August Künzler

August Künzler (* 1901 in Kesswil ; † 1983 in Frauenfeld ) was a gardener who emigrated to Tanganyika (now Tanzania ) in 1929 and worked there successfully in agriculture and animal trapping, so that he was nicknamed "Wheat King of Tanganyika" by his biographer. had received.

Life

August Künzler left Switzerland in 1929 to seek his fortune in what is now Tanzania. He left behind his wife and a flourishing nursery. In Africa , Künzler saw opportunities that would never have been available to him in Switzerland. After three years as a foreman on sisal and palm oil plantations , he was able to acquire land and began building his own farm. Within half a century, the Kesswil gardener was to become one of the most influential personalities in Tanzania's northern provinces.

Hardly established as farmers began Künzler to organize the distribution of its products itself, so the expensive middlemen to get around. This gave rise to an ever-growing corporate empire. He also experimented with the cultivation of wheat as well as seed and table beans - a novelty in the region. This venture was so successful that Künzler soon became known as the wheat king of Tanganyika.

After the end of the Second World War , Künzler received a permit to catch large game and sold giraffes , elephants and other animals to zoos around the world. Kuoni tourists stopped at his Big Game Ranch. The political upheavals in the region that followed Tanzania's independence in 1961, as well as his now poor health, prompted Künzler to gradually sell his businesses. In 1979 he returned to Switzerland. August Künzler remained connected to his adopted home through development cooperation projects until his death in 1983.

literature

• Alfred Adolf Häsler : The Wheat King of Tanganyika: Adventure of a lifetime. The story of the Swiss pioneer August Künzler . Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld 1980, ISBN 3-7193-0690-9 .
• Christian Hunziker: emigrants, animal catchers, wheat king. August Künzler (1901–1983) recalls and tells . Unpublished master's thesis, Zurich 2014.