[3] Alfred Escher spent the first years of his childhood in the house where he was born, the "Neuberg" on Hirschengraben in Zürich.

When the family moved into the house in 1831, Heinrich Escher was able to devote himself fully to his passion for botany and his entomological collection.

During this period Alfred Escher was taught at home by various tutors, including the theologian Alexander Schweizer, and Oswald Heer, who was to become a paleo-botanist and entomologist.

With a dissertation on Roman law, Escher gained his doctorate "summa cum laude" from the University of Zürich.

Having completed his studies, Escher needed to think carefully about his future career, so he went to Paris for several months to contemplate the matter.

In 1845 and 1846 Escher took part in the Federal Council of Cantonal Representatives (Tagsatzung) in Zürich as Third Envoy, which brought him into contact with Switzerland's leading politicians.

He was elected to serve as National Council President (the highest public office in Switzerland) four times (in 1849, 1856 and 1862; in 1855 Escher declined the post for health reasons).

[7] Thanks to his many political posts and his position as one of the founders of the Swiss Northeastern Railway (1852/53) and Credit Suisse (1856), Escher commanded an unusual amount of power.

[9] This process prompted irate investors to heap criticism on Alfred Escher, even though he had already resigned from his position as chairman of the Northeastern Railway board in 1871.

He suffered repeated bouts of ill health throughout his life and on many occasions was obliged to spend long periods in convalescence.

The Alfred Escher memorial designed by Kissling and erected outside the Zürich main railway station was inaugurated on 22 June 1889.

There is thus a danger that Switzerland will be entirely circumvented and that, in the future, it will be left with no option but to present to the world the sad face of Europe's forgotten backwater.

"[13] With these words uttered in late 1849 Alfred Escher expressed his concern that modernity risked passing Switzerland by.

And he had good cause for such concern, since at the time when the distances covered by railway tracks in Europe were steadily increasing, driving economic development as they did, Switzerland was doing little to join in.

After years of political wrangling the Federal Polytechnic Institute (now known as ETH Zurich) was finally founded in 1854/55.

The establishment of this institution for technology and the natural sciences was the key act in laying the foundation for Switzerland's later pre-eminence in education and research.

In 1856 he succeeded in establishing a new bank, Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (now known as Credit Suisse), primarily for the purpose of securing financing for his own rail company, the Swiss Northeastern Railway.

Increasingly, however, Escher's bank financed other public and private sector endeavours too, thereby developing into an important lender for the Swiss economy and the founding institution of the Zürich's financial centre.

Alfred Escher initially favoured a trans-Alpine link via the Lukmanier, he changed his mind and became an advocate of the Gotthard project.

Escher was exposed to increasingly vociferous criticism, prompting him to resign as chairman of the Gotthard Rail Company in 1878.

In the years following its inauguration the volume of goods and passengers passing through soared, turning Switzerland into an important transit country.

[17] The number and importance of the positions and public offices held by Alfred Escher remains unparalleled in Swiss history to date, as the following (not exhaustive) list illustrates:[18] Those wishing to research Alfred Escher have a rich store of source material at their disposal.