Alfred Ilg

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Alfred Ilg (born March 30, 1854 in Frauenfeld , Thurgau ; † January 7, 1916 in Zurich ) was a Swiss engineer and advisor to the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II.

Alfred Illg (1854-1916)
Alfred Illg

Life

500 francs share of the Compagnie Impériale des Chemins de Fer Éthiopiens dated December 14, 1899, signed by Alfred Ilg; Illustration: Emperor Menelik II, the father of the last Negus, awaits the first train with his court.

Alfred Ilg came to Abyssinia , today's Ethiopia , in 1879 on behalf of a Swiss company . He subsequently served at the court of the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II (emperor from 1889). He quickly learned the Amharic language. He was involved in the construction of the new capital of Abyssia, Addis Ababa . He played a considerable part in Abyssinia's victory against the colonial power Italy in the Battle of Adwa in 1896, since Abyssinia was able to produce arms and ammunition with its factories and machines and became independent of their imports.

For this, Ilg was honored in 1897 by Emperor Menelik II with the title of Councilor of State in the rank of Excellency . For the years 1897 to 1907 he was appointed Foreign Minister. Thanks to his competence as an engineer, he was responsible for the planning and construction of the railway line from Addis Ababa to Djibouti during these years . In addition, Ilg was responsible for several public buildings and acted as chief of protocol and private secretary to the emperor. For this, Ilg was awarded the highest order in the state, the Star of Ethiopia .

Ilg's deeds also include the creation of a unified national coin system and the establishment of a national postal system. When, on March 7, 1905, the orientalist Friedrich Rosen, head of the rose embassy named after him, concluded various treaties between Ethiopia and the German Empire , Ilg's influence at court slowly began to wane. Ilg could not (or would not) oppose various intrigues, and so he resigned in 1907.

Ilg returned to Switzerland and settled in Zurich. There he died on January 7, 1916 and was buried as a prominent deceased in the Enzenbühl cemetery.

Special

In 1902 Ilg gave the city of Zurich two lions as a thank you for the education he had been able to enjoy at the ETH . Years later, this led to the founding of the Zurich Zoo .

literature

  • Elisabeth Biasio: Splendor and splendor at the court of Menilek. Verlag NZZ Libro, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-03823-089-8 .
  • Alfred Ilg: On the history of the Ethiopian railways. In: Annual reports of the Geographical-Ethnographic Society in Zurich, Volume 10 (1909–1910), p. 113 ff. ( Digitized version )
  • Conrad Keller : Alfred Ilg, his life and work as a Swiss cultural messenger in Abyssinia. Huber, Frauenfeld 1918.
  • Heribert Küng: Minister of State Alfred Ilg (1854–1916), a Thurgauer at the court of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. Thesis-Verl., Zurich 1999, ISBN 3-908544-34-3 .
  • Willi Loepfe: Alfred Ilg and the Ethiopian Railway. Atlantis-Verl., Zurich 1974, ISBN 3-7611-0446-4 .
  • Willi Loepfe:  Ilg, Alfred. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 131 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Wili Loepfe: Alfred Ilg - A Thurgauer in the service of Ethiopia . In: Thurgauer Jahrbuch . Vol. 51, 1976, pp. 90-100. ( e-periodica.ch )
  • Helmut Stalder: Alfred Ilg. A Thurgau rescues Abyssinia. In: ders .: Misunderstood visionaries. 24 Swiss life stories. Verlag NZZ Libro, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-03823-715-0 , pp. 73-77.
  • Bairu Tafla (Ed.): Ethiopian records of the Menelik era. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000, ISBN 3-447-04258-3 .

Movies

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alfred Ilg, curriculum vitae
  2. ^ Sevogel Gallery: Historical Securities, Volume 3. NZZ Verlag, 1984, ISBN 3-85823-108-8 , pp. 114f.
  3. ↑ Martin Woker : A Swiss Pioneer. Alfred Ilg and his Chinese heirs. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of January 7, 2016, p. 7.
  4. ↑ ImdB entry
personal data
SURNAME Ilg, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss engineer
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Frauenfeld , Thurgau
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 1916
Place of death Zurich