In the Middle Ages, three houses must have stood on the site of today’s corner building at Untere Zäune/Spiegelgasse 18—that is, where the Never Stop Reading bookstore is located: one directly on the corner, and the other two in a row along Untere Zäune. This is suggested by the first mention of the buildings in a document dated June 21, 1319.

In it, the council notes that Knight Rudolf Mülner, as caretaker of the “Mindern Brüder” (Franciscans), sold the rear portion of a house “located in Nidern Zünen” to Sister Guta of Ebmatingen as a life estate for 24 pounds. The house bordered on the one belonging to the Schwarzmurers (Untere Zäune 25) as well as on the house where Mrs. Meiss lived; this is likely to have been the same as the corner house.

In another document from 1535, Junker Hans Jakob Rordorf is listed as the owner of the house at what is now Spiegelgasse 18. The document also notes that his property adjoins the house “zum Grünen Kreuz” (now Untere Zäune 25, the building next to Never Stop Reading). From this mention, it can be concluded that a new corner house was built in place of the previously mentioned individual buildings. Junker Rordorf, married to Helena von Hinwil, became a councilor in 1551 and thus a member of the council.

The “Rordorf House” can also be identified on the famous “Murerplan” from 1576. This detailed woodcut map of Zurich, created by the glass painter and cartographer Jos Murer, is considered the most significant and oldest Renaissance-era picture postcard of the city, providing a precise depiction of the buildings, streets, and urban layout of the time.

In 1621, Junker Hans Heinrich Grebel, the then-owner of the corner house (today: Spiegelgasse 18 / Untere Zäune), carried out a major renovation. “Afterward, the building took on the exterior appearance with three full stories that it has essentially retained to this day,” as stated in a report from the Baugeschichtliches Archiv (Zurich's Archive of the History of Architecture).

Grebel’s son, Hans Konrad (1615–1674), also grew up in this house; in 1640, he married the daughter of Mayor Salomon Hirzel, thereby securing his rise to the highest offices. He had previously been a member of the Grand Council; later he became bailiff in Wädenswil, then guild master of the Meise, later Zurich’s governor, and finally mayor in 1669. After his father’s death, Hans Konrad Grebel inherited the corner house, which is first referred to as “Felsenegg” in documents from 1658.

However, the name "Felsenegg" need not be associated with the Felsenegg on the Uetliberg. Since Spiegelgasse was still listed as Steingasse in the aforementioned Murerplan, it stands to reason that the name was likely inspired by the boulder that was discovered around 1630 in the east wall during the expansion of the existing "Felsenegg" cellar (which is now used as a cultural and event space) and was partially removed with great effort.

In the building register of the first surveying plan by engineer Johannes Müller, drawn up between 1788 and 1793, the "Felsenegg" house is listed with a value of 12'000 guldens. Based on historical data, on the purchase power of the gulden in the late 18th century, this could correspond to a current equivalent of 115'000 CHF. This is, however, a very rough estimate, as the cost of living and the economic structure have changed fundamentally over the past 230 years—at the end of the 18th century, one gulden in Zurich could buy approx. 10kg of bread or 2kg of beef.

The September 12, 1925, issue of Neue Zürcher Nachrichten contains an obituary, reproduced in part here, which is of great relevance to our bookstore: Our current storefront was, in fact, at that time the slaughterhouse and sausage-making facility of the butcher Pius Ruff, whos is posthumously honored in the following lines:

"Last Monday, a man was laid to rest who deserves to be remembered here. Pius Ruf was born on July 9, 1859, in Jungingen (Hohenzollern), the son of a peddler living in poverty. He lost his mother at the tender age of two and was therefore forced to fend for himself at an early age to earn a living. No sooner had he left school than he became a stagecoach driver; he then went on a jouneyman's tour and learned the butcher's trade in the traditional manner from a country butcher.

After completing his three years of military service, he followed his instincts and moved to Switzerland. In Zurich, which became his second home, he soon found employment at several companies and thoroughly mastered the valuable skills of sausage-making, though he wisely kept them to himself. At the home of one of his last employers, he met Miss Ursula Ehrat von Lohn (Schaffhausen), whom he married; the marriage produced a son and two daughters ... (...) ...

In 1885, partly at his wife's urging, the deceased set up his own business in the annex of the building at Spiegelgasse 13. Thanks to friendly service and the sale of only high-quality products, his customer base steadily grew, soon making larger premises necessary—a need that was met by the purchase of the building at Spiegelgasse 16, and, later, No. 18 ... (...) ...

Pius Ruff found great support in his wife's assistance with the business, but she was taken from him by death on January 5, 1916. His son and two daughters stood by his side, supporting him with great dedication. The goal toward which Master Butcher Ruff relentlessly strove was the growth of his business and the acquisition of the latest and most modern machinery. Just how brilliantly he succeeded in building up his business is evidenced bythe simple fact that he recorded daily takings of 75 francs on opening day; today, the average daily takings of the extensive enterprise amount to 30'000 CHF! After remarrying in late 1920, Pius Ruff withdrew from public life but always kept a watchful eye on things. The business was passed on to his son, Otto Ruff ... (...) ...

The tall, strong man was struck by a treacherous illness, to which he succumbed after suffering for several months. Despite his active, outward-looking mind, he never forgot his affiliation with the Catholic Church and died in peace, having received the Holy Sacraments of the Dying. Vicard Konrad of the Liebfrauen Parrish offered warm and heartfelt words of comfort to the mourners at the graveside, where 2'000 people were still present. His loved ones mourn a kind-hearted husband and father. He was always a good role model to his employees and enjoyed great popularity. Those who knew him will never forget him. May the earth rest lightly upon him!"

Image: Advertisement for Pius Ruff's butcher shop from 1915. (Source: Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zürich)

After completing his apprenticeship as a butcher at the family business, Otto Ruff's father send him to a school in Neuchâtel, then to Germany, and in 1913-14 even to Chicago in the United States, where he "gained firsthand experience of the large-scale American meat processing industry" (as can be read in the 1945 speech delivered at his farewell ceremony, which took place in Zurich's Grossmünster in the presence of many distinguished guests).

From then on, Otto Ruff, much like his father before him, took an interest in machinery and technical innovations of all kinds, primarily to ensure that the products manufactured were always of the highest quality. In 1917, he married Anna Fassnacht. As was explicitly emphasized at the aforementioned farewell ceremony, they had "shared the joys, work, happiness, and sorrows of a large enterprise rising through struggle and adversity for 27."

In 1920, just under four years after their wedding, Otto Ruff took over the management of the butcher shop and sausage production from his father. Since the shop and the slaughtering and production facilities in Zurich's District 1 had become too small, he purchased the property on Uetlibergstrasse in Wiedikon from the Hürlimann Brewery in May 1923 and converted the brewery into a sausage factory. "In January 1924", the eulogy reads, "the young owner himself moved up the hill above Uetlibergstrasse, settled in, and lived there until his death."

The butcher shop's storefront receives a special mention in a report by the city's historic preservation office, published in connection with renovation works in 1983: "The storefront, built in 1903 for the Ruff butcher shop, stylistically reflects the transition from Historicism to Art Nouveau. The use of rolled iron profiles and machine-embossed ornamental bands in combination with hand-forged floral tendrils and cast flowers is typicalof the turn of the century, when industrial production and craftsmanship could still form a synthesis in architecture. The façade, which appears opulent thanks to the colors blue and red as well as the lavish use of gold leaf, is also an example of the butcher’s professional pride, as he sought to display the prosperity he had achieved through diligence and skill. Photos taken on the occasion of the company’s 50th anniversary in 1935 still convey something of this sense of self-image. At that time, the meat was still clearly visible in the shop window in the form of halved or quartered carcasses.”

Image: Shop window of the Ruff butcher shop at Spiegelgasse 18, photograph from 1925. (Source: Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zürich)

Around 1930, the old town area surrounding Spiegelgasse and Untere Zäune was a (visually) shabby and desolate neighborhood. If you look closely at the photo of Untere Zäune, you can see what is now our storefront; according to municipal archaeological records, it was built during renovations carried out by butcher Pius Ruff in 1907.

Picture: Photo of Untere Zäune from 1930. (Source: Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zürich)

Although Otto Ruff famously moved the company’s headquarters to Uetlibergstrasse in 1923, the butcher shop’s Old Town branch—now home to the fashion label Thema Selection—remained in operation, complete with its slaughterhouse and sausage-making facility (where, as mentioned earlier, Never Stop Reading is located), until the mid-1940s.

Picture: Spiegelgasse with sausage factory and butcher shop Otto Ruff in a photo from 1938. (Source: Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zürich)

Rolf Pius Ruff, the grandson of the company’s founder, sold the Old Town houses “Schäfli” (Spiegelasse 16) and “Felsenegg” (Spiegelgasse 18 / UntereZäune) to the Ernst Göhner Stiftung in 1946, one year after the death of his father, Otto. The foundation, in turn, sold them to the City of Zurich in 1947. In the photographs of Untere Zäune from 1950 and 1959, the storefront of our bookstore can be seen—barred. The 1959 photograph of the neighboring Leuengasse shown here is also a wonderful historical document. The photograph shows that—with the exception of the children’s toys, the fashion, and the height of the tree canopies—practically everything today is still just as it was back then.

Picture: Leuengasse in a photograph from 1959. (Source: Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zürich)

In 1998, an era came to an end with the liquidation of the Pinkus Cooperative Bookstore on Zähringerplatz. Its colorful figurehead was Theo Pinkus (1909–1991), a communist Jewish maverick, founder of the BSV book search service, an antiquarian bookshop, and a socialist bookstore, initiator and co-founder of Limmat Verlag, married to bookseller and women’s rights activist Amalie Pinkus-De Sassi, with whom he also founded the study library on the history of the labor movement, comprising 50'000 works; politically active in the Communist Party (expelled), the SP (expelled), and most recently in the Labor Party (PdA); Furthermore, Pinkus had the most extensive file of all created by the Swiss Intelligence Service, comprising 252 pages, as was revealed when the scandal came to light in 1989.

However, Jules Hunsperger, a former Pinkus employee, kept socialist ideas alive by opening the Russian bookstore “Pinkrus” in October 1997 at the corner building at Spiegelgasse 18 / Untere Zäune. Assortement: Contemporary Russian literature, crime novels, light fiction, new releases from the past few months, classics, translations of fiction from German and English, and non-fiction on geography and politics. Clientele: Slavicists, translators, and Russian authors such as Mikhail Shishkin, who live in Switzerland or are passing through. Information gathering: Acquaintances and friends in Russia monitor the domestic book market for Pinkrus and draw attention to new releases.

All of this can be read online on buchort.ch. The same goes for the fact that Hunsperger handled the administrative tasks at Pinkrus and hired Elena Seiler, a former Russian radiologist, to assist customers. Or that the store’s continued existence was owed, among other things, to the city—specifically its property management department—acting as a sort of “squatter” to keep the bookstore open, because the city didn’t want to lose it.

Image: Photo of the Pinkrus bookstore with cash register (Photo: buchort.ch, Heinz Egger)

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The little park across from our bookstore is, so to speak, our extended “living room”—this is where we hold meetings and summer parties, where we munchon salads and sandwiches when the sun is out, and where we play with Filou and Gino (or they play with us), the neighborhood’s four-legged friends.

The two tomcats are the (non-blood-related) successors to the legendary Monty, who was “everybody’s darling” in the Old Town neighborhood from 2004 to 2016 and had his stately hut in the park. After he was hit by a car, his owner Serge and many Old Town residents moved by his fate erected a memorial for him: They raised 5'000 francs and had a bronze statue of Monty cast. To erect it, a special permit was required from Grün Stadt Zürich, which is (for now) limited to ten years.

Image: Monty the cat’s little house in a photo from 2016. (Source: Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zürich)

On Thursday, April 6, the Never Stop Reading bookstore opens at Spiegelgasse 18 / Untere Zäune. The Tages-Anzeiger published the following article to mark the occasion:

“The name says it all: ‘Never Stop Reading’ is the name of the new bookstore in Oberdorf. It is located at the corner of Untere Zäune and Spiegelgasse 18, where Lenin and Büchner once lived and Dada was born. A wonderfully atmospheric bookstore has emerged here, offering an international selection of architecture, art, photography, and design—a selection ‘that hasn’t been present this broad in Zurich for quite some time,’ as Thomas Kramer, managing director of the art book publisher Scheidegger & Spiess, explains. In addition, a selection of English-language books, non-fiction, and fiction will be available.

Not far from there was once Robert Krauthammer’s bookstore, which was the go-to destination in Zurich for precisely this selection. Then, in 2001, Orell Füssli took over the business and expanded it to a larger space in the former Racher stationery store at Marktgasse 12. Ten years later, Orell Füssli closed the branch in Niederdorf and integrated the selection into the main store at Kramhof. Last year, this section was also downsized, leaving the Scheidegger & Spiess publishing house without a retail outlet in Zurich. ‘Sales in Zurich were becoming less and less comparable to those in German cities,’ says Managing Director Kramer.

That is now set to change. Despite Amazon and the internet, new bookstores are popping up again. Kramer cites examples from England and Berlin: ‘These are bookstores with a curated selection.’ This trend is now also evident in Zurich. The key to success is that the bookstores are not run-of-the-mill establishments. ‘Never Stop Reading’ aims to convey ‘enjoyment and a shopping experience.’ The large, elongated space bears the signature of architect Adriana Stalder from the Zurich firm Stalder & Buol. The space, which once housed a butcher shop, is a listed building and combines old and new. The landlord is the City of Zurich’s property management office. A very long, anthracite-colored bookshelf runs along one wall; in front of it, the latest book finds are displayed on chic, colorful little tables, and skylights illuminate the main room.

The bookstore is financed by the owners of the publishing houses Scheidegger & Spiess and Park Books. These are the Meili brothers, attorney Andi Hoppler, and Thomas Kramer. ‘However, the new store is not just a showroom for our books,’ emphasizes Thomas Kramer. ‘It also has to be financially viable.’ An important part of the selection consists of works from other Swiss publishers who also specialize in photography, art, and architecture. These include Lars Müller Publishers, Edition Patrick Frey, and Quart Verlag from Lucerne.

In addition to around 4'000 beautiful books to browse through, ‘Never Stop Reading’ will also regularly host photography exhibitions. These will be curated by photographer Sabina Bobst. The series kicks off with photographs from the coffee-table book Bilbao by Roger Wehrli. He documented the transformation of the Basque city between 1988 and 2014, showing how the former industrial behemoth became a cultural capital. Book launches and discussions are also planned. The bookstore is managed by Nora Schwyn, who worked at sec52 from 2008 to 2017.”

On Wednesday, September 11, we have an international guest of honor at Never Stop Reading: The famous American Magnum photographer Alec Soth, who is currently in Switzerland to present his work Limmat Valley Diary as part of the Art Flow art project, will give a lively, one-hour talk in our store about his work and his latest book, Advice For Young Artists. Visitors are coming not only from all over Switzerland, but also from Germany, Italy, and Austria; quite a few are listening to the talk from the sidewalk because there’s no more room inside the store.

Another distinguished visitor, though this time from a completely different field: Late in the afternoon of June 17, Thomas Tuchel, coach of the English national soccer team, suddenly strolled into Never Stop Reading. He was on his way to the Club World Cup in the U.S., but his flight from London couldn’t land due to high winds, so he missed his connecting flight. Tuchel stayed for nearly an hour; he praised our selection and regretted traveling with only carry-on luggage, as he would otherwise have bought more than three books. Most of the time, however, the conversation naturally turned to soccer.

But that’s not all: About a week later, on June 25, the world-renowned fashion and cosmetics label CHANEL launches its new magazine, Chanel Arts & Culture Vol. 1, at Never Stop Reading. The launch of this book-sized debut takes place on the same day in 20 selected bookstores around the globe.

Image: England national soccer team coach Thomas Tuchel (Source: PD)