Franz Saurer (October 3, 1806 - November 28, 1882) was a German-born Swiss industrialist who founded the company which ultimately became the Adolph Saurer concern. He was also responsible for the positive economic development of the

Arbon Arbon is a historic town and a municipality and district capital of the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. Arbon is located on the southern shore of Lake Constance, on a railway line between Konstanz/Romanshorn and ...

region. Through his estate his descendants endowed funds to build the city park of Arbon. He was the patriarch of the Saurer family.

Early life and education

Saurer was born likely around October 3, 1806 in Veringendorf,

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

to farming parents Johann Nepomuk and Agatha (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Blum). His family was very poor which led him and a younger brother to move to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

around 1821 aged 15. He initially went to Laufen am Rheinfall where he had a half-sister and was able to complete an apprenticeship as locksmith.

Career

In 1827 he moved to

Wülflingen Wülflingen is a district in the Swiss city of Winterthur, situated in the lower Töss Valley. It is district number six, and comprises the quarters Weinberg, Oberfeld, Lindenplatz, Niederfeld, Neuburg, Hardau, Härti and Taggenberg. Wü ...

near

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

where he was an employee at the mill construction firm Wimmersberger. In 1832, he found further employment at the machinery shop of Michael Weniger in

Tablat Tablat is a town and commune in Médéa Province, Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tun ...

near St. Gallen. In 1833, Saurer spent one year in

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Personal life

On March 9, 1834, Saurer married Maria Catharina (

Kunz; 1813–1861) with whom he had six sons; * Johann Anton known as

Anton Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname), a list of people with the surname Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, ...

(April 28, 1835 - March 12, 1872) * Franz Carl known as Carl (December 27, 1839 - January 4, 1850) *

Adolph Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins. The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', mean ...

(February 14, 1841 - February 23, 1920), later majority owner and namesake of Adolph Saurer Ltd. * Julius Emil known as Emil (July 7, 1843 - October 19, 1896) * Hippolyt Conrad (September 9, 1847 - September 21, 1877) * Heinrich (December 26, 1848 - March 30, 1888) Most of the sons of his first marriage died very young. After his wife died in 1861, Saurer decided to marry again, already in 1862. On August 11, 1862, he married Maria Paulina Theresia Stoffel (

Frei; 1821–1888), who was previously married to Franz Xaver Stoffel and was sole heir to his estate. Stoffel operated a machinery plant and also had substantial land holdings in Arbon which were integrated into the

Saurer Adolph Saurer AG was a Swiss manufacturer of embroidery and textile machines, trucks and buses under the Saurer and Berna (beginning in 1929) brand names. Based in Arbon, Switzerland, the firm was active between 1903 and 1982. Their vehicles were ...

company. Saurer died on November 28, 1882, in Arbon aged 76.

Legacy

After his death, the descendants of Franz Saurer, endowed funds from his estate in order to construct the city park of Arbon. Today there are still landmarks/statutes of the founders of Saurer to be viewed.Obituary of Franz Saurer (in French) https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=LBP18830306-01.2.9&srpos=1&e=------188-en-20--1--img-txIN-Franz+Saurer-------0-----

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saurer, Franz 1806 births 1882 deaths German industrialists Swiss industrialists Swiss businesspeople People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Immigrants to Switzerland