Gian Saratz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gian Saratz

Gian Saratz (born June 28, 1821 in Pontresina ; † August 25, 1900 there ; authorized to live there ) was a Swiss hotelier , natural scientist and politician .

Grave of Gian Saratz in the Sta. Maria in Pontresina
The house of Gian Saratz, the main building of the Hotel Saratz (before 1865)

Live and act

Gian Saratz came from the confectioner family Saratz in Pontresina. He was born on June 28, 1821, the son of Gian Pitschen Saratz (1763-1823), owner of the Saratz patisserie in Alençon in Normandy , and Anna Saratz in Pontresina. His father died in 1823. However, the family's fortunes allowed the mother to send the only child to the Institut à Porta in Ftan in the Lower Engadine and from 1834 to 1837 to the Bündner Kantonsschule in Chur . This was followed by two years at the Hüni Institute in Horgen .

After finishing school, he took over the family business in France. In 1845 he married Anna Jenny (1824–1905), daughter of the confectioner Peider Jenny (1793–1876). His establishments - Cukiernia Castelmur in Warsaw and Conditorei Jenny in Vilnius - were located in Eastern Europe. They had two sons together, Gian (1846–1912) and Peider (1850–1895). Homesickness caused Gian Saratz to stay longer in the Engadin several times. In 1851 he finally sold the business and finally returned to Pontresina.

He was no longer gainfully employed after his return. Instead, he devoted himself to his diverse interests and took on various functions in the municipality of Pontresina and in the canton of Graubünden . He left the operation of the Hotel Saratz, which he founded, to his wife and sons. He died healthy and healthy into old age on August 25, 1900. He is buried at the side of his wife in the cemetery of the Sta. Maria in Pontresina.

Gian Saratz on the hunt, drawn by Wilhelm Georgy in 1856
Bernina group with chamois from Piz Languard , oil painting by Wilhelm Georgy 1863

Naturalist and hunter

In the obituary, his son Gian describes the love for the local mountains and the friends in nature as the basic trait of Gian Saratz's character, who has accompanied him all his life. In his youth he often went hunting with Gian Marchet Colani . He is said to have accompanied the famous hunter on his last hunt in August 1837.

The pharmacist Melchior Bovelin (1777–1842) in Bever introduced Gian Saratz to taxidermy . He deepened his knowledge in Paris and in the winter of 1863 with Hermann Ploucquet , taxidermist at the royal natural history cabinet in Stuttgart . As a teenager he began to build up his own collection. In 1858, Ernst Lechner noted in his travel guide Piz Languard and the Bernina Group near Pontresina : Mr. Joh.Saraz has put together a nice collection of stuffed people from these mountains in his house opposite the church and willingly opens it to those who are interested. Part of this collection, around 150 stuffed birds, is now in the Museum Alpin in Pontresina. His collections also included a herbarium and a collection of butterflies, some of which he bred himself.

His observations on the life of animals in the Alps found their way into Friedrich von Tschudi's Das Tierleben der Alpenwelt . Gian Saratz was also in contact with the ornithologist Georg Albert Girtanner and the zoologist Victor Fatio . As an author himself he rarely appeared, among other things with a directory of the birds living in the Upper Engadine in the Bulletin de la société ornithologique suisse and a report on the attempt to breed reindeer in the Upper Engadine . The attempt on behalf of the Upper Engadine non-profit company with a female from the Cologne Zoo and a male from the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes in Paris in 1866/1867 initially seemed successful and the animals were pleased with the living conditions in Val Roseg . However, it turned out that the female was too old for offspring. In addition, the young buck became increasingly dangerous. Finally the animals were sold to the zoo in Turin .

His friendship with the Leipzig painter and draftsman Wilhelm Georgy is also related to nature research . Together with the painter Emil Rittmeyer, he was commissioned to illustrate Friedrich von Tschudi's Animal Life in the Alpine World and stayed in the Upper Engadin from 1854 to 1858. Gian Saratz took the painter into his house for two years. As a thank you, he received sketchbooks and the painting Bernina Group with Chamois from Piz Languard , which is still hanging in the stairwell of the Hotel Saratz.

Gian Saratz was also active in the emerging alpinism in the Engadine. After several attempts had failed since the first ascent of Piz Bernina in 1850, he managed the second ascent on October 3, 1858 with Peter Jenny and the chamois hunter Jann Rüedi. On July 12, 1859, he and Jann Rüedi were the first to climb Piz Julier .

Public offices

Gian Saratz was also involved in the political life of his community. During two legislative periods he sat as a representative of the Upper Engadin district in the Grand Council of the Canton of Graubünden . He was then from 1861 to 1863 mayor of the Upper Engadin district. In addition, he worked for over twenty years as a district judge and as a member of the guardianship authority .

In 1872 Gian Saratz founded the Pontresina Beautification Association. During his long term presidency, the association laid out a network of hiking and riding trails of over 80 kilometers in length until the 1890s. The paths had illustrious names such as Schluchtenpromenade , Thaispromenade , Flazpomenade and cost a total of 35,161.35 francs.

Fonts

  • J. Saraz: The attempt to breed reindeer in the Upper Engadin. In: Annual Report of the Natural Research Society of Graubünden , Volume XIII. (1867/1868) pp. 206-218.
  • Jean Saratz: Les oiseaux de la Haute-Engadin. In: Bulletin de la société ornithologique suisse , tome II, I re partie, 1868, pp. 125–146.

literature

  • Gian Saratz. In: Annual report of the Natural Research Society of Graubünden , Volume XLIV (1900/01) pp. XIV – XVIII.
  • Bündnerisches monthly newspaper, year 51 (1900), pp. 221/222.
  • Victor Stupan: Pontresina. , Paul Haupt, Bern 1979, ISBN 3-258-02825-7 . P. 42.
  • Christian Walther: A forgotten, early nature lover. In: Terra Grischuna , No. 6, volume 46, December 1987. P. 58/59.
  • News of death in the Fögl d'Engiadina, September 1, 1900 [1]

Web links

Commons : Gian Saratz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dolf Kaiser: Almost a people of confectioners? Graubünden confectioners, cafetiers and hoteliers in European countries until the First World War. A contribution to economic history. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-85823-217-3 , p. 96.
  2. ↑ Dolf Kaiser: Almost a people of confectioners? Graubünden confectioners, cafetiers and hoteliers in European countries until the First World War. A contribution to economic history. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-85823-217-3 , p. 167.
  3. ↑ Dolf Kaiser: Almost a people of confectioners? Graubünden confectioners, cafetiers and hoteliers in European countries until the First World War. A contribution to economic history. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-85823-217-3 , p. 158.
  4. ↑ Dolf Kaiser: Almost a people of confectioners? Graubünden confectioners, cafetiers and hoteliers in European countries until the First World War. A contribution to economic history. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1985, ISBN 3-85823-217-3 , p. 160.
  5. ↑ Gian Saratz. In: Annual report of the Natural Research Society of Graubünden , Volume XLIV (1900/01) p. XIV.
  6. ↑ Gian Saratz. In: Annual report of the Natural Research Society of Graubünden , Volume XLIV (1900/01) p. XV.
  7. ^ Ernst Lechner: Piz Languard and the Bernina Group near Pontresina. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1858, p. 18
  8. ^ Jean Saratz: Les oiseaux de la Haute-Engadin. In: Bulletin de la société ornithologique suisse , tome II, I re partie, 1868, pp. 125–146.
  9. ↑ J. Saraz: The attempt to breed reindeer in the Upper Engadin. In: Annual Report of the Natural Research Society of Graubünden , Volume XIII. (1867/1868) pp. 206-218.
  10. ↑ Gottfried Ludwig Theobald: Naturbilder from the Rhaetian Alps: a guide through Graubünden. 2nd increased and improved edition, Hitz, Chur 1862, p. 175.
  11. ↑ M [ichael] Caviezel: The Engadine in words and pictures. Tanner, Samedan 1896, p. 234.
  12. ↑ M [ichael] Caviezel: The Engadine in words and pictures. Tanner, Samedan 1896, p. 316.
personal data
SURNAME Saratz, Gian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Saraz, Johann; Saratz, Johann; Saraz, Gian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss hotelier, natural scientist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH Pontresina
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 1900
Place of death Pontresina