Arnold Künzli

Arnold Künzli (* June 20, 1832 in Riken (now Murgenthal ); † November 9, 1908 ibid; homeland justified in Riken ) was a Swiss politician ( FDP), industrialist and military officer. 1864/65 and from 1869 until his death he was a National, 1868-1873 Government of the Canton of Aargau.

Biography

Künzli received his primary education in Riken and graduated from the Cantonal School in Aarau. After a commercial apprenticeship in Geneva, he worked as a merchant in Lugano and rose in 1858 along with his brother Johann Friedrich Gugelmann his father's textile trading business,. This resulted in 1868, the color-weaving Künzli & Gugelmann. In the military Künzli rose to the rank of colonel; as such, he commanded the 12th Infantry Brigade from 1875, from 1882 the 4th Division, and finally from 1894 to 1902, the 4th Army Corps.

His political career began Künzli as mayor of Riken. In 1858 he was elected to the Grand Council, where he served until 1862, then from 1864 to 1868 and finally continuously from 1873. In the years 1876 /77 1890/91 and 1903 /04 he served as President of the Grand Council. In 1864 the first election to the National Council, but he resigned in the following year back. The Great Council elected Künzli 1868 in the Canton government, after which he spent five years headed the Building Department. In addition to the construction of various bridges and hospital Königsfelden his tenure was particularly the planning and implementation of various railway projects marked ( Bözbergbahn, Aargauische Southern Railway, National Railway ). 1884/85 he was president of the Constitutional Council of Aargau.

From 1869 Künzli belonged again to the National Council and chaired it in 1879 /80. His main interests in Parliament were the railroad and financial policy, foreign relations, the budget and the factory and Liability Act. The revision of the Federal Constitution in 1874, he worked in too. 1890/91 he was sent as a federal commissioner in the canton of Ticino, there to mediate the violent clashes between liberals and conservatives. In addition, he represented Switzerland several times in trade and tariff negotiations and in the Hague Peace Conference 1899.

In addition to leading his company Künzli took in the economic sphere fulfill further responsibilities. From 1868 to 1877 he worked in the board of directors of the bank in Zofingen, from 1873 to 1908 as Director of the Aargau Kreditanstalt (from 1894 as President ). Other directorships were: 1868/69 Swiss Central Railway, 1890-1892 Jura -Simplon Railway, 1902-1908 Swiss Federal Railways and Electricity 1895-1908 Olten- Aarburg (one of the original companies of Atel).

Künzli was an honorary citizen of Aarau, Aarburg, Birrwil and Zofingen.