Hans Hässig

Hans Hässig (born January 28, 1860 in Aarau ; † November 23, 1936 there ) was a Swiss politician ( FDP ). From 1894 to 1924 he was a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau and from 1907 to 1932 City President of Aarau.

biography

The son of Johann Friedrich Hässig and Maria Hilfiker came from a wealthy, long-established Aarau butcher family. Two years later he was a half-orphan after his mother's death. Hässig graduated from the canton school in Aarau and then studied theology at the universities of Zurich , Basel and Tübingen . The member of the Zofingia had to drop out of studies after the death of his father and for health reasons.

Since he could no longer become a reformed pastor, Hässig looked for other ways of serving the community. From 1884 he was an actuary and vice-president of a commission to found an institution for the poorly gifted, which started operations five years later in Biberstein Castle . He was also the librarian of the city library run by the reading society. In 1888/89, Hässig took on numerous other tasks: member of the board of the cultural society and the poor education association of the Aarau district, member of the relief association for the poor mentally ill and the Aargau Bible Society as well as member of the educational institution in Kasteln Castle (from 1897 to 1936 as president). He was also President of the Reformed Church Administration Aarau from 1898 to 1930 and Chairman of the Reformed Church Council Aargau from 1902 to 1910 ; He remained a member of the Synod until 1933.

Häß's political career began in 1889 when he was elected to the Aarau municipal council , after which he was responsible for orphans and poor people. Associated with this was the assumption of further offices such as that of the district school inspector and the president of the Aarau school administration. In addition, he was a member of the supervisory commissions of the educational institutions in Olsberg and Aarburg as well as the treasurer of the Aarau teachers' seminar. From 1901 Hässig was a member of the board of directors of the Aargauer Tagblatt , and from 1903 to 1907 its president. In 1894, Hässig was elected to the Grand Council as a candidate for the Liberals , to which he belonged until 1925 and which he presided over in 1912/13. Largely unopposed, he was elected mayor of Aarau in 1907 . In addition to representative tasks, he was particularly responsible for the school department. Innovations during his tenure were the free teaching materials, the electrical lighting of the classrooms and the construction of the Zelglischulhaus for the district school . His office resulted in numerous other obligations, e.g. B. as a member of the board of directors of the Wynental and Suhrentalbahn and the Aarau electricity works.

Hässig remained single and had no offspring. He used his considerable fortune to support numerous charitable foundations financially. In 1932 he resigned as mayor. He appointed the city of Aarau as the main heir; all legacies were of a charitable nature. A street in Aarau is named after him. His written estate is in the possession of the Aargau State Archives .

literature

• Biographical Lexicon of the Canton of Aargau 1803–1957 . In: Historical Society of the Canton of Aargau (Ed.): Argovia . tape 68/69 . Sauerländer, Aarau 1958, p. 317-319 .
• Paul Erismann: The Aarauer Stadtammänner and Stadtschreiber from 1803 to 1961 . Aargauer Tagblatt, Aarau 1961, p. 19–20 (separate print from the Aargauer Tagblatt).

Web links

• Dominik Sauerländer: Hans Hässig. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .