Gottlieb Suhner (27 November 1842 – 9 October 1918) was a Swiss industrialist who founded the firm that became Huber & Suhner AG, the most important industrial enterprise in Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
Biography
Suhner was the son of Hans Jakob, a poor smallholder, and of Anna Barbara Alder. He married first, in 1865, Johanna Signer, daughter of Johannes, a master joiner, and second, in 1902, Elise Alwine Steiger, daughter of Jonas, a man of independent means. In 1864 he opened a mechanical workshop in his father-in-law's house for the manufacture of spare parts for weaving and embroidery looms, developing several inventions. He also operated an embroidery business until around 1890 and managed a network of home-based work.
In 1892 Suhner acquired a wire mill in Basel, which he transferred to Herisau to convert into an electrical cable works, and added a rubber factory in 1905. He thus created the most important industrial enterprise in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the future Huber & Suhner AG. To preserve his company's independence, he refused in 1895 a merger with BBC of Baden, his principal customer, and instead chose in 1896 to found a subsidiary at Brugg (later Kabelwerke Brugg AG). A pioneer of workers' housing construction in Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Suhner withdrew from the company in 1906.
References
Bibliography Appenzellische Jahrbücher, 47, 1920, 103–109 P. Holderegger, Unternehmer im Appenzellerland, especially 202–204 Th. Fuchs et al., Herisau, 1999, 210, 229, 248, 254