Bernhard Greuter

Bernhard Greuter, lithograph by Joseph Brodtmann (1787–1862)

Bernhard Greuter (born February 20, 1745 in Ulisbach , Wattwil; † September 11, 1822 in Islikon , Gachnang ) was a Swiss industrialist , social reformer , politician and model builder.

Live and act

Entrepreneur

Bernhard Greuter was the son of a traveler and trader. As an orphan he was able to attend school in Wattwil . He then trained as a private tutor and worked as a worker in calico printing plants . He got to know the newly introduced blue dyeing in a Glarus calico printing plant. Because he was suspected of factory espionage, he fled to Holland, where he got additional equipment. In 1765 he opened a textile dyeing and printing plant in Kefikon . In 1773 he moved to his father-in-law's inn, the tavern zum Stern in Islikon. There he built an indigo or blue dye works in an extension to the tavern in 1777 , as one of the first factories in Switzerland. He gradually expanded his textile trade and by the beginning of the 19th century a village-like factory was built, which obtained its water power from artificially created ponds. In the vicinity of the factory there were additional production rooms and special departments in 32 houses.

The trading company Greuter & Rieter , founded in 1796 with the Rieter brothers from Winterthur , became one of the most important textile companies in Switzerland in the 19th century. In 1805 a branch was opened on the Murg in Frauenfeld and in 1806 the first branch abroad, Ziegler-Greuter & Cie. in Guebwiller in Alsace . With the latter, the Napoleonic customs barriers were overcome. By 1810 these companies together employed over 3,300 people. The company, which ran into trouble in the 1870s, had to shut down in 1880.

The renovated building complex of the Greuterhof in Islikon has belonged to the Greuterhof Islikon Foundation since 1981 .

Worker welfare pioneer

In 1802 the "Geselschaft Druker und Modelstecher Islicon BG", which Greuter proposed and worked out, was the first company social insurance in Switzerland, consisting of health, military, retirement savings and a travel fund for training purposes as well as livestock insurance. The draftsmen, colorists, model engravers, dyers and printers working in the factory joined forces to form this aid company. Greuter also set up a school fund to give all children the opportunity to learn to read, do math and write. From 1823 employee insurance became compulsory for small and medium-sized enterprises in Frauenfeld. In 1874, military insurance was introduced at the national level as the oldest social insurance in Switzerland.

Politician

Greuter was a member of the National Committee, the first Thurgau government under the vineyards pharmacists and merchant Paul Reinhart , that after the March 3, 1798 at the Federal Diet possessed dismissal of Thurgau , was used from its subjection since 1460th In the Helvetic Republic , Greuter was a Grand Councilor from April 1798 to 1800 and Thurgau's Grand Councilor from 1803 to 1822 . From 1813 to 1816 he had the moat in Frauenfeld filled up and a promenade laid out.

Sample maker

In 1805 the four sons increasingly took over the business, while Bernhard Greuter devoted himself mainly to agriculture until his death and gave it important impetus. He was one of the first to plant potatoes, raise cattle and plant fruit crops. Around 1800 he built what was then the largest barn in Switzerland. The Greuterscheune served on the one hand the agricultural model business and on the other hand the dye works by supplying the manure needed for dyeing and providing space for drying the cloths.

literature

• Hermann Wartmann:  Greuter, Bernhard . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, pp. 645-647.
• J. Ganz: The Greuter factory in Islikon, in Archithese, No. 5, 1980
• The Greuterhof . Publishing house Bernhard Greuter Foundation for Professional Information, Islikon 1991
• H. Amann: Bernhard Greuter , in Toggenburger Annalen 20, 1993, 69-75
• Ottavio Clavuot, Jürg Ganz: The Greuterhof in Islikon, a monument from the early days of industrialization . Society for Swiss Art History, GSK. Edited in collaboration with the Greuterhof Islikon Foundation, Islikon (formerly the Bernhard Greuter Foundation for Career Information) and the Monument Preservation of the Canton of Thurgau, Frauenfeld, Verlag GSK, Bern 2006, ISBN 3-85782-797-1

Web links

• Verena Rothenbühler: Greuter, Bernhard. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Literature by and about Bernhard Greuter in the catalog of the German National Library

• Bernhard Greuter's biography
• History of the Greuterhof
• IN.KU 02: Greuterhof Islikon TG , Swiss Society for the History of Technology and Industrial Culture

Individual evidence

1. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Bernhard Greuter, pioneer of workers' welfare