Sigmund Widmer

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Sigmund "Sigi" Widmer
Women's suffrage campaign with “Sigi” Widmer 1970.

Sigmund Widmer (born July 30, 1919 in Zurich ; † August 11, 2003 in Visp ) was a Swiss politician ( National Ring of Independents ), historian and writer . From 1966 to 1982 he was mayor of Zurich.

Life

Sigmund Widmer was first a primary school teacher, then studied history and German in Zurich, Geneva and Providence (USA) until he received his doctorate. From 1949 he worked in Zurich as a secondary school teacher. As a militia officer in the Swiss Army, he rose to the rank of Colonel of the Infantry (Commander Inf Rgt 27). In 1950, Widmer began his political career when he was able to move up to the city council of Zurich for a representative of the Landesring der Independene , Erwin Jaeckle . Sigmund Widmer later became one of the most famous state ring politicians alongside the party founder Gottlieb Duttweiler .

In 1954, Widmer was elected to the Zurich city council, where he headed the building construction department. After the resignation of the FDP mayor Emil Landolt in 1966, Widmer took part in a competitive election for the presidium between the FDP and the SP . In the second ballot, he left the candidates of the major parties, Adolf Maurer (SP) and Ernst Bieri (FDP), behind. The post-war building boom fell during Widmer's time as mayor and head of the building construction department. Since there was no more space for the city's steadily growing population, Widmer had municipal building cooperatives buy land in the surrounding communities with the help of the city in order to combat the shortage of space. He also initiated the development of new local recreation areas, such as the Hoch-Ybrig ski area .

However, some of Sigmund Widmer's projects for the city of Zurich also suffered spectacular shipwreck, such as the plan to hold the 1976 Winter Olympics or the project to build the Zurich subway , which failed in referendums in 1969 and 1973 respectively. Since the beginning of the student riots in 1968, Widmer's position between the Poles SP and FDP has become more and more difficult, also because the electoral base of the Landesring was getting smaller and smaller. After another escalation of violence after the opera house riots in 1980, which he found difficult to control, Widmer resigned in 1982 to make way for the "bourgeois turnaround" under Thomas Wagner . In addition to his work in Zurich, Sigmund Widmer was a member of the National Council (LdU) from 1963 to 1966 and 1974 to 1991. He presided over the Pro Helvetia Foundation and was appointed by the Federal Council to mediate in the Jura conflict. As the culmination of his career as a politician and historian, Widmer was allowed to give the speech at the Federal Assembly for the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation .

As a writer and historian, Widmer wrote numerous columns for the Züri-Woche , smaller essays and books, including a 13-volume cultural history of the city of Zurich. He was unable to complete a six-volume epic entitled "Familie Frey", only five volumes have appeared. He died on August 11, 2003 after a brief serious illness in the hospital in Visp and was buried in the Fluntern  cemetery in Zurich .

Works

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Emil Landolt Mayor of Zurich
1966–1982 		Thomas Wagner
personal data
SURNAME Widmer, Sigmund
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politician (LdU), Mayor of Zurich and National Councilor
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH August 11, 2003
Place of death Visp