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 Mig ...

chain of grocery stores and the

Alliance of Independents The Alliance of Independents, Ring of Independents, or National Ring of Independents, (german: Landesring der Unabhängigen (LdU), french: Alliance des Indépendants (AdI), it, Anello degli Indipendenti) was a social liberal political party in ...

(''Landesring der Unabhängigen'') party.

Life and work

Duttweiler was born in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. Starting with five vehicles in 1925, his

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

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. 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 Adele Duttweiler (29 December 1892 – 27 May 1990) was a Swiss philanthropist and the wife of Gottlieb Duttweiler, founder of both the Migros group and the LdU political party. Early life Adele Bertschi was born on 29 December 1892 in Hor ...

transferred ownership of Migros to their customers, as a

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

. 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

, 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 Migro ...

(''Migros Genossenschaftsbund''). In 1958, he founded the

Migros Bank Migros Bank is a Swiss bank founded in 1958 by Gottlieb Duttweiler and belongs to the Federation of Migros Cooperatives. It has 67 branches in Switzerland (20 new between 2008 and 2016). In 2015, it has a balance sheet of 42 billion Swiss fran ...

. Duttweiler also founded the political party

(''Landesring der Unabhängigen''). 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 Zurich. 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 ...

Rüschlikon Rüschlikon is a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is located on the west shore of Lake Zürich. Coat of arms Its coat of arms features a white shield showing a red rose with a yellow center an ...

was founded after his death.

References

Gallery

Lindenhof - Strehlgasse 13 - Gottlieb Duttweiler 2013-04-15 13-59-48.JPG, Plaque at Strehlgasse 13, Lindenhof in Zurich, birthplace of Duttweiler Lindenhof - Strehlgasse 13 - Gottlieb Duttweiler 2013-04-15 14-00-21.JPG, Strehlgasse 13 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

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duttweiler, Gottlieb 1888 births 1962 deaths Businesspeople from Zürich 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