Johann Georg Fuog

Johann Georg Fuog (born October 10, 1794 in Stein am Rhein , † April 17, 1865 in Wil SG ) was a Swiss politician . The versatile tradesman organized large popular assemblies in 1833 and 1851, which led to comprehensive revisions of the Schaffhausen canton constitution. From 1850 to 1860 he was a member of the National Council. He had less success in promoting railroad projects.

biography

Fuog, whose family has been handed down in Stein am Rhein since the late 15th century, was the son of a stonemason. Since 1817 he owned the "Haus zum Nägelibaum" on Rathausplatz and ran a butcher's shop there . In the same house he ran a restaurant , a soap factory and a glass shop . In addition, he had leased some farms in the area and bought a sawmill . As a result of the restoration , Stein am Rhein returned to the old town charter in 1818 and thus renounced all democratic achievements that had been introduced after the Helvetic in favor of the old aristocratic order .

Fuog did not accept this and began petitions in 1822 to demand public control and downsizing of the city administration. In 1829 he denounced the city authorities in the “Schweizerbote” (published in Aarau by Heinrich Zschokke ) and accused them of illegal activities. He was sued by the city council and sentenced to a substantial fine by the government of the canton of Schaffhausen . Fuog was now officially a "troublemaker", which is why he had to remain inactive in May 1831, when armed farmers from Klettgau moved to Schaffhausen and forced the drafting of a liberal constitution.

In 1833 Fuog founded the free-spirited citizens' association in Stein am Rhein . On July 7, 1834, he organized a people's meeting near Guntmadingen . In front of 1000 people gathered, he called, among other things, for a Swiss federal state, the simplification of administration and the principle of publicity in council negotiations. His demands were partially implemented with the constitutional revision of 1834. In 1839 Fuog was elected to the Grand Council , of which he was a member until 1861. He advocated the violent dissolution of the Sonderbund , but no Schaffhausen troops were deployed in the Sonderbund War of 1847. In October 1848 he ran for the first National Council elections , initially unsuccessfully. After Johann Georg Böschenstein's early resignation , he entered the National Council via a by-election in March 1850 .

Fuog did not play a significant part in the legislative work in the National Council, but saw himself as a guardian of liberal principles. In general, he pushed for a strengthening of central power at the expense of the cantons. He strove to turn his hometown Stein am Rhein into a railway junction and vigorously campaigned in the National Council for a railway line between Basel and Constance (only realized in the 1870s). He also supported the project of a circular railway around Lake Constance , which was supposed to connect to a Lukmanier Alpine transversal. He met twice with the Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden to promote the project. However, it ultimately failed due to the resistance of Government Councilor Böschenstein, who promoted shipping.

"Father Fuog," as he was generally known, called for another popular meeting in Schaffhausen. On May 15, 1851, in front of 3,000 people (over half of the canton's eligible voters), he demanded a major streamlining of the administrative structure and a reform of the judiciary. The petition addressed to the Grand Council led to another constitutional revision in 1852. Over the years, Fuog was increasingly regarded as an eccentric who ruthlessly and uncontrollably attacked his political opponents. In 1860 he was no longer re-elected to the National Council. In order to enable Stein am Rhein to be connected to the railway network, in 1862 he opened a horse-drawn bus to the Gottmadingen railway station of the Baden Hochrheinbahn without a license . The horse-drawn bus, in which he had invested his last financial resources, proved a failure. A third popular assembly in Thayngen in March 1865, at which he called for the constitution of the Landsgemeinde , was hardly taken into account. A little later he died completely penniless.

literature

• Fritz Rippmann: Johann Georg Fuog. In: Schaffhauser Contributions to History. Biographies Volume I . 33rd year 1956, pp. 238–244 ( PDF, 223 kB )

Web links

• Eduard Joos: Fuog, Johann Georg. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .