37 Facts About Alfred Escher

Johann Heinrich Alfred Escher vom Glas colloquially Alfred Escher was a Swiss business magnate, banker, railway pioneer and politician who most notably served on the National Council form 1848 to 1882 for the Liberal Party.

Alfred Escher was a scion of the Escher vom Glas family, an old and influential dynasty, who had produced many officials and politicians.

Alfred Escher's father became wealthy again through speculative land deals, merchant activities and as a plantation owner in North America, where he partnered with Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer.

Alfred Escher's family owned a coffee plantation in Cuba between 1815 and 1845 that employed slaves.

Alfred Escher's mother hailed from an old nobilitated family of St Gallen.

Alfred Escher's initial years were spent at the Neuberg, the house where he was born, until the family relocated to the newly-built country house, Villa Belvoir, outside of Zurich, in Enge in 1831.

Alfred Escher was taught privately by various tutors, including theologian Alexander Schweizer, and Oswald Heer, who was to become a paleo-botanist and entomologist.

Alfred Escher mostly grew up isolated from the public with a sickly mother, who never left their country estate.

Alfred Escher then studied law at the University of Zurich.

Alfred Escher did preparatory work on a wide-ranging history of Swiss law, which never came to fruition.

Alfred Escher planned to give lectures at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Alfred Escher was now able to play an active part in political debates of the time, most notably the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Swiss Confederation, a position on which Escher played a prominent role in the anti-Jesuit camp.

In 1845 and 1846 Alfred Escher took part in the Federal Council of Cantonal Representatives in Zurich as Third Envoy, which brought him into contact with Switzerland's leading politicians.

In 1847 Alfred Escher was appointed as Zurich's Chief Administrator, and in the summer of 1848 he was elected to the cantonal government.

On 15 October 1848 Alfred Escher was elected to the National Council and was appointed its vice-president on 7 November 1848.

Alfred Escher was to sit on the National Council without interruption until his death 34 years later.

Alfred Escher was elected to serve as National Council President four times.

Thanks to his many political posts and his position as one of the founders of the Swiss Northeastern Railway and Credit Suisse, Alfred Escher commanded an unusual amount of power.

Alfred Escher attracted a number of nicknames as a result, including "King Alfred I" or the "Princeps".

In 1852 Alfred Escher helped push through a railway law drafted entirely in line with his own conceptions: railway construction and operation would be left to private companies.

Alfred Escher was at the forefront of the struggle to rise to the technological and manufacturing challenges of the time.

From 1854 to 1882 Alfred Escher was vice-chairman of the Federal School Council, the governing body of the Polytechnic Institute.

Increasingly Alfred Escher's bank financed other public and private sector endeavours too, thereby developing into an important lender for the Swiss economy and the founding institution of the Zurich's financial centre.

Alfred Escher initially favoured a trans-Alpine link via the Lukmanier, he changed his mind and became an advocate of the Gotthard project.

Alfred Escher threw all the economic and political resources at his command behind this ambitious project.

Alfred Escher consulted engineers and other experts, and conducted negotiations with the authorities at home and abroad.

Alfred Escher was exposed to increasingly vociferous criticism, prompting him to resign as chairman of the Gotthard Rail Company in 1878.

The number and importance of the positions and public offices held by Alfred Escher remains unparalleled in Swiss history to date, as the following list illustrates:.

On 23 April 1857, Alfred Escher married Auguste Henriette Anna Uebel, a daughter of German-born parents Bruno Uebel and Julie Uebel, in Herrliberg on Lake Zurich.

Alfred Escher suffered repeated bouts of ill health throughout his life and on many occasions was obliged to spend long periods in convalescence.

Alfred Escher's life became a constant alternation between illness and recovery: asthma, fever, eye conditions, boils.

However, this did not prevent Alfred Escher from fulfilling his political and business obligations whenever he could.

The Alfred Escher memorial designed by Kissling and erected outside the Zurich main railway station was inaugurated on 22 June 1889.

Alfred Escher was initially buried in the Enge cemetery, but when that was deconsecrated in 1925 his remains were moved to the Manegg cemetery.

Those wishing to research Alfred Escher have a rich store of source material at their disposal.

Alfred Escher corresponded with a number of eminent personages from the worlds of politics, industry and science.

In 2006 the Alfred Escher Foundation was set up to conduct research into his life and achievements.