Embroidery Market
The head office of “Union Bank of Switzerland” and the embroidery market was constructed between 1889 and 1891. Unlike most other commercial sites of the embroidery period it wasn’t built on green land but on the ground of the medieval historic district of St.Gallen.
History:
The embroidery market was the place where the successful textile business activities bundled. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, manufacturers and merchants, embroiderers and refiners came together and exchanged information about market conditions and fashion trends, orders or even titles on goods. Due to the clothes of the business people and their lively verbal exchange, the building received the bynames “Schwarzbörse” (black market) and “Schwatzbörse” (blab market).
Architecture:
The abundant bank building consists of baroque forms; copper figurines grace the facade of the palace. Hermes - the god of the merchants, travellers and thieves – as to Greek mythology, supervises the events. The luxuriant interior was removed during a renovation in the 1960s.
Present-day use:
1896 the “Swiss Union Bank” merged with the bank associations of Bales and Zurich to form the Swiss Bank Association. The latest merger was between Swiss Bank Association and UBS in 1998 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland. The building has been used by the UBS ever since.