Dada and the Rowing Club Aviron Romand in Zurich

23 September 2024

1916 was not just the year in which Dada was founded. Dada was founded in Zurich on the initiative of artists who had fled the First World War (1914-1918).

In their eyes, the old art world had helped to make this catastrophe possible and had not prevented it. Swiss citizens also joined the movement. Dada meetings were held at the Café Voltaire on the Spiegelstrasse. Dada as a movement only existed briefly until 1920, but its influence extends to the present day.

Members of Aviron Romand around 1910. Photo: 125 ans Aviron Romand

Just a kilometre away, another remarkable event took place in Zurich. In 1892, five (foreign) rowing clubs had their clubhouses on the lake: the Seeclub, Nordiska Roddföreningen (from the four Nordic countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark), the Polytechniker Ruderclub Zürich, a Hungarian club and the Aviron Romand (founded in 1892).

During the Röstigraben, French, Swiss, and Alsatian members of Aviron Romand volunteered for the French army and served in the army’s elite: the air force. Even more remarkable, the French 218 escadrille, the unit they served, even adopted the Aviron Romand logo.

The fighter pilot Raoul Coquard (1892) in his Bréguet XIV. Photo: 125 ans Aviron Romand (Archive Familie Coquard)

They fought in the air on all fronts: Verdun, the Somme, Noyon, Saint-Quentin, Flanders, Mont Kemmel and the Marne. They even destroyed two big Berthas (Dicke Berthas in German)! Their prestige was such that the squadron (escadrille) BR 218 received at least seven awards! However, five volunteers did not survive, and six were wounded.

This war took place over 100 years ago. Nevertheless, the Club d’Aviron Romand Zurich (ARZ) still exists in the beautiful complex on Lake Zurich (Zürichsee), along with Nordiska Roddföreningen, Seeclub Zürich, Polytechniker Ruderclub Zürich, Ruderclub Industrieschule Zürich, Grasshopper Club section aviron, Ruderclub Kaufleuten Zürich, Club Nautique Français and Belvoir Ruderclub.

Aviron Romand no longer fights in the air but rows exclusively on the water, sometimes with other clubs from French-speaking Switzerland, such as Société Nautique Neuchâtel, but still in an international setting, even with a French club at the complex today.

The Aviron Romand club’s logo is as simple as its brave deeds remain grandiose: three horizontal red stripes still adorn the club building!

(Source: D. Schaller, D. Masson (ed.), J. Bonhomme, F. Huber, D. Masson, G. de Morsier, R. Obi, M. Sigrist 125 ans Aviron Romand, Zurich 2017)