Gottlieb Duttweiler (15 August 1888 – 8 June 1962) was a Swiss businessman and politician, founder of both the

Migros Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Migros ...

chain of grocery stores and the Alliance of Independents (''Landesring der Unabhängigen,'' LDU) party.

Life and work

Duttweiler was born in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. Starting with five vehicles in 1925, his

eventually opened stores and is today one of the main grocery chains in

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 ...

. The original secret to his success was bringing daily necessities to the consumer by excluding the middlemen. As a result, many producers initially chose to boycott Migros, and Duttweiler's Migros would itself manufacture or package those missing products. In 1941, Gottlieb and his wife Adele Duttweiler transferred ownership of Migros to their customers, as a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

. Duttweiler also required that Migros contribute a percentage of profits (actual from the total revenue) to cultural, athletic, and hobby-related activities. This led to the Migros-club-schools and several hobby courses. He also initiated the so-called '' Park im Grüene'' or ''Dutti-Park'' at the site of the later institute that was named after Gottlieb Duttweiler. In 1949, he participated at the former '' Buchclub Ex Libris'', which was integrated in the Migros group in 1956. The Zürich-based Reederei Zürich AG ordered at the ''H. C. Stülcken Sohn'' shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, the cargo ship ''Adele'' which was launched in Hamburg on 15 July 1952, the ship was christened by Adele Duttweiler, the wife of Gottlieb Duttweiler, on behalf of the

Federation of Migros Cooperatives Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Migros ...

(''Migros Genossenschaftsbund''). In 1958, he founded the Migros Bank. Duttweiler also founded the political party Alliance of Independents (''Landesring der Unabhängigen'') in 1936. Duttweiler was a supporter of the

women's suffrage in Switzerland Women in Switzerland gained the right to vote in federal elections after 1971 Swiss women's suffrage referendum, a referendum in February 1971. The first federal vote in which women were able to participate was the 1971 Swiss federal election, ...

. According to the Migros legend, alone Duttweiler discovered the women's needs in 1925. Following a dispute raged between the new Migros the established retailers which Duttweiler deemed as enemies of the women due to their practice of selling overpriced products. Following family fathers shall have boycotted him and housewives secretly bought at his shops. Adele and Gottlieb Dutweiler established the ''Adele und Gottlieb Duttweiler Stiftung'' to ensure the future work of the Migros chain as a cooperative according to the founding act. Duttweiler died in

. The

Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) is an independent think-tank and the oldest organisation of its kind in Switzerland. It is located in Rüschlikon, near Zurich. The GDI is located on the edge of the Park im Grüene. Established on 1 Sept ...

Rüschlikon Rüschlikon is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Horgen District, Horgen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. It is located on the west shore of Lake Zürich. Coat of ar ...

was founded after his death.

References

Gallery

File:Lindenhof - Strehlgasse 13 - Gottlieb Duttweiler 2013-04-15 13-59-48.JPG, Plaque at Strehlgasse 13, Lindenhof in Zürich, birthplace of Duttweiler File:Lindenhof - Strehlgasse 13 - Gottlieb Duttweiler 2013-04-15 14-00-21.JPG, Strehlgasse 13 File:Gottlieb Duttweiler - Familie, 'Dutti' rechts - Strohhaus-Ausstellung 'Park im Grüene' 2015-06-17 18-25-09.JPG, The Duttweiler family with Gottlieb to the right File:GraveGottliebAndAdeleDuttweiler-CemeteryRueschlikon RomanDeckert07042023.jpg, The grave of Duttweiler and his wife at the cemetery of Rüschlikon.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duttweiler, Gottlieb 1888 births 1962 deaths Businesspeople from Zurich Alliance of Independents politicians Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Members of the Council of States (Switzerland) 20th-century Swiss businesspeople Cooperative organizers Rüschlikon Migros people Swiss philanthropists Swiss company founders 20th-century philanthropists