Fritz Ringwald

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Fritz Ringwald

Fritz Ringwald (born February 21, 1874 in Burgdorf in the canton of Bern ; † September 2, 1957 , legal domicile in Basel ) was a Swiss electrical engineer and politician . The pioneer of the Swiss electricity industry was director and delegate of the board of directors of the Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke and promoter of the not built Urseren power station .

biography

Fritz grew up in Burgdorf and Basel . After years of wandering in western Switzerland and France , he studied electrical engineering at the Burgdorf technical center . Jobs followed in Switzerland and Savoy before he moved to Lucerne .

Career as an entrepreneur

In 1909, at the age of 35, Fritz Ringwald became director of the electricity company Rathausen AG, which he was later to expand into Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (CKW). Before that, he was head of operations at the United Kander and Hagneck works in Bern, a forerunner of the Bernische Kraftwerke (BKW). The new company had to be financially restructured. In the same year, the company took a stake in the Altdorf electricity plant (EWA) and financed the construction of the Arniberg power plant near Amsteg . In 1913 the Schwyz electricity works (EWS) was bought and in the same year the name of the company was changed from Elektrizitätswerk Rathausen AG to Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (CKW).

Ringwald was appointed delegate of the board of directors of CKW in 1941 and its vice-president in 1953. He was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the EWA and the EWS. From 1919 to 1930 he chaired the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies (VSE) and was Vice-President of the Swiss Water Management Association (SWV). In the last years of his life, Ringwald was still employed as managing director of Aare-Tessin Aktiengesellschaft für Elektrizität (ATEL).

Ringwald promoted the use of electricity in the kitchen and in agriculture, where the supply network should also reach remote mountain areas. For the farmers, he mainly thought of hay ventilation and artificial lighting in chicken coops . To cover the increasing energy demand, Ringwald had the Lungernsee power plant built, which was built in stages from 1921 to 1933. Further power plants followed in partnership with other electricity suppliers. This included the plants in Wassen , Calancasca , Mauvoisin , Göschenen , Isenthal and Alpnach . He was unable to implement the Urseren power plant project pursued by Ringwald despite two attempts because of violent protests from the population. As a replacement for the system, the Göschenen power plant was expanded to include the Göscheneralpsee .

In his function as electrical engineer and power plant operator, Ringwald was a member of several commissions at the federal level. In 1937 these were the Federal Commission for Electrical Systems , the Federal Water Management Commission and the Federal Commission for the Export of Electrical Energy .

politics and society

Fritz Ringwald was a member of the Liberal Party of Switzerland . From 1919 to 1943 he sat in the Grand Council of Lucerne for economic reasons and presided over it in 1933. He campaigned for the construction of the Urseren power plant in the council, but also spread the misinformation that the farmers would be ready for resettlement. Ringwald was in 1942 a member of the suburb called Swiss Trade and Industry Association (SHIV), the 2003 economiesuisse was replaced. Like many other mandates, he held this mandate until his death.

In 1925 the Rotary Club Luzern was established , of which Fritz Ringwald was a founding member. He was also vice-chairman of the committee of the International Music Festival in Lucerne , where he was particularly committed to the music of Richard Wagner . He was also on the board of directors of the Lucerne Natural Research Society and participated in the hunt .

literature

  • Ringwald, Fritz. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . Volume 75, No. 43, October 26, 1957, pp. 691-692 , accessed December 10, 2018 .
  • Fritz Ringwald . A pioneer in the Swiss electricity industry. In: Bulletin of the Swiss Electrotechnical Association . tape 48 , no. 20 , 1957, pp. 879-880 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The General Assembly of Switzerland. Electrotechnical Association and the Swiss Association. Power plants . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . tape 52 , no. 11 , p. 142 .
  2. ↑ a b c Swiss construction newspaper.
  3. ^ History. Elektrizitätswerk Altdorf AG, accessed on December 8, 2018 .
  4. ^ History. Elektrizitätswerk Schwyz AG, accessed on December 8, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b c Ringwald, Fritz (1874–1957). In: Base de données sur les Élites suisses au XXe siècle. Retrieved December 9, 2018 (French).
  6. ^ List of members of the Grand Council. Lucerne State Archives;
  7. ↑ Hans Danioth: The large power plant project Ursern in the mirror of the times. February 19, 1946 - riot or popular uprising? In: Historisches Neujahrsblatt. Historischer Verein Uri, 2009, pp. 98–99 , accessed on December 8, 2018 (new series, 64th volume, 1st row, 100th issue).
  8. ^ Daniel Nerlich, Philipp Hofstetter: Swiss Trade and Industry Association (SHIV). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  9. ^ Hermann Suter: Hundred Years of Rotary International 1905–2005: Brief presentation at RC Lucerne on its 80th birthday. (PDF; 533 kB) Rotary Club Lucerne, March 5, 2005, accessed on December 10, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Swiss Natural Research Society: Negotiations of the Swiss Natural Research Society. Sauerländer Aarau, 1918, accessed December 10, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Ringwald, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss electrical engineer and politician (LPS)
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Burgdorf BE
DATE OF DEATH 2nd September 1957