Max Zschokke

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Max Zschokke (born August 1, 1886 in Zurich ; † December 20, 1960 ) was a Swiss civil engineer and mining pioneer.

Life

Max Zschokke was a great-grandson of the writer and educator Heinrich Zschokke . He was born on August 1, 1886, the son of Erwin Zschokke (1855–1929), professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Zurich . In 1906 he began studying at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich , which he graduated in 1910. During this time, his uncle Richard Zschokke , who was in charge of the construction of the Jungfrau Railway, fell seriously ill, and Max Zschokke took over his representation for the last year of construction. He was able to successfully complete the work. During his stay in Grindelwald he met his future wife Emma Luchsinger (1881–1972). From 1912 to 1913 he was in Cape Town in South Africa to - again on behalf of his uncle - to accompany a mountain railway project.

Max Zschokke's professional career was interrupted between 1914 and 1917 by active service as sapper captain , before he worked as an inspector of the mining office for the Federal Department of Economic Affairs after 1917 . It was in this capacity that he first came into contact with the Käpfnach mine .

1917 to 1921

As a result of the war-related shortage of raw materials, the municipality of Horgen tried to promote coal mining, but made slow progress, so that Zschokke applied for the concession to mine coal in Käpfnach in 1918, which was granted to him in July 1918. The company “Bergwerk Gottshalden M. Zschokke & Compagnie”, which was founded on November 11, 1918, failed to succeed because better and cheaper coal could be imported again. Zschokke had to liquidate the company in 1921, losing all of the limited partners' deposits .

From 1920 to 1940, Max Zschokke was the owner of an engineering office in Zurich Selnau that specialized in mountain railways. The Swiss Association of Engineers and Architects appointed him secretary in 1922. After purchasing the panorama area in Zurich, Zschokke built the Hotel Bellerive au Lac.

1941 to 1947

The increasing shortage of coal since the outbreak of the Second World War prompted Max Zschokke in 1941 to apply again for the mining concession in Horgen. His application was approved by the finance department of the Canton of Zurich in just 14 days, so that the Horgen lignite cooperative started operations on February 8, 1941. Under the leadership of Zschokke, the miners extracted 53,000 t of coal up to 1947, around 5% of the total Swiss production. Convinced that profitable dismantling would not be possible after the end of the war, Max Zschokke decided to shut down the company and close it properly. At the same time, he presented the concession authority with an offset concept to secure the existing cavities over the long term. On October 5, 1945, the company "Zschokke & Co., engineering office" was entrusted with the execution of the work.

power

Under the direction of Max Zschokke, in the largest lignite mine in Switzerland, the economic achievement was achieved in difficult times to mine a weak coal seam with yield.

literature

  • Paul Kläui : History of the community of Horgen. Horgen 1952.
  • Municipality of Horgen (ed.): Horgner year booklet 1982: The Käpfnacher Bergwerk. Horgen 1982.
  • Mining Association Käpfnach Horgen (Ed.): 25 Mining Association Käpfnach. Horgen 2007.
  • Peter Laager, Hermann Sarbach: The Käpfnach-Gottshalden mine yesterday and today. Minaria Helvetica, No. 25b (2005), Egg 2005, ISSN  1018-7421 .
  • Wolfgang Taubert: 125 years of Zementi z'Käpfnach. Horgen 2000.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich: legitimation card from Max Zschokke, 1910.
  2. ↑ Peter Laager, Hermann Sarbach: The Käpfnach-Gottshalden mine yesterday and today. Minaria Helvetica, No. 25b (2005), pp. 21-25.
personal data
SURNAME Zschokke, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss civil engineer
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 1960