Opernhauskrawalle

The protestors felt that the demands of the young people for their own cultural center had been ignored for years and that the astronomical grant for the opera house demonstrated this lack of commitment to youth by Zürich's conservative government.

While the police focused on possibly subversive messages and the documentation of damage to property, these photos also captured everyday street scenes.

The most prominent politicians involved were Sigmund Widmer and Emilie Lieberherr, then member of the city's executive (Stadtrat) authorities.

[6] Swiss federal TV hosted a "CH-Magazin" live TV debate on 15 July 1980 between the Zürich city executives Emilie Lieberherr and Hans Frick (LdU), police commander Rolf Bertschi, local SP leader Leonhard Fünfschilling, and two representatives of the youth movement.

In an act of reverse psychology, the two youth representatives dressed in conservative attire[7] posed as the Swiss equivalents[4] of John Doe and Jane Doe, "Anna Müller" (Hayat Jamal Aldin, sister of Samir Jamal Aldin) and "Hans Müller" (Fredi Meier).

Neither TV hosts nor officials could handle the abrupt situation, and the broadcast is considered one of Switzerland's biggest media scandals.