James Joyce In Zürich by Kevin Reynolds

The James Joyce Foundation in Zürich came into existence in 1985 completely by coincidence. The 1970's saw the height of the Cold War in Europe when fear of invasion by the Soviet Union was a real concern, and neutrality was no guarantee of safety. Colonel Albert Bachmann, a Swiss army intelligence officer (in other words, a spy) came to Ireland on a mission to find a haven in exile for the Swiss Government (and its stockpile of gold) . He settled on Cork, and in 1976 purchased Liss Ard Estate in Skibbereen. His spending spree didn’t end there. For reasons best known to himself, Albert Bachmann bought the Victorian interior of Jury’s Antique Bar in Dame Street.

Jury’s was located in what is today the location of the Central Bank on Dame Street. A grand premises, as the Irish Independent of October 4 1972 would note, with 95,000 sq. ft. in the 156 bedroom property on the corner of Dame Street and Anglesea Street. James Joyce had known this bar in his youth. In the Hades episode of Ulysses, Bloom wonders if Mr Power’s paramour is the "Barmaid in Jury's. Or the Moira, was it?".

An auction was scheduled for March 6th, 1973 which could have seen the contents of the bar sold piecemeal, but Bachmann and a group of businessmen from Zürich purchased the bar for a five figure sum in advance of this. He had the entire contents, including "a marble-top counter, brass footrails, decorative wall panels and lead light windows" dismantled, numbered and transported to Zürich.

After a few false starts (and with the commitment of former Union Bank of Switzerland chairman Dr. Robert Holzach), the interior of Jury’s bar was bought. It was faithfully reconstructed and reopened in Zürich's Pelikanstrasse in 1978. This was the catalyst that led to the establishment of The James Joyce Foundation, which was formally established in spring 1985. The former Union Bank of Switzerland (Dr. Robert Holzach, again) provided the necessary initial statutory capital and covered the expenses for the upkeep of the Foundation for the first six years of its existence.

Two substantial bequests, one from Joyce's step grandson Hans Janke in 2006 (contested by Stephen Joyce who policed his grandfather's estate assiduously) and an earlier one from the family of Joyce's ophthalmologist Professor Albert Vogt, cemented the reputation of the Foundation as the Joycean centre of excellence it is today.

To commemorate the 65th anniversary of James Joyce’s death in Zürich on January 13th 1941, Ursula Zeller, Ruth Freiner and Fritz Senn from The James Joyce Foundation shared their stories with Kevin Reynolds and brought him around Joyce’s haunts in Zürich.