Hermann Widmer, My Paternal Grandfather, A Great Man Who Will Have Marked His Region.

Autobiography written by my Grandfather

As it is customary to speak of the person who has just left for the Celestial East and in order to facilitate the task of the reporter, I mention below some details of significant events and most rejoicing of my long life.

I was born in Basel on April 27, 1926 where my parents had just settled after their marriage in Lucerne and the birth of my sister Anna (Annie) on September 21, 1924. I spent my youth in the Rhine city; primary school at Gotthelf College and secondary school at the new Gottfried Keller building.

After the eight years of compulsory school, I did a one-year internship in French-speaking Switzerland; at that time it was the fashion. My sister had already opted for this solution 2 years earlier as an auxiliary at the Locle Hospital. It therefore seemed normal that I should go for 12 months in this watchmaking city; a renowned confectioner from Locle was chosen and I stayed there for 50 weeks as a commissionaire.

However, today, I can affirm that this first activity in my life brought me nothing, not even a greater knowledge of the French language: the staff of the pastry-confectioner came from German-speaking Switzerland! so logically, I crossed out the name of the Mother-Commune of the Neuchâtel mountains from my agenda! Subsequently I rectified this hasty decision by reminding myself that one should never say: "Fountain, I will not drink your water!".

Back in Basel, my parents arranged an appointment for me with a career counselor. The latter informed me that the construction company "Gebriider Stamm", well known in the industry, was looking for an apprentice for the training of a commercial employee. I presented myself and I did my 3-year apprenticeship there, which ended in April 1945 with the final exam where I was ranked with other colleagues in 4th place with a grade of 1.4.

I was not a little proud of this achievement because my name appeared for the first time in the newspaper; only candidates who had obtained an average up to 1.5 or 5th rank were published.

After a total of 5 years spent at "Gebriider Stamm" and French and English courses at the SSC (Swiss Trading Company) well organized in Basel, I left for Geneva in the spring of 1947. After an entrance exam, I was hired in April 1947 at the SGS - General Society of Surveillance. I worked there for 2 years in the city of Calvin and 4 years in the place of my youth on the banks of the Rhine. It was a very interesting occupation with a clientele spread all over the world. As I had some knowledge of French and English, I was considered trilingual and I received a monthly bonus of Frs. 25.00, i.e. a salary of Frs. 425.00 per month!

I invested a lot in this very varied field of activity and in July 1952, the head office in Geneva entrusted me with the management of the Basel office.

I considered this promotion as an extraordinary step; it was honored with a monthly salary of Frs. 500.00 plus a supplement of Frs. 50.00, married men benefiting from this gesture!

Despite my stay in Geneva and my frequent absences from Basel - I was often traveling for goods control - I maintained contacts with my school friends Felix Stotz and Hans-Peter Hill (we called him Equus or Hillos). We were in the same class and the same colleges since 1937. These meetings during schooling turned into a real friendship that lasted 71 years (H.-P. Hill died in 2008) and 81 years (F. Stotz died in 2018).

Equus and Felix had the bright idea to create the travel agency HISTOBA, which I joined in 1948. This young firm also functioned as a matrimonial agency - Hillos met Nelly on a trip to Scandinavia - Felix took care of Fides by explaining the curiosities of Paris - and me, in 1949, I was trying to arouse Hélène's interest in the life of the people of the Kasbah of the city of Algiers and the population of Bou Saada, a city in the highlands of Algeria that we visited on camelback.

During these excursions, we, the men, improvised ourselves as omniscient guides and certainly impressed these three pleasant and charming "clients", so it was normal that we continued our captivating visits collectively.

The mutual interests, I would say the reciprocal sympathy, were so sincere that they naturally transformed into happy marriages, for me in 1950, for Felix in 1953 and Hillos in 1956. The 13 months before my solemn union with Hélène were filled with regular visits to Le Locle; the proverb "Fountain, ..." was from then on definitively classified!

By the unexpected and unfortunate death of my brother-in-law, Hélène's brother - Charles-Henri - I left the SGS and entered Hélène's family business, the Brasserie Leppert, on February 19, 1953, a day before the birth of our 2nd boy, Charles-Henri. Hermann jr was born on June 28, 1951 and Nicolas on June 27, 1956.

The customs and working methods in an independent business were totally unknown to me. I was lucky to have been able to count on the indulgence and patience of my in-laws who went to great lengths to support me so that I could familiarize myself with the whims of the bar owners with whom I was able to cultivate a pleasant dialogue.

Of course, my father-in-law remained the boss of the brewery until December 1956. With a lot of mastery he had organized his professional, civil and military life: the affection of a vital organ, now curable, had reason for his existence, too early, in his sixtieth year.

Fortunately, I was able to benefit for 4 years from his great experience in the selection and management of personnel, for his know-how during negotiations with our suppliers such as the Brasserie de la Comète, the Arkina water source, the Weissenburg fruit juice producer, the Utzenstorf cider houses of Busswil and Langenthal. And especially for his foresight linked to a diplomatic firmness during discussions with our loyal clientele particularly the management of the COOP of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds as well as 28 different small businesses! Not forgetting of course the negotiations with the members of the Society of Cafetiers of Le Locle and surroundings.

Therefore, I found myself at the head of the Leppert Brewery from January 1, 1957.

Quickly I was able to realize that my father-in-law had bequeathed me a perfect heritage; the relations with the clientele, which was becoming more and more demanding, continued fruitfully.

January 1, 1968 was a memorable date: not only for our family, but also for the many businesses of Le Locle and Brenets. The "Alfred Keller" lemonade factory in Le Locle, a significant competitor, was absorbed by the Leppert Brewery.

This merger was very well accepted by our customers and personally I found myself at the head of a unique depot in Le Locle which took care of the deliveries of beers from La Comète and Beauregard, Arkina and Henniez Lithinée mineral waters, Weissenburg and Romanel fruit juices as well as well-rated cider houses.

The same year, the Beauregard Brewery had problems with their depositary in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The Leppert Brewery thus became the exclusive supplier of Beauregard beer for La Chaux-de-Fonds and its surroundings (Les Roches-de-Moron and La Maison-Monsieur).

Particular events followed and on January 1, 1975, the Brasserie de la Comète was bought by the SIBRA group which already had 5 breweries: Cardinal, Beauregard, Salmen, Wädenswil and Orbe.

The customs officers' uniform corresponds to the 14-18 period. The float of the Leppert Brewery (a company founded in Locle in 1870) is waiting... Its presence is probably explained by the presence opposite the customs of a natural icehouse as there were many in the Jura! source: Notrehistoire.ch

The following year, in 1976, SIBRA decided to only brew in 2 places: Fribourg and Rheinfelden. Only one name was chosen for Fribourg: Cardinal. From then on, the districts of Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds only knew one good beer: La Cardinal.

The year 1976 is well anchored in my memory: not only from a commercial point of view; it also marked the beginning of my political life!

The PPN (National Progressive Party became in 1981 the Liberal-Radical Party), of which I had been a member for about twenty years, remembered me and solicited me to put my name on their list during the election of the future General Council of the commune of Locle. I was somewhat surprised and flattered that the PPN approached me; I had given my agreement and to my great surprise I was elected.

In the end I sat for 20 years in the Legislative of Locle and in 1981 I was even the president.

From the simple Swiss German commissioner of 1941 — 1942, I became 40 years later the 1 citizen of the Mother-Commune. This is almost worthy of an entry in the Guinness Book!

This mandate aroused my interest in management and concern for the well-being of the population: I decided to run in the elections to the Grand Council of the Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel in 1977. There too I was elected and I participated in the sessions in Neuchâtel for 4 legislatures, so until 1993.

Of course, my main activity remained the management of the Leppert Brewery. But business was becoming increasingly difficult: in addition the agreement between the Swiss Café Society and the breweries, which guaranteed a certain exclusivity of deliveries to Swiss brewers was abolished.

So I decided in 1982 to sell the family business — almost a century old — to the SIBRA group. Given the good contacts we had with their leaders, MM. Hayek, Ruegg and Matthey, I was able to obtain the same compensation paid at the time for the purchase of the A. Keller lemonade factory. In addition, I joined the board of directors of SIBRA as a member; I sat there for 10 years.

My active occupation therefore ended in this year 1982; but after a few months of rest, my Freemason colleague Eric Zutter approached me for the management of the accounts of his factories "Manufacture de Montres Nationale" and "Comelec SA". As I had good relations with the banks, notably SBS and Banque Populaire, I was able to negotiate substantial credits for the development of his companies and later for the creation of INCABLOC.

In recognition of my commitment and my help in development, Eric Zutter awarded me the title of Director by charging me with optimizing the financial aspect of his business. I remained active with him until the end of 1993, when I finally tidied up my office.

Having therefore more time at my disposal, I engaged in volunteer activities within the Red Cross; being a member of the committee of the Locle section, and following the request of its president, I took over the management of the transport service until the merger of the sections of Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds. At first, I only thought of lending a hand for the smooth running of the service; little by little, this activity developed considerably, it became more and more complicated and constraining. After 20 years of loyal service, I took advantage of the cantonal grouping of the 7 Neuchâtel sections to take my leave.

For 5 years, I have been doing nothing and I am currently living the 27th year as a pensioner of the AVS. This has allowed me to closely observe the organization of the life of our offspring. To my satisfaction, I can affirm that our 3 sons have managed and still manage very well and with a lot of success their family lives and at the time professional.

The figures above attest that in this year 2018, I have been married for 68 years to Hélène who was a very good mother.

Of course, one could question me and ask me this good question:

"And you, were you always a good husband and a caring and foresighted father?"

I would answer, as was the case in 1954 during my initiation at the Freemasons, to their question: "Were you always a good son?"

"I have given myself a lot of trouble, often with trouble! But to have a satisfactory answer to this question, please ask the people concerned". (At the time I indicated the name of my parents, who were 52 years old).

So I reiterate my affirmation and confirm that I made and still make a lot of efforts to deserve the classification:

"Good, attentive and foresighted"

My hectic but interesting life is coming to an end; but before definitively closing this chapter, I want to repeat that I am lucky and satisfied to still have a wife, attentive sons and daughters-in-law, grandchildren who invest a lot of interest and zeal in their private and professional activities and a great-granddaughter who will certainly benefit from the know-how of her parents.

I end my presentation with some emotion but I note with satisfaction that all these memories remain and do not fade away.

Hermann Widmer, Le Locle, in July 2018.

Links

Here are some articles published in the newspapers:

1.  Story of beer and love - L'impartial, July 25, 2012 | or version  PDF
2.  Le Locle: death of Hermann Widmer, a humanist devoted to his adopted city - Arcinfo, October 18, 2019 | or version  PDF
3.  Magical party for 60000 fans of the 80s - ArcInfo, July 9, 2012 | or version  PDF
4.  Well-deserved honorary presidency - L'impartial, August 6, 2004 | or version  PNG
5.  Continuity in renewal - L'impartial, October 14, 1988 | or version  PNG
6.  August 1st in Le Locle - L'impartial, July 30, 1976 | or version  PNG
7.  Leppert Brewery Beers and mineral waters - L'impartial, October 3, 1978 | or version  PNG
8.  Burglary at the Leppert Brewery - L'impartial, October 1, 1979 | or version  PNG
9.  The party for Hermann - L'express, October 14, 1988 | or version  PNG