor a professor so I concede maybe he was "enraged" at the anonymity of the cities that he visited…

Anyway, one thing led to another and Naegli was evicted by the Germans and he turned himself into the Swiss police. He served time and that was that… sort of…

He apparently disappeared in the late 1980s. Focussed on some more traditional forms of artwork in contrast to the more spontaneous Graffiti artwork. He apparently is a well respected man in Germany, and was a professor at the Thomas-Morus-Academy in Cologne.

Apparently the local authorities in Zurich have recognised some of his art, and in one particular case restored one of the very few of his surviving graffiti in Zürich, called "Undine". Created 1978 on a building of the University of Zürich, located at Schönberggasse 9. Interestingly they removed some of the other Graffiti around it to show off Naegli's work. I am glad I wasn't one of the "other" artists… since then it would mean that I was merely painting "Graffiti"... perhaps they asked the intellectuals about it and they confirmed what was Graffiti and what was art, I am not sure...

The reason for the post is this… apparently according to Swissinfo and a couple of other sites around, there has been another art work spotted in an underground basement which resembles that of Naegli, and one of the sites I visited stated, "The Master is back". He must be "enraged" once again I imagine… interestingly on his supposed work, another Graffiti artist has taken the liberty of adding some genitals to it. Clearly this should be commended since you cannot criticise Graffiti on Graffiti can you. Graffiti by it's very nature is destructive… or is it art?

I guess Graffiti must be art, since some of it looks good, some doesn't, it is a form of expression, it is there to be commented on, it conveys a message, and so Graffiti to me is a form of art. There is definitely a part of me which, when I look at his work is appreciative of it. It is tasteful, nice to look at, evokes an emotion (depending on which one you look at), and does not try to be anything other than that which it is. The message of anonymity is noted and I can see how he tried to convey this message. He also achieved probably a maximum impact by doing it the way in which he did, via Graffiti, in Zurich (traditionally conservative), so as an artist he probably was successful in this regard…

I do however have a major problem with 72 artists and intellectuals who believe that this should go unpunished….. For one, as an architect, I might believe that my building is also a form of art, and for another artist to deface my artwork is simply inexcusable. Further to my point above, if he had the nerve to paint his Graffiti over my Graffiti I would be incensed. Secondly, I find the comment relating to "sell out his rage" laughable, or is the fact that Naegli only wanted to convey his "Rage" anonymously. He was given an opportunity to cover a city in artwork, convey his message and make a huge statement and he declined… or perhaps the anonymity was part of the appeal for him…. Or perhaps the fact that it was illegal was also part of the appeal, or perhaps now that he was found out, defeated the message in terms of anonymity, or perhaps he was just a talented Graffiti artist who lost the excitement of the art form. Whatever it is, when I see websites of untalented, spray painters (because they are definitely not artists), exclaiming that "the master is back" and I cant help but wondering if Graffiti will ever be a true art form, or merely a way of defacing other peoples property, in pursuit of a cheap thrill...

Picture from: viertel.wordpress.com

Switzerland: "Switzerland doesn't have an army, it is an army"

And so the Swiss are headed off for another vote. This is a post which is relevant for me due to past experiences, and the fact that in 15 years we could have a rifle in our home to from my 4 year old son...

Edit: Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia... I started to take one which I thought would be pretty nice of a soldier in Zurich, however the look I got told me it was not a great idea, so these are Wikiphotos... I needed to move on from this post and it was delaying me...

Back to the problem...

Some background… From the age of 18, all able-bodied Swiss men are called up to do their military service. Recruits receive a rifle which they have to store at home after they've completed their basic training. It should be noted that they are not allowed to store ammunition.

Due to the democratic process in Switzerland, now Anti-gun supporters have collected enough signatures to force a nationwide vote on banning the weapons from being stored in the home.
Opponents say the practice is too dangerous, pointing to deaths and domestic violence cases involving army weapons.

If the Social Democratic Centre Left Party get their way then army weapons would remain in barracks, a national gun register, and a ban on private individuals buying or owning particularly dangerous guns such as automatic weapons and pump-action shotguns and tighter controls on firearm carriers. They say there are around 2.3 million weapons are currently in circulation Switzerland, of which a tenth belong to soldiers.

Opponents of the vote state that this is a long standing tradition and it allows for the militia army to be ready for a call to arms in times of crisis. It would weaken the country security and this vote raises questions on the ability of the military.

Switzerland can apparently mobilize the army within 12-48 hours. Independence is serious business and the intention is to make the prospect of invading Switzerland unthinkable. Swiss countryside is well covered with carefully mined bridges, hidden artillery, bomb shelters, and carefully prepared kill zones. Patrols scour the countryside, familiarizing them with every inch of the land; they hope they never have to defend.

The Social Democrats say that some suicides and attacks have been “caused” by military issue guns… They highlight some cases where military issue weapons have been used in attacks and suicides and therefore the prospect of this is worthy of a vote.

I am undecided (mainly due to the fact that the ammunition is not easily available). Some of the problems I have with this decision are the following…

* Surely if someone is going to go to all the trouble of getting hold of the ammunition (provided it is hard to come by), to kill someone, or themselves, then in all likelihood they would go to the trouble of getting hold of a gun for the same purpose. I am not sure the availability of the gun is a deterrent, since it cannot work without ammunition obviously.

* This is an essence of Switzerland’s maintenance of Sovereignty. Regardless of circumstances in the world today, nothing can be discounted going forward. Mobilization in 48 hours may not be necessary now, but who knows. But then, mobilization with an empty rifle is as useful as mobilization without one I would imagine.

* It is a low blow of the military to use the guilt complex on voters, stating that a vote to keep guns out of the home is a lack of confidence. Especially considering that recently there were arguments about uniforms and the “image” of uniformed soldiers using cannabis and drugs whilst in uniform.

* With crime rates going up in Switzerland (and the world), isn’t it a matter of time before these weapons become more prevalent in carrying out crime. However you look at it, this is an exposure.

* I don’t like reference to statistics, in any form since they can cloud judgement. Reference to the US, Germany or Africa doesn’t apply to Switzerland. Switzerland’s crime rate is low and still well below most countries in the rest of the world. No one can deny this and this has been with “guns in the home”.

* Switzerland is very liberal in my view on drug usage and alcohol. Why do some believe that this issue is more important? The same users of drugs and alcohol are the same soldiers the army is asking voters to have faith in, not so?

On the last point I now feel a little un-comfortable knowing that in my building at any one time, there are three of these in cupboards, with three highly skilled operators, with at least one of which may be drunk or taking drugs, who may be unhappy with me due to a small incident in the washing room. But then I have had a loaded rifle pointed at me, so I am speaking from experience.

Swiss democracy is extremely effective. However sometimes it loses sight of the bigger picture and conflicting messages come through from voters. Surely a decision like this doesn’t really affect anyone in any way, and it really is a matter of principle? Granted the vote does extend to other weapons and not just those which are in the military, but as a Swiss male, when I would be called to report, would I feel better about myself, reporting with an empty weapon rather than with none at all?