Konrad Kahl

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Konrad Kahl (born March 7, 1914 in Zurich ; † May 19, 1985 ibid) was a Swiss interior designer , entrepreneur and writer .

Life

As the son of the Zurich furniture manufacturer Wilhelm Kahl, Konrad Kahl learned the profession of carpenter and furniture draftsman in his parents' company Knuchel & Kahl, continued his education in Paris and London from 1934-36 and joined the company in 1937 as an interior designer. As his father's successor, he ran the business, in which his older sister Rosmarie (1917–1985) also worked, until 1978.

The Knuchel & Kahl company existed under this name for around 100 years on Zurich's Rämistrasse and Wolfbachstrasse (with the design, building and furniture joinery, upholstery, sewing and curtain studio, hand weaving departments). Many of the interiors of Swiss private and commercial buildings, hotels and administrative buildings come from Knuchel & Kahl. The company was represented with 5 rooms at the Swiss National Exhibition in 1939 . Konrad Kahl was primarily interested in the high level of craftsmanship and the furnishing of individually designed living spaces, especially private libraries.

In addition to many social contacts in the party, guild and rowing club, he had a large network of relationships in the cultural field and was particularly committed to the theater , the central library and the Swiss Bibliophile Society.

After giving up his job, he turned more to his literary interests. He died on May 19, 1985 and was buried in the family grave in Enzenbühl cemetery.

Konrad Kahl's younger sister Lotti (1919–2009) donated a collection of around 100 ship models that he had taken over from his father to the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne as the “Kahl Collection” . His literary legacy (documents and manuscripts for around 100 published essays, extensive correspondence and a collection of his newspaper and magazine articles and other publications) is kept in the manuscript department of the Zurich Central Library, including a long-term correspondence with the writer Hans Egon Holthusen .

plant

The main focus of his publications and his articles in newspapers and magazines include classic German, English and French literature, cross-border cultural relationships and multilingualism.

Works (selection)

  • Adalbert Stifter and the domestic world, Zurich 1945
  • Scales of life. Poems 1933-1951, Zurich 1951
  • Goethe as a lover, Zurich 1965
  • Adalbert Stifter in his letters. January 28, 1968, Olten 1967
  • Amour et destin du livre (together with Jean Graven. Illustrated by Hans Erni ), Lausanne 1973
  • I would like to live in Zurich. Texts from five centuries, Zurich 1991

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 75 years of Knuchel & Kahl, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, November 6, 1975
  2. ^ Literature by and about Konrad Kahl in the catalog of the German National Library
  3. ↑ Ulrich, Conrad, Konrad Kahl (1914-1985), In: Librarium 1986, pp. 148-150
  4. ↑ Finding aids for the estate
personal data
SURNAME Kahl, Konrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss interior designer, entrepreneur and writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 1985
Place of death Zurich