Johann Friedrich Peyer im Hof (18 June 1817, in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

– 18 May 1900) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

member of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (german: Nationalrat; french: Conseil national; it, Consiglio nazionale; rm, Cussegl naziunal) is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the upper house being the Council of States. With 200 seats, the ...

during 1857–1875 (President 1859/1860). Alongside

Alfred Escher Johann Heinrich Alfred Escher vom Glas, known as Alfred Escher (20 February 1819 – 6 December 1882) was a Swiss politician, business leader and railways pioneer. Thanks to his numerous political posts and his significant role in the foundat ...

, he is one of the main pioneers of

rail transport in Switzerland The Swiss rail network is noteworthy for its density, its coordination between services, its integration with other modes of transport, timeliness and a thriving domestic and trans-alp freight system. This is made necessary by strong regulations ...

Peyer inherited his father's textile company in 1838. He was an early proponent of steam power in Switzerland, co-founder of '' Schaffhauser Eisenbahnvereins '' (1842) and of the ''Dampfboot-AG '' steamboat company (1851). He was co-founder of ''Waggonfabrik Neuhausen'' (from 1862 ''

Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft SIG Combibloc Group AG, originally founded as ''Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft'' (German for Swiss Industrial Company; in French, as ''Société Industrielle Suisse''; and, in Italian, as ''Societa Industriale Svizzera''), and later know ...

'') in 1853, and co-director of the '' Nordostbahn'' railway company during 1857–1877. He co-founded Schaffhausen Bank in 1863, and Handelsbank Schaffhausen in 1873. Besides his office as National Councillor, he served in the Schaffhausen city council during 1843–1845, 1851–1869, and 1871–1875. Peyer was significantly affected by the financial crisis that hit ''Nordostbahn'' in the early 1870s. At the same time, his speculative investments in Hungary met with failure, so that he was forced to retire from all offices in 1877.

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* * 1817 births 1900 deaths People from Schaffhausen Swiss Calvinist and Reformed Christians Liberal Party of Switzerland politicians Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the National Council (Switzerland) 19th-century Swiss politicians {{Switzerland-politician-stub