Carl Feer-Herzog

Carl Feer - Herzog ( born October 23, 1820 Rixheim (Alsace ); † January 14, 1880 in Aarau ) was a Swiss politician, businessman and railroad pioneer. He is considered one of the most important economic developers of the 19th-century Switzerland.

Biography

Feer -Herzog completed a technical- scientific studies, first at the University of Geneva, then at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris. In 1841 he joined the silk ribbon his father's factory in Aarau in 1845 and a partner and commercial director. As a result, he acquired a large fortune in 1865 and sold his shares to his brothers.

In 1852 he began his political career when he was elected to the Grand Council. He belonged to this until his death in 1880 and was twice president ( 1855/56 and 1872/73 ). At the same time he was a National (1857-1880) and 1874 National President. He belonged to the Liberal group.

Carl Feer -Herzog was a patron of banking and railroad construction. In 1854 he was co-founder of parastatal " Aargau Bank ", which was converted in 1913 into the Aargauische Kantonalbank, and was its president until 1880. He also sat on the Board of the Bank Association. In 1852 he was one of the founders of the Swiss Central Railway from 1860 to 1880 and was its vice- president. The Gotthard Railway Company he chaired by 1871 to 1880.

The advocates of free trade was 1864-1873 negotiator on economic issues and acted in this capacity trade agreements with France, Italy, Austria - Hungary, the North German Confederation, Spain, Russia, Persia and Portugal. At the Conferences of the Latin Monetary Union, he was an advocate of the gold standard, he was regarded internationally as an expert on monetary issues.

He was married to Caroline Duke, the granddaughter of the famous Aargau politician John Duke, and had six children. After the death of its specialized library with many contemporary works on monetary and economic policy issues came in the Aargau cantonal library.