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Origins

Zurich Panorama Society (2)

The Gyr Brothers launched the project for the Panorama of the Battle of Murten with the painter Louis Braun five months prior to the opening of the Einsiedeln Rotunda. Initial resistance in Zurich was dispelled with the support of the influential Waldmann Committee. The Gyrs obtained the permit on 6 May 1893, and the building plans were approved on October 4. The panorama arrived from Munich in early August 1894 and opened officially at the end of the month, on 27 August.

Under the contractual terms of the agreement with the city, the «Battle of Murten» was to be exhibited in Zurich for three years. Thereafter the panorama was displayed at the Grand Panorama de la Jonction in Geneva from 1897 at least until 1904. It was returned to Zurich at the latest in 1907.

After the Panorama Society disbanded in 1918, the Rotunda on the Utoquai was converted into a garage; it was demolished in 1928. The painting was bought by a manufacturer named Sutter from Oberhofen (Thurgau), who offered it to the town council of Murten in 1919 for 1200 Swiss francs. The sale was concluded in 1924. The panorama was taken to Murten and stored in the maintenance depot, where it was unrolled in sections from time to time and shown to interested visitors.

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Rotunda in Zurich