The Trafo story
History
From a workshop of electrification to a meeting place in the age of Industry 4.0.
A transformer — Trafo for short — is a converter, transformer, changer. Countless of them were built and tested on the Haselfeld in northern Baden. Since 1891, the year BBC was founded, electrical machines and equipment for power generation and distribution were developed and produced here. What Trafo was, Trafo has remained: even in the 21st century, plenty of energy flows through these halls.
The spark
In 1891, engineers Charles Brown and Walter Boveri succeeded for the first time in transmitting electric power over a long distance — from a 300 hp generator in Lauffen am Neckar to the International Electrotechnical Exhibition in Frankfurt, lighting 1,000 bulbs. In October of the same year, they founded «Brown, Boveri & Cie.» (BBC) and erected the first factory halls in Baden.
The transformer factory
Where the Trafo stands today, it has always been about transformers. Halls 31 to 36 were built between 1906 and 1909, halls 37 and 38 followed in 1920 and were extended to Bruggerstrasse in 1950. Large transformers were built here — the complex still exists today, repurposed.
The high-voltage laboratory
In 1942/43, the high-voltage laboratory was built at the corner of Haselstrasse and Brown Boveri Platz — a striking cubic structure by Zurich architect Roland Rohn. At its inauguration in November 1943, an artificial lightning bolt over a metre long, at 1.2 million volts, dazzled the specialist audience.
The transformation
From 2003, the vacant buildings were finally converted into today's culture and convention centre. The former laboratory became the Trafo Hall with excellent acoustics and modern stage technology. In 2014, event halls 36/37 and the Trafo Hotel opened — hall 37, at 1,400 m² and 14 m high, is the largest of the event halls.
The Trafo today
Trafo Baden today offers corners, niches, rooms and halls for virtually every kind of gathering — from a business tête-à-tête to a trade fair for thousands of visitors, accompanied by our in-house catering.
Milestones
- 1906–1909Construction of transformer factory halls 31 to 36
- 1920Construction of transformer factory halls 37 and 38
- 1942/1943Construction of the high-voltage laboratory (inaugurated 18 November 1943)
- 1950Extension of halls 37 and 38 to Bruggerstrasse
- 1970sTransformer production relocated to Oerlikon
- 1990sInterim use as a youth venue and musical hall («Space Dream»)
- 2003Opening of the new municipal hall in the former high-voltage laboratory
- 2014Opening of event halls 36/37 and the convention centre with Trafo Hotel