Eugen Dietschi-Kunz

Eugen Dietschi-Kunz (born April 2, 1861 in Solothurn ; † October 30, 1951 ) was a Swiss printer and castle explorer.

Life

Eugen Arthur Dietschi was born on April 2, 1861 as the son of Peter Dietschi and Adele Luise, nee. Schmid, born in Solothurn. His father was a professor of history, Latin and Greek at the Solothurn Cantonal School. As early as 1870, the family moved to Olten , where father Peter Dietschi had founded a printing company and a newspaper, the Volksblatt vom Jura (later Oltner Tagblatt ), which he now took over management.

After primary school , Eugen Dietschi attended the district school for four years , attended the École industrial in Vevey and completed an apprenticeship as a book printer in his father's business. The apprenticeship was followed by two years of traveling: Stations included Berlin and Leipzig . The years of travel consolidated his professional skills; but it also developed further by visiting cities, castles and palaces. With the exception of a work stay in Paris , Dietschi stayed in Olten from now on. From 1885 to 1907 he ran the print shop together with his father, then alone until he retired in 1934. Dietschi married Hedwig Kunz in 1890. They had five children, including the later Basel Councilor Eugen Dietschi (1896–1986).

Dietschi-Kunz was interested in castles and palaces from an early age . Wartenfels Castle in his home town of Lostorf , where his grandparents lived, may have sparked interest. At an early age he began to build up a castle history library in the broadest sense and to create documentation . But he also actively campaigned for the preservation of the castles in his own newspaper reports. a. in the "Historischen Mitteilungen" of the Oltner Tagblatt. Even in old age he devoted himself to local history work. At the age of 90, he wrote a pamphlet about the Lords of Rotberg .

Dietschi-Kunz was delighted with the founding of the Swiss Castle Association in 1927 , which was striving for the same goals as he himself, and in 1931 he established friendly relations with the newly founded castle friends in Basel . Concern for the Frohburg , which was equally important for Basel and Olten, tied him to the Basel association. In the interwar period, the Olten “castle father” suggested the first excavation on the Frohburg and after the war vehemently advocated a resumption.

Eugen Dietschi-Kunz strongly advocated the establishment of the Swiss Castle Archives ; his library and documentation should form the basis. He would have liked to put his collections in a castle, but this romantic idea could not be realized. He was able to see the founding of the Swiss Castle Archives shortly before his death.

His son Eugen Dietschi became a journalist and politician and held office a. a. as president of the FDP.

Publications

• For castle maintenance in Olten: both Wartburgen, Froburg, Burg zu Olten, Hagberg, Kienberg. Olten, 1947.
• The barons of Rotberg: a contribution to the history of the Solothurn region. Basel: Castle Archives in Basel, 1951.

Web links

• Verena Bider: Eugen Dietschi-Kunz , website of the Castle Friends of both Basel