Plainpalais

Plainpalais is a neighbourhood in Geneva, Switzerland, and a former municipality of the Canton of Geneva up to 1931.^[1]

Formed from the suburban areas of Palais (plana palus: marshy plain), Saint-Léger and Saint-Victor, between the Rhône and the Arve, the territory of the former municipality covers the current neighbourhoods of Plainpalais, La Jonction, La Cluse, Les Tranchées, Champel and Le Bout-du-Monde, Les Acacias and a strip of land on the left bank of the Arve (Les Vernets).^[1]

It was at Plainpalais that the troops of Charles Emmanuel I massed on the night of December 11–12, 1602, during the night of the Escalade.^[2]

The left bank of the Arve was disputed between the States of Savoy and Geneva until the Treaty of Turin (1754), which awarded it to the city.^[1] Plainpalais became a municipality by the law of February 17, 1800, the date on which the Municipal Council and the office of mayor were established.^[3] The Republic of Geneva, annexed by France from April 26, 1798 until December 31, 1813, was then part of the Léman a departement of the French First Republic then First French Empire.^[4][5]

In the 18th century, Plainpalais was primarily a market gardening suburb (cultivating cabbages, artichokes, lettuces, and cardoons) and a place for relaxation, with tree-lined avenues planted around a large diamond shape (the present-day Plainpalais plain). From 1848 onwards, the site became the property of the municipality and was used for both military and civilian celebrations. The site attracted several cultural and entertainment institutions clustered within a small radius (circus in 1865, diorama in 1880, casino in 1887, theaters, etc.) and was lastingly marked by the National Exhibition of 1896. In 1849, when the question of creating a cantonal hospital arose, the deputies chose the former property of Edouard Claparède because of its proximity to the city and its favorable exposure. The establishment of the cantonal hospital (1856), the maternity hospital (1875), the medical school (1876) and the school of chemistry (1878) diversified the activities of the municipality.^[1]

This area developed under the leadership of Charles Page (mayor from 1882 to 1910): the Sous-Terre bridge (1891) and the Coulouvrenière bridge (1896), the quays along the Arve river (1890-1891), the new town hall (1888), and the community centre (1906), unique in Geneva, were built. Located near Coulouvrenière, the gasworks (1845-1914) and the Power Plant (a building constructed between 1883 and 1892) gave the municipality industrial advantages in the mechanical engineering sector (La Jonction district).^[1]

In 1858, Auguste Arthur De la Rive proposed to Marc Thury that he dedicate himself to the manufacture of physics instruments and precision devices. Auguste De la Rive provided the initial capital. From 1870 onwards, under the leadership of Théodore Turrettini, the company diversified its activities into new energy sectors (hydromotors, refrigeration systems, electricity meters), as well as metrology (precision rulers). This threefold expertise led to the development, in 1921, of a machine tool that would contribute to the rise of mass production in the mechanical industry: the pointing machine, known as the "MP," capable of machining with a precision on the order of a thousandth of a millimeter. A true technological feat, this product propelled the firm to the ranks of the world's most prestigious machine manufacturers. In 1990, la Société genevoise d'instruments physiques (SIP) left its Plainpalais site for Satigny. In 2006, Starrag Group took over the activities of SIP.^[6]

Located at the corner of Avenue du Mail, Boulevard du Pont d'Arve and Boulevard Carl-Vogt, the Temple of Plainpalais has played a central role in the Geneva community throughout the centuries.^[7] Having previously been based on strict religious unity, Geneva has practiced freedom of worship since 1846. Following its official recognition in 1852, the Jewish community built a synagogue in the Plainpalais district between 1853 and 1857, replacing the one in Carouge dating from 1787, the Beth Yaakov Synagogue, which was inaugurated in 1859.^[8][9] Banished from Geneva for centuries, Jews have had the right to citizenship since 1857.^[10]

A horse-drawn tram line was inaugurated on June 19, 1862, between Place Neuve and Rondeau de Carouge. One hundred years later, Geneva's tram line 12 was the last one still operating there.^[11] Redesigned in 1979-1980, the Plainpalais roundabout is an important intersection in the city of Geneva. The commercial activity of the adjacent district, the presence of university buildings, as well as events on the nearby Plainpalais Plain, make it a constantly lively place and an important station for Geneva's public transport network.^[12]

The Comédie de Genève was inaugurated on January 24, 1913, at number 6 Boulevard des Philosophes. The oldest Geneva institution dedicated to dramatic arts, it began as a theatre company performing in the Plainpalais community centre (now the Salle Pitoëff). A new theatre was inaugurated on Boulevard des Philosophes, in the territory of the former municipality of Plainpalais,^[13] during the term of Jacques Louis Willemin, who was the son-in-law of Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero.^[14]

From 1875 to 1876, a building was constructed in Plainpalais to house a barracks, an arsenal, and a riding school with stables. The building was subsequently replaced by the former exhibition hall, then by Uni Mail. The presence of the Exhibition Palace in Plainpalais, between 1926 and 1980, reinforced the dynamism of the district. Upon its demolition, the site was occupied by one of the main buildings of the University of Geneva.^[15][16]

In 1932, the Social Democratic Party's section of Geneva protested against the National Union's plan to hold a political meeting aimed at disqualifying socialist leaders Léon Nicole and Jacques Dicker at the Plainpalais community centre. The Geneva Socialist Party called for an anti-fascist demonstration. Fearing a riot, the Council of State of Geneva requested the support of the Swiss Confederation. On November 9, 1932, at 9:34 p.m., three sections of a conscripts' company, called in to reinforce the Geneva police, feeling cornered in front of the former Exhibition Hall (Uni Mail), opened fire on the crowd, killing 13 and wounding 65.^[17][18] The November 1932 Geneva shooting, resonated worldwide due to the presence of the League of Nations.^[19]

On the left, the Geneva Socialist Party was dominated by Nicole's personality and rhetoric, and Dicker's political views, which favored united action with the Communists.^[20][21] The Geneva massacre of 9 November 1932 exposed the contradictions within the socialist movement and foreshadowed the split of both the Genevan Socialist Party and the Swiss Socialist Party. Relations between the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and the Genevan Socialist Party had deteriorated since 1929. In 1935, by joining the national defense effort, the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland broke with a long antimilitarist and pacifist tradition to which the French-speaking socialists were still very attached. The Spanish Civil War contributed to radicalizing these opposing positions to the point of making them irreconcilable within the same political party.^[22]

In 1939, due to a disagreement over the German-Soviet Pact and following the Soviet invasion of Finland, the Genevan Socialist Party split in two. Léon Nicole, who supported the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was expelled from the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland in September 1939. However, the majority of members of the Vaud section and the Genevan Socialist Party, which had welcomed members of the Communist Party after its banning in Geneva in 1937, supported him and founded the Swiss Socialist Federation, with Léon Nicole as its president.^[23] André Oltramare and Charles Rosselet left Léon Nicole’s Genevan Socialist Party to found the Socialist Party of Geneva, affiliated with the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland.^[24][25] The Socialist Party of Geneva resumed the name of Geneva Socialist Party in 1941 after the banning of Léon Nicole's Genevan Socialist Party.^[21][23]

Nicknamed "the bunker" by its detractors,^[26] the Uni Dufour Building was constructed in the 1970s. Inspired by Le Corbusier, Werner-Charles Francesco, Gilbert Paux, and Jacques Vicari won the competition organized in 1965 after the fire at the bâtiment électoral (election building), demolished in 1911 and rebuilt in 1915.^[27][28] The election building could accommodate up to 3,000 people and was also used for exceptional occasions, such as in 1871, the internment of French soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War,^[28] one of the first large-scale humanitarian actions of the Red Cross. The rotunda housing the Bourbaki Panorama was built in 1880 on Boulevard de Plainpalais (now Boulevard Georges-Favon). In 1897, it was moved to La Jonction. The panorama then left Geneva to be reassembled in Lucerne in a building constructed in 1889.^[29][30]

A founding member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Guillaume Henri Dufour contributed to the creation of the International Geodetic Association as a member of the Swiss Geodetic Commission from 1861.^[31] In 1866, in Neuchâtel, Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero proposed the membership of Spain in the geodetic association.^[32] In the second half of the 19th century, this scientific undertaking, whose objective was precise mapping, took on a global dimension. It accompanied German unification and the return of democracy in France, marked the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution, and led to the Metre Convention and the adoption of Greenwich meridian as Prime meridian.

In 1905, the first Geneva International Motor Show was hosted in the election building also named the Maison des Congrès (Congress House).^[27][28] Opposite this building at the intersection of Rue De-Candolle and Rue du Conseil-Général, the Brasserie Landolt (1875-1999) was frequented by Lenin, then by Portuguese refugees preparing for the Carnation Revolution.^[33][34]

Located at 66 Boulevard Carl-Vogt,^[35] the Uni Carl Vogt building will change its name following a decision by the Rectorate of the University of Geneva. The decision is motivated by the racist and misogynistic theories of the german born naturalist.^[36] Germany's influence in French-speaking Switzerland during the 19th century was marked by scientific figures now criticized, such as Carl Vogt,^[37] first Rector of the University of Geneva, who was a student of Louis Agassiz at the Neuchâtel Academy.^[38]

Inaugurated on September 25, 1901, the Musée d'ethnographie de Genève was founded at the initiative of Professor Eugène Pittard, who also established a chair of anthropology at the University of Geneva. In 1939, the museum moved to the disused Mail primary school building on Boulevard Carl-Vogt. The new MEG building, shaped like a pagoda, was inaugurated on October 31, 2014, after a four-year construction project.^[39] The museum is listed as a cultural asset of national importance and won the European Museum of the Year Award in April 2017. The issue of the restitution of looted works also arises, particularly with the 2017 motion by Cédric Wermuth, which aimed to locate objects dating from the colonial period within Switzerland and return them to their countries of origin. The case of a tusk taken from the sack of Benin City in 1897 and purchased in the 1940s is cited by the Geneva Museum of Ethnography, which highlighted this theme in its 2020-2024 strategic plan.^[40]

The Patek Philippe Museum, a private Swiss watch museum, is located at the Rue des Vieux-Genadiers 7, in the Plainpalais district of Geneva.^[41][42] The Patek Philippe company was founded in Geneva by Antoni Patek, a Polish independence fighter and political activist during Russian occupation of Poland, in 1839.^[43][44]

A museum is dedicated to the commune of Plainpalais before its absorption by the city in 1931. This museum was created in 1953 by the Plainpalais Interests Association. It is located in the former Plainpalais town hall, at 35 Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, on the first floor.^[45][5]

Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges is buried in the cemetery of Plainpalais. He had studied in Geneva at the Collège Calvin. These years, marked by the spirit of tolerance of the city, contributed to his decision to settle in Geneva for the end of his life.^[46]

The Plaine de Plainpalais is a large public square (78 135 square metres).^[47] It is mentioned in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.^[48][49] It is home of the Plainpalais skatepark. Inaugurated in 2012, the Plainpalais skatepark is intended for young people over the age of 10 who practise skateboarding, roller skating and BMX riding at any level. Covering 3,000 m², it is one of the biggest skate parks in Europe.^[50]

In 2010, the Municipal Fund for Contemporary Art commissioned the KLAT collective, specializing in performance and contemporary art, to create a statue representing Dr. Frankenstein's creature.^[51] The first murder of the famous monster imagined by Mary Shelley in her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, during her stay in Cologny in 1816, took place in Plainpalais.^[52] Installed in 2014 near the skatepark,^[53] the statue faces south, recalling the creature's flight towards Chamonix, during which it was observed by Victor Frankenstein climbing Mont Salève, visible from the Plainpalais plain. Contrary to popular belief, the monster possesses human feelings, and it is rejection that leads him to murder.^[52] The work also evokes certain figures of marginality and offers them visibility in the public space.^[53]

Made up of several lawns and an asphalted section, the extreme tip of the diamond shape of the Plainpalais plain, cut by the Harry-Marc street,^[54] on the Place du Cirque side, has been developed into a garden adorned with a fountain, the Parc du 14-juin, formerly Parc Harry-Marc.^[55][56] The Harry-Marc Park was renamed on May 20, 2024 in reference to June 14, 1981, the date on which the principle of equality between men and women was enshrined in the Swiss Constitution.^[56]

Harry Marc, whose real name was Gilbert Pichon, was the owner of the Café des Beaux-Arts, a regular haunt for actors and politicians such as Michel Simon, Jean Marais, Fernand Reynaud, and François Mitterrand. His greatest achievement was the creation of the Free Commune of Plainpalais Foundation, a philanthropic association whose symbol is a pelican holding out its alms bowl to the Genevan eagle.^[57] At a funfair he organized annually, Gilbert Pichon, disguised as the mayor, would have himself weighed and collect his weight in coins, which were then donated to his charities.^[54][58]

• Geneva massacre of 9 November 1932

46°11′38″N 6°08′29″E / 46.19389°N 6.14139°E / 46.19389; 6.14139