Karl Koenitzer

Karl Könitzer (* 1854 in Worb ; † March 23, 1915 in Bern ) was a Swiss architect and canton politician .

Life

In the same year when his father Johann Könitzer took over a construction business with four carpenters in Worb, Karl Könitzer was born in 1854. Karl attended primary and secondary school in Worb and then the Polytechnic in Zurich and the Ecole Industrielle in Yverdon. He then worked for further training in various construction companies and architectural offices in Switzerland. In the meantime, his father's construction business continued to develop successfully and after purchasing a former tobacco factory, Johann Könitzer founded the collective company J. Könitzer & Sons with his sons Karl and Gottfried in 1882.

After his father's death in 1894, Karl Könitzer took over the technical management of the company now known as the Gebrüder Könitzer. Together they realized numerous private school and hospital buildings, although the exact proportion of the construction and planning work cannot be proven. Karl Koenitzer was not only active as a builder, but also as a planner . In 1894 he designed the first Swiss public sanatorium in Heiligenschwendi for the Association of the Bernese Sanatorium for Tuberculosis , today's Bern Rehabilitation Center Heiligenschwendi. After his appointment to the Bern government in 1905, he handed over the house he had built himself on Vechigenstrasse in Worb to his son Fritz in 1905. In 1907 the company passed to the sons of the Könitzer brothers to their sons Fritz and Hermann. Thanks to its good relationship with the authorities, the construction company in Könitzer did not have to complain about a lack of orders. For example, they built the school houses in Worb and the Schwand agricultural school in Münsingen .

Political activity

In 1891 the builder Karl Könitzer was elected to the Worber municipal council. In 1898 he joined the Grand Council of the Canton of Bern as a representative of the Liberal Party . He also became vice president of Worb in 1900 and joined the State Economic Commission in 1902. 1903 Karl Könitzer became the mayor elected by Worb. His commitment to social buildings was widely recognized and led to election to the government council in 1905 , where the Worber master builder immediately took over the building department and thus the important office of the Canton Bernese building director. As director of cantonal buildings and railways, he promoted the financing of the Bernese Alpine Railway , today's BLS, and the Jura Railway with the Grenchenberg Tunnel , as well as the Bern-Muri-Worb Railway . In the first popular elections in 1906, 1910 and 1914, Karl Könitzer, who now lives in Bern, was confirmed as a member of the government. In 1910 and 1911 he served as district president. In 1912 he moved to the Directorate of Finances and Domains where he managed to reorganize the state finances.

When his government council colleagues were called up for military service at the outbreak of World War I , Koenitzer also took over the military management and the building management he was very familiar with. This additional burden in the first winter of the war put a lot of strain on his health and he had to undergo an intestinal operation at Theodor Kocher's private hospital. He died on the night of March 23, 1915 as a result of the medical intervention.

Other secondary offices

As a member of the government, Karl Koenitzer also held the following offices:

• Board member of the Bern Cantonal Bank
• Board member of the Bernische Hypothekarkasse
• Board of Directors of Bernische Kraftwerke BKW
• Board of Directors of the Rheinsalinen
• Member of the editorial committee of the Emmentaler Tagblatt
• President of the building commission of the Swiss National Exhibition 1914 in Bern
• 1906 Member of the Bern Association of Engineers and Architects (SIA)
• 1906 Member of the management committee of the Lötschbergbahn (BLS)

literature

• Heinrich Richard Schmidt, Ernst Aebi, et. al: Worber story . Stämpfli, Bern 2005, ISBN 3-7272-1173-3 , p. 720 .

Web links

• Marius Gränicher: The Könitzer family: Worber builders in architecture and the state. (PDF) In: Worber Post. iA Gemeinde Worb, June 20, 2018, p. 6 , accessed on November 4, 2019 . 
• Adeline Zumstein: Bern master builder around 1900 - The Könitzer family from Worb. (PDF) In: Heimat heute. Berner Heimatschutz, 2010, pp. 4–10 , accessed on November 4, 2019 . 
• Government Councilor Karl Koenitzer. (PDF) Obituary. In: Pioneer. School exhibition in Bern, April 8, 1915, pp. 1–2 , accessed on November 4, 2019 . 
• Government Councilor Karl Koenitzer. (PDF) Obituary. In: Bern weekly chronicle. Berner Woche, March 28, 1915, pp. 1–2 , accessed on November 4, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Abbreviation: sl: The drinking water is also a valuable source of energy. (PDF) 100 years of Blattenheid water supply. In: Berner Landbote. July 3, 2013, accessed November 4, 2019 .  Current criticism
2. ↑ Marius Gränicher: The Koenitzer family: Worber builders in architecture and state. (PDF) In: Worber Post. iA Gemeinde Worb, June 20, 2018, p. 6 , accessed on November 4, 2019 .