Walter Bechtler

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Walter Bechtler (born May 1, 1905 in Masuri , Uttarakhand State , India ; † May 7, 1994 in Zollikon , reformed , resident in St. Gallen ) was a Swiss entrepreneur and art collector .

Life

Walter Bechtler was born on May 1, 1905 in Masuri as the son of the businessman Carl Joachim Bechtler and Anna, born Sutter. After Walter Bechtler had attended the Cantonal Commercial School in Zurich from 1915 , he attended the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Lausanne between 1924 and 1925 , from which he graduated with the Matura . Subsequently, after a year at the bank in London from 1926 to 1931, he began to study economics in Zurich , Vienna and Paris , which he obtained in 1931 with the academic degree of Dr. oec. publ. finished.

In 1933 Walter Bechtler and his brother Hans founded the engineer HC Bechtler & Co. in Zurich, and then in 1935 Luwa AG , which specialized in ventilation and heating technology. Bechtler served there as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1935 to 1980 . In addition, Bechtler was represented on the Board of Directors of Hesta AG from 1961 to 1980 , of which he was Vice President from 1969.

Walter Bechtler was an important collector of contemporary art , especially plastic . To this end, he founded the Walter A. Bechtler Foundation in 1955 . Bechtler also co-founded the Alberto Giacometti Foundation and was a member of the Zurich Art Society's collection committee from 1957 to 1972 and of the board of directors of the Zürcher Kunstfreunde Association from 1963 to 1978.

The white, cube-shaped sculpture White Cube , created by the American artist Sol Le Witt, was created in 1984 for the exhibition Sculpture in the 20th Century in the Merian Park in Basel and stood there until 1986. After that, it was bought by Bechtler and given to the city Zurich offered as a publicly visible sculpture. After more than 25 years, in which the city could not find a place for the sculpture, it was rebuilt in the Zellweger Park in Uster , Canton Zurich in 2011 in the immediate vicinity of the residential property of the Bechtler family.

Walter Bechtler married Minnie, the daughter of the dentist Otto Heer, in 1942 . They had three children, Ruedi (* 1942), Katrin and Thomas (* 1949). He died on May 7, 1994, a few days after he had turned 89 in Zollikon.

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personal data
SURNAME Bechtler, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss entrepreneur and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Masuri , Uttarakhand , India
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 1994
Place of death Zollikon