Casimir of Arx

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Casimir von Arx (born October 30, 1852 in Olten ; † March 7, 1931 there , entitled to live in Olten) was a Swiss politician and the first chairman of the board of directors of the Swiss Federal Railways .

Casimir von Arx (1852–1931) photograph from 1917
Casimir von Arx, 1917

biography

He was the son of Casimir von Arx, who ran the "Krone" in Olten. Until the opening of the Hauenstein line, this restaurant was also a horse station for trips across the Hauenstein. This means that horses could be borrowed here for the pass trip, which then pulled the cart over the pass as a leader. With the opening of the Hauenstein line by the Swiss Central Railway, the landlord took over the management of the freight expedition in Olten. Later, when this was merged with the passenger station , he became the first station inspector of the Olten station . The father died early. Casimir now had to look after the family and broke off the banking apprenticeship he had started in Les Verrières . Before that, he had already graduated from the industrial school in Neuchâtel . Since Casimir spoke French very well, he took up trading relationships with business people in Francophone countries as a businessman. Among other things, he imported slate and glazed bricks from Belgium to Switzerland. He organized the transport of trade goods with various railway companies.

Von Arx was also interested in the social problems, which made him a founding member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which was founded in 1894 in the Olten railway station buffet . From 1881 to 1922 he sat in the Cantonal Council of Solothurn and from 1887 to 1922 in the Council of States (in the second half of 1902 as President), from 1890 to 1902 he was also mayor of Olten. Von Arx was considered a financial expert, he called for a central bank in 1902 and advocated the nationalization of the Swiss railways.

He was also a founding member and co-initiator of the savings fund Olten and the electricity company Olten-Aarburg (EWOA). From the latter is on the Atel Holding the Alpiq Holding emerged. From 1892 to 1894 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Eidgenössische Bank (private bank, taken over by the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1945 ). As a member of the Council of States, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the newly founded Swiss Federal Railways in 1900 by the Federal Council and immediately appointed President at the first meeting on October 24, 1900. He held this office until the end of 1923. In 1886, on his motion , the Solothurner Kantonalbank was founded, of which he was also chairman from 1887 to 1929.

In private life he married Bertha Brunner in 1882, the daughter of the Olten clerk Ferdinand Brunner, a non-religious from Eastern Switzerland who had taken care of him after an accident. Several children were born from the marriage.

Casimir von Arx died in 1931 at the age of 78.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Probably as a result of an accident, as the source speaks of "tragically".
  2. ↑ Casimir was a Christian Catholic
  3. ↑ Documents and remains of the personal estate are in the Olten City Archives
personal data
SURNAME Arx, Casimir von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politician (FDP)
DATE OF BIRTH October 30, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH Olten
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 1931
Place of death Olten