Walter & Lotti Reist Founding couple · 1927 to 2022

On February 19, 1927 Walter Albert Reist Born in Schaffhausen. His father worked as a master foundryman at the George Fischer Schaffhausen (GF). Walter lost his mother when he was four years old. After his father remarried, the family moved to Schlatt in the neighboring canton of Thurgau, where his stepmother's parents ran a farm and his father established a chicken farm. A difficult and demanding time began for Walter, as he had to work hard everywhere in the fields and on the farm, especially after the outbreak of the Second World War, when all the men had to be drafted into active service.

His father secured him an apprenticeship as a machine fitter at GF. Walter completed his training with great enthusiasm and keen interest. After his apprenticeship, he was immediately assigned to the design department and became a draftsman/designer: the first step towards his future career had been taken.

After the war, he dedicated himself to his professional career. In 1948, the young engineer began a demanding, part-time course of study at an evening technical college, which he completed in 1953. Meanwhile, he was working as chief designer at the Daverio company in Zurich, where he... grease-free newspaper transporter he invented it for the NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Since this invention didn't particularly interest his employer, but delighted the client, he decided to become self-employed and founded the company in 1957. Fehr & Reist AG in Dietlikon Ferag.

His inventions revolutionized newspaper production so profoundly that Ferag quickly gained renowned publishers as clients and had to expand. In 1963, the company relocated to Hinwil, where it began production in a new building. With growing success around the globe, Ferag's facilities steadily expanded. Within just a few years, Walter Reist, with his unique system solutions, which he continually refined with new inventions, acquired a very large international customer base, including the world's leading newspaper publishers. Ferag became the largest and probably most attractive employer in the Zurich Oberland region and a sought-after apprenticeship for young people.

Even in his early years, Walter came into contact with the former teacher and Russian-Swiss Ernst Jucker This contact awakened in him a desire to dedicate himself to the essence of entrepreneurship. The question of what entrepreneurship actually is and what ultimately drives an entrepreneur occupied Walter Reist throughout his life. He considered holistic entrepreneurship, in which people, society, and politics are all important, to be of paramount importance. For him, the entrepreneur was always part of society; for him, entrepreneurship only thrives when it is integrated into the country and society and is committed to the state and its security.

To bring these ideas to the business community and stimulate discussion about them, he founded the [organization name] in 1985. Lilienberg Foundation Entrepreneur Forumwhich was able to move into its premises on the Lilienberg in 1989. Since then, the Lilienberg has served as a platform for encounters between business, politics, society, and culture, as well as a place for countless conversations and fruitful discussions among people interested in entrepreneurship, government, and society. Walter Reist was personally involved in many events on the Lilienberg for many years, an event whose influence extends far beyond Eastern Switzerland.

For his work as a successful entrepreneur, inventor and developer, as well as for managing the Lilienberg, Walter Reist received the [award name] in 1993. Honorary doctorate from ETH Zurich as one of the very few people who come from practical experience and not from the academic environment.

After completing his training at the evening technical college, Walter Reist married his childhood sweetheart from Schlatt, Lotti Gerber, on June 6, 1953, and started a family with their two children, Susanne and Andreas.

Lotti Gerber She was born on April 26, 1927, in Schlatt, the daughter of Jakob and Marie Gerber. She enjoyed a happy childhood, although she had to work hard in her father's business, a cheese factory and dairy, in addition to attending school. The family also kept several pigs, which she regularly had to tend to as well.

Her youth was also marked by the Second World War, when many men were serving on active duty. This meant Lotti had to pitch in even more in her father's business and take on traditionally male tasks. At 17, she became the first woman in Schlatt to drive a Peugeot delivery van, transporting fresh milk daily from her father's dairy to the train station. Because she was still a minor, this required special permission from the Thurgau government. During this time, she also frequently served as ambulance driver In action. This time during the war, with its great uncertainty and fear, shaped Lotti Reist: composure without fear, the will to serve and improvise, as well as her powerful dignity and calmness characterized her throughout her life.

Lotti attended primary school in Schlatt and secondary school in Feuerthalen. After the war, she completed a Training as a nurse She worked for several years at the Davos Lung Center, but during this time maintained her relationship with Walter Reist, whom she had met at school in Schlatt. After their marriage in 1953, the young couple moved into their first apartment in Thalwil and a few years later relocated with their children to Wallisellen. Finally, in August 1963, the family moved into the newly built house on the Schönenberg in Hinwil, practically at the same time as Ferag. Her father, who had given up the cheese dairy in Schlatt and previously moved to Hinwil, played a key role in acquiring the land for the company in Hinwil.

Walter and Lotti Reist quickly felt at home in the Zurich Oberland region and became involved in several areas. Walter served for four years in the Hinwil Municipal Council As finance director, he skillfully managed debt reduction. He also supported numerous local associations and integrated Ferag employees into the community's public life, for example through the Hinwil March. In recognition of his service to the municipality of Hinwil, as an attractive employer, and as a sponsor and patron of many public projects and initiatives, he and his wife Lotti received the [a special award] on their 80th birthdays. Honorary citizenship of the municipality.

Lotti Reist-Gerber considered herself a devoted family woman and, throughout Walter's years of professional growth and success, ensured he had a comfortable home where he could always retreat to his family and recharge. However, Lotti was rather reserved regarding her husband's social commitments, such as those related to Rotary, but she guided the family behind the scenes. With her level-headedness and motivating energy, she focused on her work with their two children, Susanne and Andreas.

Embroidery, folk art painting, and later especially porcelain painting brought her deep satisfaction. She attended numerous courses and continually developed her skills, eventually becoming a true artist. She generously gifted the many beautiful porcelain pieces she created to family, relatives, and friends. She also kept many for herself. Therefore, she was personally involved, contributing her extensive expertise, in the interior design and furnishing of the Lilienberg Business Forum, where the fruits of her labor can still be seen everywhere.

She also had a deep affection for her grandchildren Denise and Stefan, who spent every weekend with their grandparents when they were young, as well as for her granddaughters Bianca and Alessandra, who lived in the USA and whom she saw less often, but loved no less. She and her husband traveled extensively, often to the USA, to visit the family of her son Andreas. Cruises and voyages around the world were also part of Lotti and Walter's travel itinerary.