In the 17th and 18th Centuries the trading families of Rietmann, Bridler, Daller and Zwinger grew into powerful trading houses.

These renovations, proposed by the architect Ernst Jung and Otto Bridler, produced a station building in Renaissance style; the Federal Palace of Switzerland served as a template.

It was founded by ETH student Anton Petrelli and four medical students: Franz Bridler, Paul Egger, Robert Lenz, and Ernst Müller.