Rietberg – a reflection of HSBC Guyerzeller Bank's style and values

For many years, HSBC Guyerzeller Bank has sponsored a number of exceptional art exhibitions at the Rietberg Museum and has made an invaluable contribution to a series of exhibitions - such as NAZCA - Mysteries of Ancient Peru, Korea and - more recently - a unique collection of works by Hasegawa Tohaku, one of Japan's most celebrated artists.

The history, tradition and values of the Rietberg Museum, housed in the Villa Wesendonck, have a lot in common with our Bank. This villa, designed in the neoclassical style, was constructed in the middle of the nineteenth century by the Wesendonck family when they left New York to move to Zurich. The Wesendoncks, who made their fortune from the silk trade, remind us of Adolf Guyer-Zeller, our founder.

The Wesendoncks used their prestigious villa as a meeting point for the leading artists, intellectuals and scientists of their time. Richard Wagner was their guest host for almost one year in the so-called Asylum on the Green Hill, where he completed the very first version of Tristan and Isolde and put to music five songs inspired by the poems of Mathilde Wesendonck.

A century later, the City of Zurich repurchased the Villa Wesendonck.