Death
Former St.Gallen government councillor and Swiss Olympics President Walter Kägi has died
Lawyer, construction manager, rower: Walter Kägi, a former Rorschacherberg government councilor, died a week ago at the age of 89. He was also known nationwide as the president of Swiss sports associations (rowing and Olympic associations).
Walter Kägi (1935-2024) during his time as a member of the St.Gallen government during a cantonal council session.
Regina Kuehne
The former St. Gallen government councillor Walter Kägi died last week in Rorschacherberg at the age of 89. He grew up in Uzwil but soon settled in the lakeside region and made a name for himself as a lawyer and FDP cantonal councillor and parliamentary group leader.
Elected to the government in 1992, he succeeded Willy Geiger as head of construction. In his first election, Kägi achieved the third-best result of all candidates, and in his re-election in 1996 he achieved the second-best result. In 1994/95 and 1999/2000, Kägi was Landammann, as the government president was then called. At the age of 64, Kägi resigned after eight years in government for “year of birth reasons”.
The expansion of the Office for the Environment in the Department of Construction took place during Kägi’s term in office, and he always strove for collegiality and balance. It was no coincidence that as head of construction he was able to appease the fierce opposition to the expansion of the St. Leonhards Bridge in St. Gallen and ensured that the environmental associations withdrew their objections to the fifth lane.
His name is also closely linked to the star architect Santiago Calatrava, who designed the waiting room at Bohl, the emergency call center and the Pfalzkeller in the canton’s capital. Kägi’s later commitment to a foundation that wanted to realize Calatrava’s project study for the Rorschach Kornhaus was unsuccessful, however.
“Obsessed with rowing,” as he once said, Kägi was successful in the Rorschach Lake Club and at the head of the Swiss Rowing Association. In 1996, he accompanied the top delegation to the Olympics in Atlanta, where the Gier brothers from Rorschach won the gold medal in the double sculls. From 2000 to 2005, Kägi was president of the Swiss Olympics. He remained happily involved with rowing and his club well into old age.
