Rudolf Wartmann-Füchslin

Rudolf Wartmann-Füchslin (born February 20, 1873 in Baghdad as Rudolf Wartmann; † August 30, 1930 in Brugg ) was a Swiss engineer , building contractor and founder of Wartmann & Vallette Cie .

Life

Rudolf Wartmann -Füchslin was born as the son of Otto Wartmann-Kägi (1841-1882), a merchant active in the Orient , and Elise Wartmann-Kägi (1846-1930). He spent the first three years of his life in his native Baghdad; the next four in Oberurnen . After finishing school he began an apprenticeship as a locksmith at the Boßhard machine factory in Näfels at the age of fifteen , which among other things built bridges. The varied training introduced him to steel construction for the first time . Thanks to his ability and diligence, the teacher was able to entrust him with the management of minor assembly work during the last months of his apprenticeship. He received the theoretical knowledge necessary for the locksmith trade after completing his practical training at the Winterthur technical center .

At the age of twenty-two, Rudolf Wartmann-Füchslin obtained his diploma as an electrical engineer . The producer and engineer Hermann Schroeder of Mollis appointed him later as an employee and shareholder in its 3500 m ² large steel -Werkstätte in Brugg . After three years Wartmann-Füchslin took venal already on 5700 m ² enlarged industrial site and connected with his friend AE Vallette, an engineer for General partnership "Wartmann & Vallette Cie ". The new company received construction contracts for bridges , halls , buildings , boilers and weir systems . The company became known in Switzerland mainly through the second railway bridge of the Bözbergbahn built in 1903 over the Aare near Brugg and the Montblanc bridge at the outflow of the Rhone from Lake Geneva . From 1907 to 1914 the two owners also ran a branch in Geneva .

The reinforced concrete construction was after 1900 more frequent use in Switzerland and became a competitor of the steel structure. The low prices for pure iron structures caused by foreign competition around 1905 required the merger of Swiss companies that were active in the steel construction industry. Together with seven other companies, Wartmann & Vallette Cie. In 1906 the Association of Swiss Bridge Construction and Steel Construction Companies. After the first association president died in 1913, Wartmann-Füchslin took over his office until 1925. In 1929, the Wartmann & Vallette Cie. the largest annual turnover.

After Wartmann-Füchslin was elected to the municipal council of the city of Brugg, he was in charge of urban construction from 1911 to 1917 . From 1908 until his death he was a member of the Aargau canton parliament. He was also a member of the board of directors of Kabelwerke Brugg AG , Aargauische Elektrizitätswerk AG , the former Maschinenfabrik AG and president of the crafts school, the association of industrialists from Brugg and the surrounding area, vice-president of the hospital commission, the Brugg tourist office and a member of the cantonal reformed synod.

Rudolf Wartmann-Füchslin died after a brief illness at the end of August 1930. His marriage to Emma Luisa Füchslin (born October 25, 1878 in Brugg; † April 16, 1936 there) resulted in three sons and a daughter. The oldest and the youngest son, Rudolf Wartmann-Soder and Armin Wartmann-Höferlin, succeeded Wartmann & Vallette Cie. on. Today the company operates as Wartmann Holding AG.

literature

• Robert Oehler: The Wartmann von Hittnau and Bauma - history of a gender of schoolmasters and bricklayers in the Zurich Oberland , Aarau 1956.

Web links

• Official website of Wartmann Holding AG
• Raoul Richner: Rudolf Wartmann. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .