Walter Bollag

Walter Bollag (born October 13, 1911 in Zurich ; † July 2004 ) was a Swiss entrepreneur .

life and work

Bollag's ancestors had lived in Endingen since the 17th century and were granted Swiss citizenship in 1874/1875 .

Walter Bollag grew up in Zurich and from 1922 in Frauenfeld , where he attended the Frauenfeld canton school. He then completed an apprenticeship in a weaving mill in Basel .

Bollag began manufacturing women's clothes in the basement of his parents' retail business and in 1932 founded his own textile company, "Walter Bollag AG".

The clothes were made at home and in the branches in Zurich and St. Gallen . From 1940 on, men's clothing was also produced and at peak times over 1000 people worked in the company at various locations. Bollag dealt mainly with purchasing, production and sales. His clothes were mainly exported to Germany and Scandinavia .

Bollag married Madeleine, née Wyler, from Basel in 1942. They had five children together. During the Second World War, Bollag and his family got involved by donating substantial sums to the “Israelite Community Association” in Kreuzlingen and Winterthur , as well as donating numerous items, especially clothes. They also took in refugees.

In order to save his business from closing, Bollag had to sell to a German company in the 1970s. The women's coats and jackets factory, which continued under the previous company name, only had 80 employees in 1980. The company stopped production in 1990, but the company continued to trade in women's clothing.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heribert Küng: Walter Bollag. Thurgauer Jahrbuch, accessed on April 28, 2020 . 
2. ^ Heribert Küng: Walter Bollag and the Jewish refugees in Thurgau. Thurgauer Jahrbuch, accessed on April 28, 2020 .