Conradin Zschokke
Friedrich Victor Conradin Zschokke (born April 14, 1842 in Solothurn ; † December 17, 1918 in Aarau ) was a Swiss civil engineer and contractor in the hydraulic engineering sector , founder of the Zschokke Group (later Zschokke Holding, now part of Implenia ).
biography
On April 14, 1842 Conradin Zschokke was born in Solothurn (Switzerland) (according to other information in Aarau ) as the son of Alexander Zschokke. After graduating from high school , he studied civil engineering at the Swiss Polytechnic School in Zurich , and received his diploma in 1862.
Initially, Zschokke worked in 1862 for his uncle Olivier Zschokke in the Naeff & Zschokke company , and from 1864 in the Antoine Castor company in Paris. He was soon assigned the construction management for many of the company's bridge construction projects in France, Algeria and Austria-Hungary. Already on his first construction site he got to know a special technique , the so-called compressed air foundation. By using this technology in bridge and port construction, he later achieved world renown.
In 1867 Zschokke married Arlesienne Eugenie Faure. This marriage resulted in three sons, but two died in childhood. The marriage was divorced, he now married his previous partner Antoinette Disque. With her he had another son in 1870. In 1872 he and two of his French colleagues founded a first construction company called Castor, Hersent et Zschokke . According to other sources, he only founded the Zschokke und Montagnier company with his foreman in 1876 . After Montagnier's death, Zschokke invented the first dredger . During these years Zschokke built numerous bridges, in Germany especially on the Danube .
In 1879 (according to other information 1890) Conradin Zschokke moved back to Switzerland to Aarau and worked as a civil engineer and contractor, working in Switzerland where he installed the Suworow monument . Otherwise he was also active in Italy (regulation of the Tiber ) and Spain. In 1890 he was appointed to the chair of hydraulic engineering at the Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule Zürich , appointed professor in 1892, and later also a doctor honoris causa .
During these years he became a pioneer in Swiss hydropower plants . As a country poor in natural resources, Switzerland was dependent on this type of energy generation to develop its industry. In 1897, Europe's first river power plant was built on the Upper Rhine between Rheinfelden in Baden and Rheinfelden in Switzerland , and at the same time the first low-pressure hydropower plant in the world, based on plans by Conradin Zschokke. The Hagneck hydropower plant on Lake Biel also comes from Zschokke.
In 1894 Conradin Zschokke became a member of the Aargau Grand Council . After the parliamentary elections in 1899 , he was also a member of the National Council until 1917 . Because of this mandate, he had to give up his professorship in Zurich in 1899. In 1902 he was President of the National Council . From 1905 he was also President of the Reorganization Commission for the Federal Metrology. In 1909 he founded the Conrad Zschokke corporation . In 1910 he was appointed by the Swiss Federal Council as the first President of the Federal Commission for Weights and Measures (EKMG).
With French business partners, Zschokke founded another company in 1914, the Entreprises de Grands Travaux Hydrauliques (EGTH) in Paris. The technical management of the hydropower plant construction of this company remained with Zschokke AG. He died on December 17, 1918 at the age of 76 in Aarau.
Company of Conradin Zschokke
After Zschokke's death, the company ran into economic difficulties due to the collapse of the main shareholder (Banque d'Escompte de Geneve). In the post-war period, however, the company recovered and expanded worldwide. Gradually, numerous competing companies were taken over.
The globally active Zschokke Group (later Zschokke Holding ) with the business areas of general planning and construction, construction production and real estate services has developed into the largest Swiss construction company by far with a turnover of more than 1.5 billion Swiss francs.
On November 15, 2005, the group leader Zschokke Holding AG announced its merger with Batigroup Holding AG retrospectively to January 1, 2006 to form Implenia AG. The merger was based on a value ratio of 65 percent for Zschokke and 35 percent for Batigroup. The previous Zschokke head Christian Bubb took over the management of the Implenia Group. Was employed as Chairman Anton Affentranger , formerly Zschokke Chairman.
literature
- Conradin Zschokke: Compressed air foundations (advances in engineering: 1st group: general building knowledge of engineers; H. 1); Leipzig: Engelmann, 1896
- Daniel Vischer, Niklaus Schnitter: Three Swiss hydraulic engineers: Conradin Zschokke (1842-1918), Eugen Meyer-Peter (1883-1969), Gerold Schnitter (1900-1987) (Swiss pioneers in business and technology; 53); Miles: Association for Economic History Studies, 1991
- P.-G. Franke: Conradin Zschokke - entrepreneur personality and university professor , in: Wasser und Boden 44 (1992), No. 4, p. 220.
- Prof. Dr. Conradin Zschokke, 1842-1918: founder of the Conradin Zschokke company ; Collection from files of the Zschokke family and the work of Prof. Dr. hc Conradin Zschokke, approx. 1946 (only available in the ETH Zurich, reading room special collections, rarity)
Individual evidence
Web links
- Detailed biography of Conradin Zschokke ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Catherine Courtiau: Zschokke, Conradin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zschokke, Conradin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Zschokke, Friedrich Victor Conradin (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss civil engineer and contractor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 14, 1842 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Solothurn |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 17, 1918 |
| Place of death | Aarau |