Walter Ackermann (politician)

Walter Ackermann (* 15. November 1890 in Herisau , † 31 January 1969 ibid ; heimatberechtigt in Obstalden , from 1929 in Herisau) was a Swiss textile manufacturer, Cantonal , Landammann and Senate from the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes .

Life

Walter Ackermann was a son of Friedrich Ackermann, a farmer , and Maria Tanner. In 1921 he married Maria Helene Müller, daughter of Hermann Müller, director of AG Cilander , Herisau. He attended the commercial department of the St. Gallen Cantonal School and studied for two semesters in Lausanne . Ackermann completed a commercial apprenticeship in an embroidery trading house in St. Gallen . He continued his education in London , Paris and Zurich . In 1918 Ackermann took over the management of the Locher & Compagnie AG equipment works in Herisau and Schönengrund . He combined these with Appretur Meyer & Compagnie in Herisau, which he had bought in 1926, to form AG Ausüstwerke Steig, one of the leading textile companies in Eastern Switzerland .

Ackermann began his political career as a local councilor in Herisau from 1926 to 1930. In Appenzell Ausserrhoden he was a member of the cantonal council from 1930 to 1931 and from 1948 to 1957 . From 1931 to 1948 he was a member of the government council and headed the education and military directorate. He chaired the government council from 1933 to 1936, from 1939 to 1942 and from 1945 to 1948 as Landammann. Ackermann was largely responsible for the cantonal school regulations , the improvement of the teaching staff and for a cantonal bank law . In the interwar period , he shaped the cantonal bank's less innovative and hardly any investment-promoting policy. Ackermann was a member of the Federal Assembly as a free-spirited Council of States from 1935 to 1963. In 1947 he was President of the Council of States . In the Federal Assembly he participated in almost all permanent and many special commissions , often as their president. Of particular importance was his activity in the Powers of Attorney Commission , the Customs Tariff Commission and as chairman of the Commission for Foreign Affairs from 1955 to 1958. In this position he strongly condemned the Soviet invasion of Hungary . He was committed to the interests of his homeland, above all to the concerns of the textile industry and against rural exodus and urbanization . He was on the board of the Ausserrhoder Free Democratic Party (FDP). From 1931 to 1965 he was a member of the cantonal bank administration. He presided over it from 1934 to 1965. From 1948 to 1959 he was president of the Appenzeller Bahn . He had mandates on the board of directors of the National Bank , Rentenanstalt , Pro Infirmis and the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA). He was a colonel in the infantry . Economically rather conservative, but socially open-minded, the extremely popular Ackermann was always looking for balance and understanding. Therefore, although he was a staunch liberal, he became a kind of bipartisan personality.

literature

• Walter Ackermann. In: Appenzeller Zeitung of February 1, 1969, vol. 142, no. 27, p. 1f.
• Peter Holderegger: Entrepreneurs in Appenzellerland: History of industrial entrepreneurship in Appenzell Ausserrhoden from the beginning to the present. Herisau: Schläpfer 1992, p. 250 and p. 258f.

Web links

• Thomas Fuchs: Walter Ackermann. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . May 15, 2001 , accessed May 27, 2020 .
• Entry on Walter Ackermann in Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland 1848–1975
• Entry on Walter Ackermann in Swiss Elites of the 20th Century
• Entry on Walter Ackermann on the website of the Swiss Parliament

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