Otto Hürsch

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Otto Hürsch-Müller (born May 21, 1860 in Zofingen , † December 27, 1947 in Chur ) was a Swiss confectioner . In 1887 he invented the Chur peach stones as they are still produced today.

Chur peach stones

Life

Adolescent years

The father Jakob Heinrich Hürsch, reformed, by trade coppersmith, had already taken over his father's forge in Zofingen at a young age. The forge received the major order to manufacture all the steam boilers for the new Lake Constance fleet. Jakob Heinrich Hürsch stayed in Arbon , where he met Dorothea Studer from Roggwil , the daughter of the hotel owner, and married in 1841. Jakob Heinrich became addicted to alcohol and the smithy had to be sold. Otto was born the third last son of 14 children and was given away as an infant.

Otto Hürsch spent the first five years of his life with a friend of his mother's in Burg near Reinach . At the age of six he came to live with a teacher couple in Menziken . His mother died in 1872 before he returned to Zofingen after secondary school. Otto Hürsch was forced to do a telegraph apprenticeship at the post office, but enjoyed the close contact with his siblings, especially with the family of his 19-year-old brother Johann Heinrich Hürsch, he often came to Zofingen; his daughter Carolina (1880–1958) was later to move to Chur as well.

After successfully completing his apprenticeship, he looked for a new apprenticeship as a confectioner . Otto Hürsch found an apprenticeship in Chur with confectioner Rieder and left his home canton. After three years of hiking , he passed the master's examination and founded his own pastry shop at Reichsgasse 57 in Chur in 1887. This was only allowed to married masters, which is why he married her friend Ida Müller that same year through the mediation of his sister Agnes, to whom he paid great respect throughout his life and whom he regarded as an equal employee. Here in Chur, he succeeded in perfecting the Grisons peach stones , according to his recipe, the Bühler confectionery still produces today. In 1888 he bought his master’s business.

Volunteering

The house of the black bear at Unteren Gasse 5 today.

He publicly campaigned to improve the situation of needy apprentices. For 40 years he was involved with the Bündner Aid Association for Craftsman Apprentices to ensure that poor young people received solid professional training.

For almost as long he was on the board of the Graubünden Evangelical Orphan Aid Association , which he co-founded. Otto Hürsch supported the organization Gute Schriften , founded in Basel in 1898 , which had the aim of distributing affordable good literature; a selection of the scriptures was on display in the tea room.

He participated in the founding of the Graubünden trade association in 1900/01 and led it to a stately organization. In 1908 a permanent trade secretariat was opened in Chur, of which he was the actual creator. The Bündnerische and the Swiss trade associations awarded him honorary membership.

family

In 1899 Otto was able to purchase the house for the black bear on Unteren Gasse, convert it and equip it with electricity, which at that time was still a privilege of wealthy citizens. The house is a stately, four-story corner house in the old town of Chur. Otto Hürsch housed the bakery, the tea room and the shop as well as his family there.

The couple had taken in six children and the daughter of their sister Agnes, who died early, as a foster child. His sons all enjoyed a good education. The oldest son, Otto Hürsch, born in 1888, took over the father's pastry shop in 1922. The second oldest son Robert became a high school teacher, Oskar Hürsch studied theology and became editor of the Winterthurer Landbote , Max completed an apprenticeship in banking and became a customs officer, the youngest son Ernst became a gardener. The only daughter Emilie died in 1894 at the age of five.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Churer Magazin, December issue , p. 29 Online (PDF)
  2. ↑ Markus Bürgi: Hürsch, Oskar. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
personal data
SURNAME Hürsch, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hürsch-Müller, Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss confectioner
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Zofingen
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1947
Place of death Chur