Alfred Ilg

Alfred Ilg ( born March 30, 1854 in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, † January 7, 1916 in Zurich ) was a Swiss engineer and advisor to the Ethiopian emperor.

Life

Alfred Ilg came in 1879 on behalf of a Swiss company to Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, and served in succession at the court of the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II (Kaiser 1889 ). He quickly learned the Amharic language. He was involved in the construction of the new capital of Abyssinia, Addis Ababa. At the victory of Abyssinia against the colonial power Italy at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, he had significant proportion because with its factories and machines Abyssinia could produce even arms and ammunition. This Abyssinia was independent of the import of these goods.

For 1897 Ilg of Emperor Menelik II, entitled State was honored with the rank of excellence and on top of that appointed for the years 1897-1907 for Foreign Affairs. Thanks to his skills as an engineer, he was responsible for the planning and construction of the railway line from Addis Ababa to Djibouti in these years. In addition, Ilg was also responsible for several public buildings and served as Chief of Protocol and private secretary to the emperor. For Ilg was awarded the highest honor of the state, the Star of Ethiopia.

From Ilg deeds are more inter alia, to mention the creation of a uniform national coinage system and the establishment of a national postal system. As concluded on 7 March 1905, the Orientalist Friedrich Rosen as head of a German delegation various agreements between Ethiopia and the German Empire, Ilg influence at court slowly began to wane. Various intrigues could ( or would ) Ilg not oppose, and so he resigned in 1907.

Ilg returned to Switzerland and settled in Zurich, where he died on 7 January 1916.

Special

Ilg 1902 gave the city of Zurich two lions in gratitude for the education he could enjoy at ETH. This led years later to found the Zurich Zoo.