Rieterpark

This guide to Rieterpark in Zurich opens with Kaiser Wilhelm the Second's 1912 stay as a house guest on grounds first laid out in 1851 by the silk merchant Otto Wesendonck, with architect Leonhard Zeugheer and gardener Theodor Froebel. It follows the Rieter family's ownership, the locked gate that once kept composers and industrialists as the only visitors, and the 1945 sale that changed who could walk these paths. A 1999 storm named Lothar even reshaped the old beech trees. Listen for how differently the tennis courts and playground sound today from the quiet estate they replaced.