Zurich References in Finnegans Wake

Limmat River

e.g. “Yssel that the limmat?” (FW 198.13)

Niederdorf (Part of Zurich’s Old Town)

“down in Neederthorpe” (FW 541.26)

Sihl River

“a jig or so on the sihl” (FW 200.24)

Sihlpost (Post Office)

“the sillypost?” (FW 200.22)

Tonhalle (Concert Hall)

“management of the tonehall” (FW 165.7–8)

Wohnbedarf (Furniture Store, Talstrasse 11)

“Shauvesourishe and Wohntbedarft” (FW 221.33)

“There’s the Belle for Sexaloitez!” (FW 213.18–19)

Sechseläuten

Zurich’s Sechseläuten takes place annually, on the third Monday of April. While the custom is said to date back to the 16th century, the first modern parades were held in 1818.

The Sechseläuten appears multiple times in Finnegans Wake.

Joyce Reading from Finnegans Wake (incl. reference to “Sexaloitez”)

^{Further Information: Senn, Fritz. “Some Zurich Allusions in Finnegans Wake.” The Analyst, vol. 19, December 1960, pp. 1–23.}