Olivier Zschokke

Olivier Zschokke (born July 22, 1826 in Aarau , † April 9, 1898 in Aarau) was a Swiss engineer and politician . From 1877 to 1885 he represented the canton of Aargau in the Council of States , and from 1890 to 1897 in the National Council .

biography

Share of CHF 500 in the International Mountain Railways Company dated February 5, 1873; signed by Oliver Zschokke

The son of the writer Heinrich Zschokke received his education in Aarau and graduated from the canton school there . He then studied engineering at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich (now ETH Zurich ) and at the Technical University (Berlin-) Charlottenburg . In 1853 Zschokke got his first job as an engineer for the Swiss Central Railway in Solothurn . In 1857 he went on a study trip through several European countries. He then settled in Aarau, where in 1859 he managed a branch of Locher & Cie . took over.

The focus of Zschokke's activity was on the Swiss railways. Together with Niklaus Riggenbach and Ferdinand Adolf Naeff , he built the Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn from 1869 to 1871 , the first rack railway in Europe. He participated in the construction of numerous other railway lines, including the Arth Rigi Railway (1873-1875), the Rorschach-Heiden Bergbahn (1874/1875) and the Giessbach Railway (1878/1879). In addition, his preliminary studies formed the basis for the later implementation of the Brünigbahn , while his Schafmattbahn project remained unrealized. In the military he was a colonel in the railway department.

In 1873 Zschokke participated in the founding of the International Society for Mountain Railways. Its purpose was to acquire concessions to build mountain railways and to exploit the patents acquired from Niklaus Riggenbach and Olivier Zschokke. The company became illiquid as early as 1875 due to over-indebtedness. After several rescue attempts, it went into liquidation on May 19, 1876, which was only completed on September 15, 1902 with the complete loss of the share capital.

In 1877 the Aargau Great Council elected Zschokke as a representative in the Council of States . He belonged to this until 1885 and was a member of the permanent military and railway commission. In parliament he mainly dealt with transport policy and technical issues, advocating nationalization. After a five-year break in his political career, Zschokke succeeded in entering the National Council in the parliamentary elections in 1890 , where he chaired the commission for the regulation of the Rhine . In 1897 he resigned.

He was the father of the zoologist Friedrich Zschokke and the uncle of the building contractor Conradin Zschokke .

literature

• Patrick Zehnder: Zschokke, Peter Olivier. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland ., 2012
• Biographical Lexicon of the Canton of Aargau 1803–1957 . In: Historical Society of the Canton of Aargau (Ed.): Argovia . tape 68/69 . Verlag Sauerländer, Aarau 1958, p. 918-919 .