Franz Josef Bucher

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Franz Josef Bucher-Durrer (born January 17, 1834 in Kerns , Canton Obwalden , † October 6, 1906 in Cairo ) was a Swiss hotelier, railway pioneer and entrepreneur.

Working as a hotelier

Together with his business partner Josef Durrer-Gasser, Bucher built the world-famous hotel town on the Bürgenstock and wanted to offer his guests less difficult access to his hotel. He founded the cable car to the Bürgenstock and became President of the Board of Directors. On July 8, 1888, the Bürgenstock Railway (BstB) projected by Carl Roman Abt was opened. After a few initial difficulties, the train was like a magnet and attracted hotel guests. The construction supervision was carried out by Franz Josef Bucher-Durrer himself, together with Josef Durrer-Gasser, with whom he founded the Bucher & Durrer sawmill in 1864 and the parquet factory in Ried in Kägiswil in 1868 . Between 1869 and 1870 the two had built their first hotel, the Sonnenberg in Engelberg .

Bucher's company was called "Swiss Hotel Company". In its time it was the largest hotel company in the world. The last hotel to be founded in 1906 was the "Semiramis" in Cairo . Franz Josef Bucher-Durrer died shortly before it opened.

After the death of Bucher's sons Fritz and Arnold, the hotel empire fell apart. The last building of the Swiss Hotel Company was the Palace Luzern , which was taken over in 1997 by the Victoria-Jungfrau Group in Interlaken . The society that had established the excellent reputation of the Swiss hotel industry was thus extinguished.

Working as a railway pioneer

Loan from the Stansstad-Stans electric tram company dated August 15, 1893, signed by Franz Josef Bucher

On the initiative of Bucher, the Stansstad-Stans electric tram is also returning from the Stansstad steamboat station to the Stanserhorn valley station in Stans , and the Stanserhorn railway was also built by his company. This marvel, opened on August 23, 1893, with its only three sections worldwide, aroused the interest of all technical circles. The caliper brake , which bolts the car to the rails if the cable breaks, is still standard today.

Numerous other railways were carried out by the Bucher & Durrer company, such as the San Salvatore Railway near Lugano in 1890, the Vevey-Chardonne-Mont Pélerin cable car in 1900, the Lugano city-Lugano station funicular in 1886 and the one on June 8, 1899 opened Reichenbachfall-Bahn near Meiringen .

The Hammetschwand lift to the Bürgenstock should not be unmentioned , built in 1905 , which is one of the most remarkable life works of Franz Josef Bucher. It leads to the 1132 m high Hammetschwand, the highest point of the Bürgenstock. Until modern times it was the longest and fastest lift in the world.

But Bucher has also made a name for himself abroad as a railway pioneer, for example in Genoa in 1896 he built the cable car to the Mura delle Ghiappe and the electric tram . When it was completed, he sold it to the city of Genoa for a million, put the money in a burlap sack, drove back to Kerns and bought all the villagers a drink. The next day he traveled to Rome and bought the Hotel Quirinal with the proceeds.

Life

Despite his success, Bucher remained an extremely humble man throughout his life. He never sat down at the festive table d'hote that he had set up for his customers, but always dined with the staff. Various legends are circulating about this . Once he noticed that in the servants' dining room there was only one table covered with a tablecloth. When he inquired about the reason, he was given to understand that the well-kept table was intended for the higher staff. In response, Bucher grabbed one end of the tablecloth and pulled it and the place setting to the floor. Although active in many countries and on two continents, Bucher could not speak any foreign languages. He always gave all instructions in his robust Obwalden dialect . The only Italian word that he used frequently was "avanti".

Public offices and honors

Bucher was a councilor in Kerns, from 1884 to 1896 Obwalden cantonal councilor and initiator, co-founder and board member of the Obwaldner Kantonalbank founded in 1886 .

A monument on the Bürgenstock commemorates Franz Josef Bucher-Durrer, one of the most important entrepreneurs in Switzerland.

Literature and Adaptations

  • Romano Cuonz , Christof Hirtler : Hotel king - Franz Josef Bucher, mountain railway pioneer - Josef Durrer. Brunner, Kriens 2015, ISBN 978-3-03727-063-9 .
  • Romano Cuonz, Hanspeter Niederberger : hotel king, manufacturer: Franz Josef Bucher - mountain railway builder, inventor: Josef Durrer - painter, dreamer: Beda Durrer. Brunner, Kriens 1998, ISBN 3-905198-45-2 .
    Special print under the title: From farmer's son to hotel king - Franz Josef Bucher. Literary research, Edition Magma / Brunner Verlag, Lucerne 1998, 2nd edition 2015.
  • Romano Cuonz: Z'Leid and Z'Trotz . Radio play about Franz Josef Bucher and Josef Durrer, Swiss Radio DRS , 2006.

Web links