Culture in Zurich can also be cheap

Here are our tips for free exhibitions, inexpensive theatre evenings and various other inexpensive amusements.

Art in public space

On a nice day, the curious can view works of art by Harald Nägeli, Nikki St. Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Dieter Meier, church windows by Marc Chagall or the "Blüemlihalle" with the wonderful Giacometti ornaments in the Amtshaus on Bahnhofquai, preferably by bike - free of charge and usually outside. Information on many dozens of the remarkable 1200 public works of art and route planning can be found at zuerich.com.

Theater & Kino

After the busy weekends, Monday is a mild day in cultural life. Many cultural centres then entice their audiences with substantial discounts. At the Schauspielhaus, guests always pay half price, which means they can attend a performance for as little as CHF 10. On 1 April, for example, the euphorically acclaimed "Blutstück" based on the novel by Kim de l'Horizon is on the programme. And cinema Mondays have been around for a long time. Tickets cost CHF 15.90 in the current four arthouse cinemas (the Uto is unfortunately closing at the end of this month after almost 100 years), CHF 14 at the Riffraff and Houdini and just CHF 11 at the Frame for every film, even for the almost three-hour second part of Dune, which is currently showing.

Sihlfeld cemetery

I love walking around Sihlfeld cemetery. It's particularly beautiful at the moment, as plants, shrubs and trees are starting to bloom and the huge magnolias are a splendour. A special place is the Cemetery Forum, which deals with the not very cheerful subject of death. Its current exhibition "YOU WANT IT DARKER" is dedicated to the question of how songs deal with the inescapable fact that you can't get out of this world alive. On display are photos by Anton Corbijn, among others, and the playlist with songs by David Bowie, Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith, Scott Walker and Yello can be heard on Spotify.

Museums

You pay no admission at all to an astonishing 32 Zurich museums, such as the Money Museum, the Helmhaus and the huge succulent collection of over 4,400 species near the Badi Mythenquai. Personally, I like to spend half an hour in the Old Botanical Garden and regularly visit an exhibition in the free Ethnological Museum located there. A visit to the magnificent collection at the Kunsthaus Zürich is also free every Wednesday. You can find a constantly updated list of all free museums at www.zuercher-museen.ch.

Literature

In addition, I would once again like to point out the public bookshelves scattered throughout the city. My favourites are the ones at the former Letten train station and the bookcase at Hallwyl-Platz in district 4, where I have just found the new book by Charles Lewinsky, Tess Gunty's quirky novel Kaninchenstall and the great first book by Elena Fischer - Paradise Garden. Savings: 100 CHF. After all.