Ferdinand Risch

Ferdinand Risch
File:Ferdinand Risch.png Portrait by Adolf Buck
Member of the Landtag of Liechtenstein for Oberland
In office 15 July 1928 – 16 April 1940
Succeeded by	Bernhard Risch
Mayor of Schaan
In office 1927 – 16 April 1940
Deputy	Johann Hilti Josef Schierscher
Preceded by	Johann Hilti
Succeeded by	Josef Schierscher
Personal details
Born	13 June 1880 Schaan, Liechtenstein
Died	16 April 1940 (aged 59) Grabs, Switzerland
Party	Progressive Citizens' Party
Spouse	Maria Viktoria Beck ​ (m. 1912)​
Children	4

Ferdinand Risch (13 June 1880 – 16 April 1940) was a politician from Liechtenstein who served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1928 to 1940. He was also mayor of Schaan from 1927 to 1940.

Life

Risch was born on 13 June 1880 in Schaan as the son of Johann Ferdinand Risch and Agatha (née Tanner) as one of two children. He worked as a bricklayer in Switzerland and Vorarlberg, later as a farmer.

Risch was a founding member of the Progressive Citizens' Party in February 1918. From 1918 to 1921 he was a member of the Schaan municipal council and from 1927 to 1940 of the municipal tax commission, and also major of the municipality. In this position, he played a role in managing the response to the Rhine floods in 1927. In addition, his time as mayor oversaw the building of the St. Elisabeth Monastery, which opened in 1935.

File:Landtag of Liechtenstein 1931.jpg

Risch (right) with members of the Landtag and Franz I in 1931

From 1928 to until his death in 1940, he was a member of the Landtag of Liechtenstein as a member of the Progressive Citizens' Party. From 1914 to 1940 he was the treasurer of the Liechtenstein Livestock Insurance Association. In these roles, he advocated for the building of the Liechtenstein inland canal, which was approved in 1930, started construction in 1931 and then completed in 1943.

During the 1939 Liechtenstein putsch, he played a role in organizing the opposition, alongside Anton Frommelt, which intercepted the marchers of the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VDBL) outside of Schaan and convinced them to turn back.

Risch married Maria Viktoria Beck (6 February 1883 – 15 April 1949) on 15 April 1912 and they had four children together. He died in an accident on 16 April 1940 in Grabs, Switzerland, aged 59.

Honours

• Liechtenstein: Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (1937)