Switzerland’s success story

The life and work of Alfred Escher (1819-1882)

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Alfred Escher (1819–1882) helped modern Switzerland find its way during the very first decades of its existence. Escher, more than any other politician or business leader, influenced and exploited Switzerland’s window of economic liberalism (1850s and ‘60s). As promoter of the Nordostbahn and Gotthardbahn railways (now Swiss Federal Railways, SBB), the Polytechnic (now the ETH Zurich), Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (now Credit Suisse) and Schweizerische Lebensversicherungs- und Rentenanstalt (now Swiss Life), he helped set Switzerland on the road to success. His meteoric rise to the very most senior positions in commerce and politics, his momentous works and his tragic end still exert a fascination today. His inexhaustible capacity for work is legendary, the public controversy about the man and his achievements was without parallel. He was finally broken by the very project with which he made world history: the Gotthardbahn railway. Alfred Escher’s stirring life and his role in Switzerland’s success story is more relevant today than ever.