Police End Attempted Occupation Of Zurich's Platzspitz Square

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) A large contingent of police prevented an attempted occupation of the Platzspitz area behind the National Museum in Zurich on Friday afternoon. They checked over 200 people and ordered them away. The group of occupiers cited anti-capitalist motives as the reason for the action. This content was published on September 13, 2025 - 08:31 3 minutes Keystone-SDA

• Deutsch de Polizei beendet versuchte Besetzung des Zürcher Platzspitz Original Read more: Polizei beendet versuchte Besetzung des Zürcher Platzspit

The police had information about the possible unauthorised action in advance, as the city police announced in the evening. The city police therefore increased their presence in the city centre.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Shortly before 5 pm, several groups of people reportedly approached the Platzspitzpromenade. At the same time, lorries and vans carrying catering equipment drove up. The activists then attempted to barricade the entrances to Platzspitz from the inside.

The police gained access to the area, where they were pelted with bottles and stones. The police used a water cannon and rubber bullets to push back the crowd. Some of the squatters fled via the Limmat or other entrances.

The rest were arrested by the police. Shortly after 6 pm they began checking people. They checked a total of 233 people and ordered them to leave. The operation ended at 9:50 pm, according to the police. There were no reports of injuries or damage to property at this time. The city police received support from the cantonal police.

The activists justified the attempted occupation by saying that since the 1990s, Platzspitz has stood for a system that“sorts out, represses and criminalises people”. In a communiqué, they stated that this is where it becomes clear how capitalist mechanisms drive people into poverty, hardship and dependency.

Zurich's public transport company reported delays, cancellations and diversions in the evening. They called on people to avoid the city centre and main station. Passengers travelling to the main station should use the S-Bahn.

+ Zurich's infamous Needle Park movement

In the 1980s and 1990s, Platzspitz was a meeting point for an open drug scene and made headlines around the world as Needle Park. Today, the area near the main railway station is a park.

Translated from German by DeepL/ds

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at ...

Related Stories Popular Stories More Foreign Affairs The Swiss want more cooperation with NATO Read more: The Swiss want more cooperation with NAT

MENAFN13092025000210011054ID1110056209