Alfred Oehler

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Oehler Aarau: Prätschli – Tschuggen ski lift, Arosa

Alfred Oehler (born March 29, 1883 in Wildegg , Canton Aargau , † October 11, 1974 in Aarau ) was a Swiss industrialist and pioneer of electric steel casting .

life and work

Alfred Oehler was born as the son of Alfred Oehler and Adele Osthuess in Wildegg. In 1881, his father and Robert Zschokke founded the mechanical workshop Oehler & Zschokke in Wildegg (later Oehler & Co. Aarau), which manufactured taxiways, construction machinery and cable cars.

After his apprenticeship in his father's company, he attended the technical center in Burgdorf (today Bern University of Applied Sciences), where he studied mechanical and electrical engineering from 1902 to 1904. He then studied metallurgy at the Technical University in Aachen until 1906 and graduated as a foundry engineer. He completed a foundry internship in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) and on his return in 1907 he joined Eisenwerke Oehler & Co. , which he took over in 1908. He was a member of the management until 1955 and Chairman of the Board of Directors until 1968.

In addition, he was a board member of banks and industrial companies in Aarau (Allgemeine Aargauische Ersparniskasse, etc.). As a specialist in electric steel casting, he was able to overcome the war and crisis years with the manufacture of foundry products and hoisting machines. He developed military cable cars for the Swiss Army. In terms of succession planning, he involved Georg Fischer AG in the family business from 1938 , which became their subsidiary from 1969.

Oehler visited the Austrian mountain front in the late summer of 1916 and studied the cable cars there. From 1926 to 1932 he was in command of the Aargau Infantry Regiment 23. In May 1940 he was commanded by the army chief of genius as a cable car specialist in his staff. As chief of the SBD ropeway service, he built up the army's newly established ropeway service with a small staff team . By November 1943, 118 standardized military ropeways had been planned, constructed, set up and operated by HD ropeway detachments. «Seilbahnoberst» Oehler inspected all the lifts on foot or on skis. During this time, the cable car industry and its competitors were able to benefit from the plans, studies and experience that were freely available to them.

literature

  • Alfred Oehler: The military cable cars of the Swiss Army in the World War 1939 to 1945 . Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 127/128 1946, Issue 7
  • 75 years of Eisen- und Stahlwerke Oehler & Co., Aarau . Aarau 1956 [1]
  • Walter Labhart, Paul Vogt: Alfred Oehler (1883–1974) . In: Three Aargau Pioneers. Swiss pioneers in business and technology , Volume 33, Association for Economic History Studies, Zurich 1980.
  • Hans Richard, Jürg Keller: Military cable cars / Téléfériques militaires . Association of Historical Military Facilities Freiburg / Bern, annual issue 2016.

Web links

Commons : Oehler Aarau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

notes

  1. ^ Walter Labhart, Paul Vogt: "Alfred Oehler (1883-1974)". In: Three Aargau Pioneers. Swiss pioneers in business and technology, Volume 33, Association for Economic History Studies, Zurich 1980.
  2. ^ Hans Richard, Jürg Keller: Military cable cars / Téléfériques militaires. Association of Historical Military Facilities Freiburg / Bern, annual issue 2016
  3. ^ Alfred Oehler: The military cable cars of the Swiss Army in World War I 1939 to 1945. Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 127/128 1946, Issue 7
  4. ↑ Pioneers Switzerland: Volume 33
personal data
SURNAME Oehler, Alfred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alfred Oehler-Wassmer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Wildegg
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 1974
Place of death Aarau