Caesar Denner

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Julius Caesar Denner (born July 12, 1846 in Biel ; † February 18, 1914 in Zurich ) was a Swiss businessman and entrepreneur in the early years , owner of a wholesale and retail chain in Zurich and the surrounding area. The name of the third largest Swiss retail chain Denner goes back to him.

family

The Denner family comes from Cannstatt in Baden-Württemberg . Caesar Denner's father, Friedrich Emanuel Denner (1808–1868) was born in Cannstatt, later immigrated to Switzerland and became a Progymnasial teacher in Biel . He was naturalized in 1844 with his family in Biel . Julius Cäsar Denner (he later no longer used his first name) was born on July 12, 1846 in Biel. A sister of Caesar Denner, Fanny Heger-Denner, was the mother of the German composer and conductor Robert Heger . Caesar Denner is buried in the Enzenbühl cemetery (City of Zurich).

Consumer company Denner & Co.

Heinrich Reiff founded the company "Reiff-Schwarz & Co., Mercerie und Spezereihandel engros" in 1860. In 1863 Jakob Pfister was accepted into the company and the name was changed to "Consum-Gesellschaft Glarus-Rapperswil von Reiff-Schwarz & Co. Colonial goods with branch operations". Heinrich Reiff died in 1870. His widow Dorothea Reiff-Schwarz joined the company, which mainly ran branches of the colonial goods industry in the upper Lake Zurich area , in the canton of Glarus , and later also in the Zurich Oberland .

Caesar Denner married Fanny Reiff, the daughter of Heinrich Reiff and Dorothea Reiff-Schwarz, in Zurich on September 1, 1880. In 1881 he became a solidarity partner in the company Reiff-Schwarz & Co and took over the shares of the widow Reiff, who withdrew from the business. The two partners ran the business together for seven years, but then split it up between themselves in 1888, with the branches of Jakob Pfister being renamed “Pfister & Co, Consumgesellschaft” and the branches of Caesar Denner as “Denner & Co, Consumgesellschaft “As two independent companies.

The companies relocated their main activities to Zurich and the surrounding area, as the country branches were not very profitable due to the high transport costs. In addition, they had to defend themselves against the emerging cooperatives in the 1890s . The original system of colonial goods was gradually supplemented with a wine trade, a coffee roastery, fuel and wholesale trade . In many quarters of Zurich there were consumer shops from Pfister & Co (under the name “Consum Bär” or “Consum Bär-Pfister”) and from Denner and Co. (Consum Denner).

Caesar Denner died in Zurich on February 18, 1914. After his death, Denner & Co. was continued by his son Hans Denner. The economic crisis at the end of the 1920s, the poor course of business and the competitive situation (not only with the cooperatives, but now also with Migros ) forced Hans Denner to convert the business into a stock corporation in 1935 .

As a result of the Second World War and the immediate post-war situation, Consumgesellschaft Denner & Co. AG ran into liquidity problems. In 1946, Import und Grosshandels AG (IGA), in which Karl Schweri was involved, took over the four businesses “Consumgesellschaft Denner & Co. AG”, “Kaufhaus-Genossenschaft”, “Consum Bär-Pfister” and “Sommer AG”. Due to internal conflicts, Karl Schweri was kicked out that same year. The latter secretly bought IGA shares, reappeared as the majority shareholder in 1951 and in turn put the former partners outside the door.

Since the IGA's name and goodwill were also sold when the Consumgesellschaft Denner & Co. AG was taken over, the IGA continued to operate the branches of the various companies under the well-known name of "Denner", although no descendants of Caesar Denner had a stake in the company was. In 1968 the IGA was officially transformed into "Denner AG".

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personal data
SURNAME Denner, Caesar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Denner, Julius Caesar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss businessman and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Biel
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 1914
Place of death Zurich