Ernst Homberger
Ernst Jakob Homberger (5 July 1869 – 13 January 1955) was a Swiss industrialist. He was the director of the company Georg Fischer from 1902 and the director of the watch manufacturer International Watch Company from 1905.
![](../I/lossy-page1-220px-GFA_13_140_1_Ernst_Homberger.tif.jpg.webp)
Family and early life
Homberger was born in 1869. He attended schools in St. Gallen and Zürich, and received a trade education at a school in Neuchâtel.[1] He married Bertha Margaretha Rauschenbach in 1903, a daughter of Johannes Rauschenbach-Schenk. In the same year, his wife's sister Emma Rauschenbach married the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung.[2] Homberger and his wife had three sons who became notable rowers: Hans Homberger (1908–1986), Rudolf Homberger (1910–?), and Alex Homberger (1912–2007).[3][4][5]
Professional career
![](../I/Wasserkraftwerk_Rheinfelden_(seitlich).jpg.webp)
![](../I/International_Watch_Company_Manufacture.jpg.webp)
After his education, Homberger started his working life in trading companies and banks in Zürich and London. He then worked for a bank in the West Indies. He returned to Switzerland in 1896 and worked for Kraftübertragungswerke Rheinfelden, a newly-formed company that had the concession for a hydroelectric generation plant in the Rhine. Homberger quickly rose to become the company's authorised representative and was head of accounting.[1]
Homberger entered the management of the Georg Fischer company in Schaffhausen on behalf of a bank and soon purchased company shares for himself. Since 1902, Homberger was the company's commercial director.[1] Through his 1903 marriage he became involved in the International Watch Company together with his brother-in-law Carl Jung. When Johannes Rauschenbach-Schenk died in 1905, both Jung and Homberger became shareholders alongside their wives, and Homberger became managing director. Homberger became sole owner in 1929 when he bought out Jung.[2][6]
In 1952, the University of St. Gallen awarded an honorary economics doctorate (Dr. oec. h. c.) to Homberger.[7] When Homberger died on 13 January 1955,[1] his son Hans took over the company.[2]
References
- "Ernst Homberger" (in German). Georg Fischer. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- "IWC Schaffhausen celebrates its 150 years". IWC. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Hans Homberger". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rudolf Homberger". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alex Homberger". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- Friedberg, Michael (13 May 2010). "The House of Homberger". IWC. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- "Ehrendoktoren der HSG" [Honorary doctors of the HSG] (in German). University of St. Gallen. Retrieved 13 May 2018.