Johann Labonté

Johann Peter Labonté (born November 24, 1866 in Weisenau near Mainz , † June 21, 1945 in Heerbrugg ) was an architect who worked in Switzerland and is considered the most important representative of Art Nouveau in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley .

The Hotel Heerbruggerhof, built by Johann Labonté, was also in his possession and his place of work.

Built by Johann Labonté, this factory building in Au is the first high-rise in the Rhine Valley.

A building in Au of the manufacturer's villa type, designed by Johann Labonté

Life

Johann Peter Labonté was born as the son of Peter and Maria Labonté-Hahnefeld on November 24, 1866 in Weisenau near Mainz. The family later moved to Strasbourg and then to Stuttgart. From 1886 to 1888 he studied architecture at the Stuttgart building trade school . After graduating, Labonté emigrated to Rorschach am Bodensee ( Switzerland ), where he found a job as a construction technician at Carl Herkommer and probably designed most of the buildings by Herkommer und Partner. In 1892 he married Sophie Schwarz from Prinzbach in Baden. Their only child, Sophie, was born in 1899. In 1902 the family moved to Berneck , where Labonté worked as a construction specialist and as a freelance architect. In 1906 the family moved to Heerbrugg, where Labonté lived and worked until his death on June 21, 1945. In 1910 he acquired the citizenship of Wittenbach SG and became a Swiss citizen. In 1912, with the aim of founding a parish in Heerbrugg and procuring the necessary funds for the establishment of the church, the Catholic Chapel Association was founded on his initiative , and he held its presidency for 25 years. In his biography, Markus Kaiser judges Johann Labonté:

“Labonté's work suggests his work and character. As a solid practitioner, he mastered his profession from the ground up, in all areas of his subject. With a creatively alert mind he accepted suggestions, followed them over a long period of time and developed them into his own solutions. In doing so, he showed foresight and daring. When he died in 1945, the newspapers praised his intelligent and determined look, his cheerfulness and confidence, his lively spirit. And around 1980 those who had known him said that he was upright and open, humble and friendly, in short a fine person . "

Buildings and designs

Labonté's first factory in the Rhine Valley was the Red Factory for the Schmidheiny company , of which he was the house architect , on Balgacherstrasse in Heerbrugg in 1902 . The intensive way of working - he managed detailed plans as well as construction management and correspondence without employees - gave rise to around 650 projects between 1903 and 1916, many of which were also implemented. His buildings shape Heerbrugg, St. Margrether Bahnhofplatz and the Auer Bahnhofquartier. They are the visual highlights of many communities from Sennwald to Rorschach . Labonté developed the typical villa-like factory architecture of the Rhine Valley for the flourishing embroidery industry. Some buildings are still simply called factory owners' villas today, such as a building built in 1909 on Tramstrasse in Berneck with a factory on the ground floor and a three-story structure. The attached attic tower gives the building a castle-like character.

Markus Kaiser describes him as the creator of Heerbrugg .

literature

• Markus Kaiser: Rheintaler heads . Historical-biographical portraits from five centuries. Ed .: Association for the History of the Rhine Valley. Rheintaler Druckerei und Verlag AG, Berneck 2004, ISBN 3-03300265-X , Johann Labonté (1866–1945), p. 256-261 .

Web links

Commons : Johann Labonté  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Markus Kaiser: Labonté, Johann. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Markus Kaiser: Johann Labonté (1866–1945), Au-Heerbrugg. In: Association for the history of the Rhine valley (Hrsg.): Rheintaler heads. Historical-biographical portraits from five centuries. Rheintaler Druckerei und Verlag, Berneck 2004, ISBN 3-033-00265-X , p. 256 ff.