Luis Zuegg

Luis Zuegg (born April 26, 1876 in Lana , South Tyrol , Austria-Hungary ; † January 14, 1955 in Bordighera , Italy ) was an entrepreneur and cable car pioneer from South Tyrol.

life and work

After attending the Benedictine grammar school in Merano (1890–1898) and studying at the then Technical University in Graz (1898–1903), he returned to his native South Tyrol in 1903. There he was involved in the construction of the first electricity works in the Gaul in Lana (expansion of this works in 1912 by a second stage) and the first electric tram in South Tyrol from Lana to Meran (opened on August 11, 1906). This was discontinued on May 8, 1950. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of this tram, a traveling exhibition took place in various South Tyrolean locations in 2006 - a commemorative publication has been published and is still available. In 2012, Albert Innerhofer wrote a twelve-page brochure on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Lana – Vigiljoch cable car (1912–2012), which was officially opened on August 31, 1912 and is still running today after several renovations. From May 11, 2013 to January 6, 2015, the Eisenbahnwelt in Rabland / South Tyrol will be showing the history of the local railway Lana-Burgstall-Oberlana, which opened 100 years ago, in a special exhibition; The title of the special exhibition: “Get in, please!” The curator of this exhibition is Albert Innerhofer from Lana, who in turn has written a new 16-page brochure about this legendary local railway, which opened on December 13, 1913. A new personalized stamp has also been issued by Austrian Post (see www.lanaphil.info). With all these railways u. a. Luis Zuegg also worked hard and contributed!

He also built the Burggräfler local railway Lana – Burgstall , which was opened in 1913 and operated in passenger traffic until 1959 and goods traffic until 1974; this so-called "apple express" was mainly used to transport the local fruit.

Already during the First World War he built numerous cable cars on the southern front , which were used to supply soldiers, and he gained his first important experience in cable car construction. In 1912 he planned the cable car to the Vigiljoch , but did not receive the order for it. Later, however, Zuegg had to rebuild it so that it could go into operation, whereby he was able to expand and deepen his knowledge of cable car construction.

Zuegg registered a total of seven patents for his groundbreaking inventions in ropeway construction in Austria, Italy and Switzerland (including, for example, the telephone system, route indicators and the suspension cable brake).

Around 1924/25, after signing a license agreement with the German cable car and conveyor system company Adolf Bleichert & Co. , together with them, he developed the “Bleichert - Zuegg” system for cable cars . Before that, Luis Zuegg had developed the model cable car Meran – Hafling near Meran in 1923 , which at that time was considered to be a model cable car of its own. Later, the company Adolf Bleichert & Co. and the temporary collaboration with Luis Zuegg built numerous other railways around the world according to this system, for example the Raxseilbahn in Lower Austria and the Kreuzeckbahn near Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1926 and the cable car to the Zugspitze summit in 1930/31 ( Dismantled in 1992); also Pfänder , Ebensee , Trübsee, Schmittenhöhe , Kanzel, Krosso (Norway) , Patscherkofel , Hafelekar , Predigtstuhl (the Predigtstuhlbahn is the oldest surviving passenger cable car in the world), Table Mountain (Cape Town, South Africa), Wank , Burgberg, Montserrat and Miramar (Spain) , Sestriere , Zakopane (Poland), Mont d'Arbrois, Säntis , Galzig , Hahnenkamm etc.

Luis Zuegg also built a wood pulp board factory in Lana (1907/8) and operated the Holztrift on the Falschauer . In 1917 Zuegg had to stop wood processing due to the war and began to process the family's fruit into jam with his brother Ernst . He thus laid the foundation for Zuegg AG, which is still owned by the Zuegg family today .

Luis Zuegg died on January 14, 1955 in Bordighera , Italy and was buried in Untermais , South Tyrol .

Honors

Emperor Franz Joseph I honored the Landsturm engineer Luis Zuegg on July 5, 1916 for his services in cable car construction and awarded him the Golden Cross of Merit with the crown on the ribbon of the medal of bravery. On July 14, 1948 , Zuegg received an honorary doctorate from the Graz University of Technology . Numerous other honors and awards followed. Today numerous streets and a school are named after Luis Zuegg. On October 23, 2010 a new bronze bust was unveiled as part of a small celebration in his memory in the park of the same name in Oberlana (see film on youtube). This bust is intended to commemorate an important Lanan citizen.

To mark the return of Luis Zuegg's 140th year of birth (1876–1955), the organizer of the Lanaphil and Luis Zuegg connoisseur, Albert Innerhofer, is issuing a new personalized stamp. It shows a portrait of the internationally active and important cable car pioneer, who was born in Lana in 1876, developed seven cable car patents and built numerous cable cars. This new personalized stamp will be available at the next Lanaphil on October 9, 2016 in the Raiffeisenhaus Lana. This Austrian Post stamp has a value of 68 cents and was printed in a limited edition of 500.

Literature and Sources

• Albert Innerhofer and Reinhold Staffler: Steel walkways; the cable car pioneer Luis Zuegg . Raetia, Bozen 1996, ISBN 88-7283-078-8
• Albert Innerhofer: Up to lofty heights. 100 years of the Lana - Vigiljoch cable car, 1912-2012 .
• Albert Innerhofer: Get in, please. 100 years of the Lana-Burgstall - Oberlana local railway, 1913-2013 .
• Albert Innerhofer and Werner Schröter: 100 years of the Lana-Meran electric tram, 1906-2006 and other railways .

Web links

• Literature by and about Luis Zuegg in the catalog of the German National Library
• State vocational school Luis Zuegg Merano

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ing.Luis Zuegg, Curriculum vitae, Meran 1946 (manuscript)