Helferei Zurich
Overview
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Intro
The unassuming office building at 13 Kirchgasse belies the importance of the work that was accomplished within its walls. Here is the "Helferei", the office where Huldrych Zwingli studied and wrote the sermons that forever altered Zürich and Switzerland.
The small room that served as Zwingli's office is located upstairs, remarkably unaltered since the great Swiss Reformer occupied it. The rough, wood-paneled walls and sloping wooden floor appear just as they did in the 16th century, as do the thick glass windows looking out on the garden out back. The entire Helferei is still owned by the church. Downstairs the building houses a bookstore, a fair trade shop, meeting rooms and a chapel dating from 1856. Zwingli's office is still used by the Grossmünster's ministers, who draw inspiration from the space as they prepare their sermons.