Fritz Tschannen
Encyclopedia
Fritz Tschannen is a Swiss
accordion
player and former ski jumper
who competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics
in St. Moritz
. Born in Saint-Imier
, he received his first accordion at the age of five and gave his first solo concert three years later. By the age of 18 he was working as an accordion teacher, in addition to ski jumping out of Skiclub Adelboden
. He joined the Swiss National Team in 1945 and attended the Winter Olympic Games three years later, where he placed ninth in a field of forty-nine competitors in the men's normal hill
event. That same year he became the Swiss national ski jumping champion and set a new world record with a jump of 120 metres.
After his experience at the Olympics, Tschannen was invited to train with the United States team, but moved to Canada when he was denied a work visa because of the ongoing Korean War
. He had a career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
from 1952–1954 as a musician and orchestrator, including a stint with his own French-language television show. He returned to his native country in 1964 and founded a musical school in the city of Bex
. He worked as a conductor until 1999, when he retired to the municipality of Fleurier
.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
player and former ski jumper
Ski jumping
Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...
who competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics
1948 Winter Olympics
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936...
in St. Moritz
St. Moritz
St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
. Born in Saint-Imier
Saint-Imier
Saint-Imier is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura .Observatoire Astronomique de Mont-Soleil is located above the village....
, he received his first accordion at the age of five and gave his first solo concert three years later. By the age of 18 he was working as an accordion teacher, in addition to ski jumping out of Skiclub Adelboden
Adelboden
Adelboden is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland.-Geography:Adelboden lies in the west of the Berner Oberland, at the end of the valley of the Engstlige river, which flows in Frutigen into the Kander river.Adelboden is a...
. He joined the Swiss National Team in 1945 and attended the Winter Olympic Games three years later, where he placed ninth in a field of forty-nine competitors in the men's normal hill
Ski jumping at the 1948 Winter Olympics
-K90 individual ski jumping :February 7, 1948The competition took place at "Olympiaschanze" with a K-Point of 68m .-External references:*...
event. That same year he became the Swiss national ski jumping champion and set a new world record with a jump of 120 metres.
After his experience at the Olympics, Tschannen was invited to train with the United States team, but moved to Canada when he was denied a work visa because of the ongoing Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. He had a career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
from 1952–1954 as a musician and orchestrator, including a stint with his own French-language television show. He returned to his native country in 1964 and founded a musical school in the city of Bex
Bex
Bex is a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle. It is a few miles south of its sister town municipality of Aigle.-The Bex Salt Mine:Bex is the site of a famous salt mine....
. He worked as a conductor until 1999, when he retired to the municipality of Fleurier
Fleurier
Fleurier was a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, the former municipalities of Boveresse, Buttes, Couvet, Fleurier, Les Bayards, Môtiers, Noiraigue, Saint-Sulpice and Travers merged to form Val-de-Travers.The Nobel...
.