Johann Jakob Sulzer

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Johann Jakob Sulzer

Johann Jakob Sulzer (born December 23, 1821 in Winterthur ; † June 27, 1897 there ) was a Swiss politician. He should not be confused with the entrepreneur of the same name, Johann Jakob Sulzer (1806–1883), co-founder of the industrial company Sulzer AG .

Youth and education

Sulzer came from an old Winterthur councilor. From 1837 to 1840 he attended upper secondary school in Zurich. From 1840 to 1843 he studied philology , history , philosophy and political science first in Zurich and then in Bonn and Berlin . In 1858 the University of Bern awarded him the honorary doctorate «Dr. phil. H. c. » During his studies in Zurich he joined the local section of the Swiss Zofinger Association , to which his later political opponent Alfred Escher was already a member. The break between the two former liaison colleagues did not occur until they were together in Zurich government council in the 1850s.

Political career

Sulzer took up his first political office in 1846 as Second Secretary of the Zurich Grand Council. In 1847 he was second and from 1848 to 1852 first state clerk of the canton of Zurich . In 1850 he was elected to the Grand Council or the later Cantonal Council of the Canton of Zurich, to which he belonged until 1884 and which he chaired in 1869/70 and 1872/73. From 1850 to 1857 he was also a member of the Education Council. In 1852 he was promoted to the executive branch of the canton of Zurich as a member of the government , where he was head of finance.

Sulzer was originally radically liberal , but then turned to the “ democratic movement ”. As an opponent of Alfred Escher, he resigned from the government council in 1857 and instead became a leading figure in the Democrats . Sulzer was also the initiator of the Swiss National Railway , which was planned to compete with Escher's Nordostbahn . From 1858 to 1873 he was mayor of Winterthur . In his hometown, he was also a member of the Herrenstuben Society in Winterthur , which he presided over from 1870 to 1885 as a chamberlain.

At the national level, Sulzer was involved in the years 1866–1869 and 1879–1890 as a member of the National Council and from 1869–1878 as a Council of States , where he also chaired the Council of States in 1876. He was also President of the Zurich Constitutional Council (1868–1869) and a member of the Court of Cassation.

With his political commitment, he made a significant contribution to the development of the term “ École de Winterthour ”, which is particularly well known in French-speaking Switzerland and which describes the democratic aspirations that began in Winterthur at the time.

Economic activity

Sulzer sat on the board of directors of the gas company Winterthur from 1859 and in 1862 co-founded the bank in Winterthur , a predecessor of today's UBS . In 1865 he founded the mortgage bank in Winterthur, of which he was first president until 1879. As the initiator of the national railway launched in 1872, Sulzer wanted to create a railway connection from Lake Geneva to Lake Constance supported by the cantons and municipalities . However, the ambitious project could only realize a connection between Singen and Zofingen and went bankrupt in 1878. Sulzer was also on the board of directors of the Tösstalbahn from 1871 to 1878 , which he was also involved in founding.

literature

  • Hans Sträuli: Mayor Dr. Joh. Jakob Sulzer, 1821 to 1897. A picture of life (= New Year's sheet of the Winterthur City Library. Volume 264, 1931). Geschwister Ziegler printing house, Winterthur 1930.

Web links

Commons : Johann Jakob Sulzer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Markus Bürgi: Johann Jakob Sulzer. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Johann Jakob Sulzer. in the digital Alfred Escher letter edition. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  3. ^ Alfred Ziegler: The Society of the Herrenstube zu Winterthur. Updated to the present day and provided with an appendix by Hans Klaui. Edited by the Herrenstubengesellschaft Winterthur, Winterthur 1956, p. 123.
  4. ↑ Markus Bürgi: Johann Jakob Sulzer. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  5. ↑ Markus Bürgi: Johann Jakob Sulzer. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
personal data
SURNAME Sulzer, Johann Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH Winterthur
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1897
Place of death Winterthur