Collector's items: From the kitchen to the Clubhouse
Meeting over lunch in the employees’ cafeteria has been tradition and key to company life at Swiss Re for over 80 years.
British working hours were adopted at Swiss Re in the early 1900s: weekdays 8.30 am to 4.30 pm, with a half hour lunch break, and Saturday mornings. World War I had led to an oil crisis, and staff members were no longer able to get home to eat a warm meal.
In response to this, Swiss Re built a kitchen and eating area to serve lunch to its staff on the attic floor of its office building on Mythenquai 60. The “Mittagstisch“ lunchroom opened its doors on 25 October 1917 to some 350 employees.
There is such a thing as a free lunch
Emil Hirt, the company’s first Chef de Cuisine, was employed from 1917 to 1945. Initially, he was assisted by a kitchen crew of nine and 15 female office workers who were recruited to work as “waitresses“ over the lunch hour, serving two tables of 10-14 people each. Part of their job included listing exactly how many meals were taken and reporting this to management, ensuring that figures added up according to lunch cancellations and registrations. Seating and napkins were assigned and tables were set up by department.
The noon meal, which included soup, meat and vegetables, (vegetarians were offered a meat- free alternative) was served in two shifts; the first at 12.00, the second at 12.45. Employees were charged according to salary and marital status. An unmarried worker, for example, earning between CHF 200 and CHF 249, paid 90 centimes per meal. A married employee with the same salary 50 centimes. The amount was deducted from monthly wages. Those earning less than CHF 100 per month were not charged at all. Alcohol was not served and smoking was forbidden.
According to archive documents, missing silverware and general etiquette presented a slight problem. Several memos distributed to staff members at that time made clear that utensils should not be taken to offices and that tablecloths were not to be used as napkins!
Rationing
The company saw leaner days during World War II. A great deal of correspondence was carried out between Swiss Re (pleading for more supplies as a rule) and the War Nutrition Bureau. Foods including cocoa, coffee, cream, butter, flour and fruit were rationed, and meat was served three instead of the customary four times a week. These were difficult times for the Swiss Re kitchen, but by July 1948 rationing of all foods was lifted, and it was back to business as usual.
The Clubhouse is born
Following the death of Emil Hirt in 1945, Hans Steffen manned the hearth until 1973. During his tenure as Chef de Cuisine, the company grew, as did the need for a larger lunchroom. Hans Hofmann, a prominent Swiss architect, was given the mandate to design the new employee restaurant. The spacious, yet discrete Clubhouse was christened on 20 December 1957.
Bruno Waeckerlin, who became Head Chef in 1973, witnessed the “family tables“ give way to open seating and self-service after the Clubhouse was renovated 20 years later. A new ambience ensued, creating a more relaxed and less formal atmosphere, which continues to this day.
While the face and size of the employee restaurant has changed over the years, the heart has not. In 1998, Thomas Jaeckle took over the reins as Head of the Clubhouse from Daniel Haessig, who is now Head of Swiss Re Guest Services. Swiss Re Guest Services was established as a profit centre on 1 January 1999. Currently, the crew caters to some 2,500 employees and 150 guests per day. This unit now oversees the activities in a total of seven restaurants located in Zurich, Adliswil and Rüschlikon and continues to provide an excellent range of culinary dishes and the opportunity to meet with others. A welcome respite during a busy day.
Collector's Items originate from Knowledge & Information Management and the Company Archive at Swiss Re.
