Corporate History 1951 - 1960

 

previous 1941 - 1950

 

1951 Computer
  		At Swiss Re the mechanical computer is replaced by a programmable one.
 
 
1953  

                          

  		Slowly but surely, the gigantic liners are losing their dominance in North Atlantic travel to the aircraft. An aura of nostalgia hangs over a sea voyage across the Atlantic, once the pride of all maritime nations.
 

  		On 29 May 1953, Edmund P. Hillary, a New Zealander, accompanied by Sherpa Tensing, are the first to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain, the 8848 metre high Mount Everest.
 
 
1955 Koala
  		The Swiss Re founds the Australian Branch in Melbourne. Australia’s economic development is closely linked with that of mining. After the Second World War extensive mineral deposits of gold, coal, uranium, lead, iron, bauxite, copper and zinc are discovered.
 

  		Le Corbusier, pseudonym of the world famous Swiss architect, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, is celebrated for his modern, uniform architecture like the pilgrimage chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp, France.
  		Chapel Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp
 
 
1956 In the Far East, the advisory company, Swiss Re Advisers Limited, is founded in Hong Kong. The British crown colony at the crossroads of South East Asia develops rapidly. The reinsurance coverage needs are just as diverse as the risks themselves. The rising standard of living forms the basis for a thriving Life insurance business.
 

  		The world’s fastest and most successful racing driver of his day: the Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio won 24 Grand Prix races in the course of his career, including, in 1954, the last Grand Prix race held in Switzerland.
 
  On 26 July 1956, 200 nautical miles from its destination, the port of New York, the Italian ship the 'Andrea Doria' collides with the Swedish steamer 'Stockholm' and sinks. In calm seas, 1692 passengers and crew members are rescued, although there is still a loss of some 50 lives. Swiss Re is also affected by this catastrophe.
 
 
1957 Swiss Re’s new restaurant for staff and guests, the 'Clubhouse', is completed after four years of construction according to plans drawn up by Professor Hofmann, the chief architect of the 1939 Swiss National Exhibition. The architecture provides a striking note between the green spaces of the Mythenquai and the Belvoir Park. The building is inaugurated by the now 450 members of staff on 20 December 1957.
 
Clubhouse
 
  Nuclear energy becomes an issue of world-wide importance. The Swiss electorate vote by a vast majority to include a nuclear energy article in the Federal Constitution. Swiss Re takes a step into a new risk dimension by entering the field of Nuclear Energy reinsurance.
 

  		On 4 October 1957, the Soviets launch Sputnik I into space. The first artificial satellite weighs 83 kilos and orbits the earth in 95 minutes. The launch of Sputnik I also marks the beginning of the battle of the superpowers for supremacy in the space race.
 
 
1958 Swiss Re introduces the five-day week. Saturdays are free from January. The Employees’ Association celebrates 50 years of existence and issues a commemorative publication to mark the occasion.
 

  		The Swedish Professor Ake Senning successfully plants the first heart pacemaker in October 1958. Thanks to this invention, thousands of patients are able in future, despite an abnormal heartbreak, to live a normal, active life.
 
 
1959 Swiss Re’s Canadian Branch is opened in Toronto.
 
  For the first time Swiss Re’s gross premium income exceeds the billion mark with 1043 million Swiss francs.
 
  in million CHF: 1864
1888
1913
1938
1963
1987 		0.7
4.2
52.0
277.0
1361.0
4045.0 		           
 
1960 The company founds the Canadian Reassurance Company for Life business.
 
  At Swiss Re, the electronic era dawns with the installation of an IBM 650 data processing unit.
 

  		In the Zurich Letzigrund sports stadium Armin Hary is the first to run 100 metres in 10.0 seconds, at a pre-Olympic meeting on 21 June 1960.
 
  In the 1960s and 1970s, utmost attention is paid to the further training of employees, especially at all management levels, with the introduction of new training concepts.
 
On 15 December 1960, a major training centre is established in the form of a foundation. This is the Swiss Re Academy which is set up to promote the training of insurance experts from throughout the world, in particular from developing countries. The courses organised by the SITC last several months and give a thorough introduction to the various classes of business, the organisation of insurance and management training. More than 3700 students from 80 different countries had attended specialised courses since its foundation.
 
SITC
 
The collected works of Thomas Mann, who died in Kilchberg near Zurich in 1955, are published in Frankfurt. His works are distinguished by their formal accomplishment and a broad spirit borne by genuine humanity. In 1929, Thomas Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

 

previous 1941 - 1950


Back to Top