Bruno Stefanini

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Bruno Stefanini (born August 5, 1924 in Winterthur ; † December 14, 2018 there , entitled to live there ) was a Swiss real estate owner and art collector .

Life

Little is known about Bruno Stefanini's life; he lived withdrawn and was considered media-shy. Despite his wealth, he is said to have stayed in his office or in one of his numerous vacant properties. According to his own statements, he worked seven days a week. Bruno Stefanini's last public appearance took place in March 2014 at a vernissage of the Kunstmuseum Bern .

From 1930 to 1957, his father ran the Salmen restaurant on Marktgasse in Winterthur , which belonged to a cooperative of Italian industrial workers. In the adjoining building, at Marktgasse 47, Stefanini set up his real estate company Terresta AG. As a “ secondo ” he passed the entrance exam at the ETH Zurich , graduated from the recruiting school and served in the army up to captaincy. He dropped out of his natural sciences studies in favor of a career in the real estate industry.

Stefanini owned many properties in the city; half of Steinberggasse in Winterthur's old town is said to have belonged to him. The Sulzer high-rise also belonged to him. Because he let his properties fall into disrepair, he kept making headlines because of his unwillingness to cooperate with the city of Winterthur. In 2009 the city had two properties on Steinberggasse scaffolded because of the danger to passers-by. His castles, including Salenstein Castle , fell into disrepair, which led to media reports. In 2010 he wanted to have the tenants measure the apartments themselves because he apparently did not have this information.

Stefanini owned an estimated 280 properties in Switzerland. In 2002, according to a report from 10 to 10, he only taxed assets of 1.6 million Swiss francs and income of 200,000 Swiss francs. He had transferred most of his assets to his foundation, established in 1980.

Foundation for Art, Culture and History

Stefanini invested a large part of his fortune in art treasures, which he managed in his foundation for art, culture and history . It is one of the most important private art collections in Switzerland and includes four castles, numerous works of art and other curiosities. Among other things, he owned works of art by important artists such as Ferdinand Hodler , Albert Anker , Giovanni Giacometti , Alberto Giacometti , Giovanni Segantini and Felix Vallotton . The four castles Grandson on Lake Neuchâtel, Luxburg and Salenstein in Thurgau and Brestenberg in Aargau belonged to him.

Well-known curiosities in the possession of Stefanini were the Rolls-Royce of Joe Carstairs , the deathbed and testament of Napoleon Bonaparte , an officer's cap, coat, dagger and pocket watch from General Guisan , a dress and a parasol from Empress "Sisi" , a table from John F. Kennedy , on which the Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1963 , as well as a safe from Albert Einstein . Only a small part of this collection is open to the public. The value of the entire collection is estimated at over 1.5 billion francs, the objects at around 34,000 pieces.

Since an attempted change to the statutes in February 2014, a dispute between family members and the board of trustees has been simmering. On December 17, 2014, the descendants Bettina and Vital Stefanini appointed a new board of trustees before the term of office of the board of trustees elected by founder Bruno Stefanini expired. They registered themselves and three other new members in the commercial register and deleted the old ones, including their father Bruno Stefanini. This prompted the supervisory authority to intervene by means of a super-provisional order. The Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority reversed the unauthorized step taken by the descendants and reinstated the board of trustees elected by the founder. The Zurich Commercial Register was forced to examine a criminal complaint against the descendants. In a ruling dated January 30, 2015, the Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority appointed the Bern lawyer Stephan Herren as trustee. This is to ensure the orderly continuation of the Foundation's activities. In March 2018, the Federal Court ruled in favor of Bruno Stefanini's children, the Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority ended the trustee's mandate and daughter Bettina Stefanini took over the presidency of the Board of Trustees, and the old guard had to resign.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The stubborn son of Winterthur. In: Tages-Anzeiger . February 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ The great collector of Winterthur is dead Der Landbote from December 14, 2018, accessed on December 14, 2018
  3. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger ( Memento from October 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger
  5. ↑ a b Fabian Baumgartner: “What happened to the real estate of the late Bruno Stefanini” , NZZ , December 15, 2018
  6. ^ Christian Kunz and Dominic Studer: A Rolls Royce Roadster - as extravagant as its owner . In: Gesellschaft Winterthurer Jahrbuch (Ed.): Winterthurer Jahrbuch 2020 . Mattenbach AG, Winterthur 2019, ISBN 978-3-9524858-2-8 , p. 22-23 .
  7. ↑ Simon Wälti: Guisan's coat goes to the real estate king from Winterthur. In: Tages-Anzeiger online. May 30, 2011, accessed June 1, 2011.
  8. ^ Fabian Baumgartner: Turn in the power struggle over Stefanini's foundation. In: nzz.ch. January 9, 2015, accessed October 14, 2018 .
  9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150112123917/http://www.landbote.ch/detail/article/strafbare-handlungen/gnews/99297065/
  10. ↑ https://www.news.admin.ch/message/index.html?lang=de&msg-id=56103
  11. ↑ Rita Flubacher: Ascetic and worth millions. In: Tages-Anzeiger from December 14, 2018.
  12. ↑ Corsin Zander: Biography about the Winterthur billionaire. The enigmatic Bruno Stefanini. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of March 2, 2016.
  13. ↑ Interview with the book author.
personal data
SURNAME Stefanini, Bruno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss real estate owner and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Winterthur
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 2018
Place of death Winterthur