Emanuel Meyer

Emanuel Meyer also Meyer-Wetter (born September 26, 1813 in Herisau ; † October 2, 1895 there , reformed , resident in Herisau) was a Swiss entrepreneur and politician .

Life and Entrepreneurship

Emanuel Meyer was born on September 26, 1813 in Herisau as the son of the businessman and finisher Laurenz Meyer and Maria Magdalena Knechtli, born Schiess. Meyer completed an apprenticeship in his father's business and as a salesman in Trieste between 1831 and 1832 , where he soon became the procurator .

As the successor to his half-brother Johann Martin, he became a partner in the company of his second half-brother Laurenz in 1837 , namely the finishing and printing in India in the so-called "Middle Factory" in Herisau, which he finally took over in 1868. As a result, he could not make up his mind either to give up the increasingly unprofitable color printing plant or to convert the business into a pure finishing and bleaching plant . Starting in 1886, Emanuel Meyer gradually withdrew from the company in favor of his son of the same name, who initiated the necessary measures.

He also served in the Swiss Army between 1861 and 1867 in the position of lieutenant colonel in the general staff . In 1837 he married Elise, the daughter of the provincial governor and textile merchant Johannes Wetter. Emanuel Meyer died on October 2, 1895, a few days after turning 82 in Herisau.

Political career

Emanuel Meyer held his first political office from 1848 to 1853 in the Herisau municipal council . He then belonged to the Small Council from 1853 to 1863 , which he also chaired from 1857 . He then served as state cap master until 1864 and as state governor from 1864 to 1865 . Meyer was last represented in the Ausserrhoder Grand Council between 1865 and 1877 . Meyer was very reluctant to accept his two government offices, so that his request not to re-elect him in 1865 was accepted.

Emanuel Meyer's main interest was the promotion of forestry , livestock and alpine farming , for which he was committed in numerous lectures and publications . To this end, he initiated the establishment of a cantonal forestry commission and a seed school, and between 1840 and 1860 he bought pasture in order to reforest using the most modern methods. Furthermore, between 1864 and 1866 he encouraged cantonal cattle viewing and owned 40 cows himself.

He also promoted the railway system and was the first president of the Appenzell Railway from 1885 to 1886 . He also acted as the initiator of the Herisau Cadet Corps, which was founded in 1849, was the first to preside the Appenzell Officers' Society between 1856 and 1859 and was a member of the jury at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1878 .

With his diverse initiatives in the service of the public, Emanuel Meyer was a pioneer and figure of integration in the development of Herisau into a modern industrial location in the second half of the 19th century .

literature

• Jakob Steiger: "From the memories of Lieutenant Colonel Emanuel Meyer-Wetter in Herisau", In: Appenzellische Jahrbücher 61, 1934, pp. 1–30

• Matthias Weishaupt: "Viehveredelung und Rassezucht", In: Appenzeller Viehschauen, edited by Mäddel Fuchs , 1998, pp. 11–48

• Thomas Fuchs: “A journey from Herisau to Egypt 1871”, In: Appenzellische Jahrbücher 130, 2003, 69–78

Web links

• Thomas Fuchs: Meyer, Emanuel. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .