Heinrich Moser

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Monument to Heinrich Moser in the "Mosergarten" named after him in Schaffhausen after a bust by Ferdinand Schlöth .
Pocket watch "H. Moser & Cie" owned by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (silver case, early 20th century, State Historical Museum, Moscow) 01 by shakko

Heinrich Moser (born December 12, 1805 in Schaffhausen , † October 23, 1874 in Badenweiler ) was a Swiss watchmaker , entrepreneur and art collector . His son was the explorer, businessman, collector and donor Henri Moser (1844-1923).

Life

From journeyman to entrepreneur

Heinrich Moser was born on December 12, 1805 in Schaffhausen. The watchmaker's apprenticeship with his father, the town watchmaker and cantonal councilor Erhard Moser (1760–1828), was followed from 1824 by the traditional years of traveling and with them another apprenticeship in Le Locle . In 1827 he went to Russia . There, in addition to his craftsmanship, he also demonstrated his commercial skills, which Moser implemented as a manufacturer and wholesaler. Moser expanded his business to Moscow , where he opened another sales branch, and he was also a regular guest at the Nizhny Novgorod trade fair . After he had not received the office of town clockmaker in Schaffhausen in the spring of 1829, Moser wrote an express letter to inform the mayor of his displeasure. The content of the letter to the mayor was as follows:

“Thunder and Hell! Is that why I traveled to Russia to make my fortune? Didn't I come here to find ways and means to be useful to my hometown? I swear I'll either come back with evidence or never ”

But the reason given by the mayor personally was clear enough: Moser was still too young to suckle the state cow's udder. He had to postpone his long-planned return to Switzerland again and again. Among other things, the cholera had killed some employees and his manager.

In order to secure his clock empire, Heinrich Moser traveled incessantly between St. Petersburg, Moscow and Le Locle . In 1848 he returned to his hometown as a rich man. In 1849 he was able to keep Schaffhausen out of an impending famine with targeted grain purchases. Now he began building the palace-like villa “Charlottenfels” , named after his wife, whom he married in 1831. But Charlotte was not to move into the new home; she died in 1850 as a result of a carriage accident. Heinrich Moser co-founded the Swiss Industrial Society in Neuhausen (SIG), the Rhine Falls Railway and the Steamship Company (each together with Friedrich Peyer im Hof and Johann Conrad Neher ).

Industrialization through Rhein-Kraft

The people of Schaffhausen still associate Moser's name with the “ Moserdamm ”. For a long time, Moser had had a plan to make better use of the water power of the Rhine. However, he was faced with hesitant politicians. Only when he threatened to "blow up" the city council "... I have to contrast this old wig authority with the value of myself" did the community support his plan to build a weir across the Rhine. After countless partial dam breaks and a fight against the forces of nature, the work was completed in April 1866, where the river power station is today: at the time, it was the largest dam in Switzerland. The energy transported by wire rope transmission was the key to the industrialization of the Schaffhausen region.

Moser has now bought a large area on the Rhine on which he built a factory building. In this way, he enabled many small and medium-sized companies to open operations on favorable terms, for example the International Watch Company (IWC) , whose founders he supported in ideal and financial terms. In 1870 Heinrich Moser entered into a second marriage with Baroness Fanny Louise von Sulzer-Wart (1848–1925), who was forty-three years his junior, and two daughters outgrew her; one of them was Fanny Moser . Four days after the birth of the younger Mentona , Heinrich Moser died on October 23, 1874 at the age of 69.

Heinrich Moser ran his industrial company as "patron". He did not consider bringing further "associés" into his business, because he took the position that he was the only one who could best set the guard rails. He paid the best wages “… the manufacturers here say that the good workers are bewitched by me. Nobody can be stolen from me; I have the best in the whole area ”, but demanded above-average interest in the business and rewarded this with gratuities and bonuses at all levels.

"These people are the creators of my wealth, you have to keep them warm"

- wrote Moser

In 1877 Heinrich Moser's widow sold the entire Russian trading business and the watch factory in Le Locle to the respective managing directors. As a result, the part based in Russia went under with the October Revolution in 1917, while the part that was established in Le Locle was dissolved in 1979 in the Dixi Group (today Dixi Holding Le Locle SA ).

Based on the H. Moser & Cie brand, Moser Schaffhausen AG was founded in 2002 . This re-registered the original trademark internationally.

swell

  • Heinrich Moser: Letters in Selection , edited by the Swiss Industrial Society , edited by Karl Schib . P. Meili, Schaffhausen 1972.
  • Emma Neher-Moser: Grandpa Moser's life, on his hundredth birthday for children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Bachmann, Schaffhausen, no year 1908.

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Moser  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stefan Hess / Tomas Lochman (eds.), Classical beauty and patriotic heroism. The Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891) , Basel 2004, p. 164f.
  2. ^ Fanny Louise von Sulzer-Wart in Winterthur Glossary
  3. ↑ Publisher's text ( Memento of the original of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pioniere.ch
  4. ↑ [1]
personal data
SURNAME Moser, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1805
PLACE OF BIRTH Schaffhausen
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1874
Place of death Badenweiler