Ricarda Huch at the Zurich city library (1891–1894)

“It is to be hoped that her imagination will not dry up amidst the dusty tomes”

Ricarda Huch took up her post at the Zurich city library on 1 November 1891. Her tasks included dealing with the correspondence that had previously been the responsibility of the Second Librarian and processing printed matter both new and old. The librarians criticised her use of Gothic script, forcing her to learn Latin cursive instead:

“The worst thing about the city library is the way people always peer at my handwriting with mild mistrust.” (Huch to Wilhelm von Wyss, 8.11.1891)

Her salary was 1,500 Swiss francs a year, for which she worked 24 hours a week. In 1900, it cost between 400 and 500 francs a year to rent a flat in Zurich. Thus Ricarda Huch had an adequate income for the time being. But she immediately began to wonder whether she would be able to retain her post if she married:

“If we marry under these conditions, it will be very much a question of whether the highly conservative city library will keep me on, unless I have made a name for myself in some other field by then. God, when will I finally achieve fame!” (Huch, Du mein Dämon, meine Schlange …, p. 205)

The title illustrations for brochures in the Usteri Collection were intended to be printed in the supplement to the catalogue. Most of the entries in the catalogue are from Ricarda Huch. (ZB: Arch St 741)

Exhibition curators: 

• Anita Gresele, lic. phil.
  Head of the Turicensia Department
• Roberto Alliegro, lic. phil.
  Deputy Head of the Turicensia Department

Further information

- Quotations from Frühling in der Schweiz

More by and about Ricarda Huch:

- Literature

- Sheet music

- Letters

- Ricarda Huch’s dissertation at the University of Zurich