Magdalena Locher

Magdalena Locher (née Moser; 22 January 1864 – 17 September 1944) was a Swiss businesswoman, brewery owner, and innkeeper who took over the Krone brewery and inn in Oberegg after her husband's death in 1898. She oversaw the expansion and modernization of the business, which became the largest industrial enterprise in the rural Catholic community, and was involved in bringing the first electricity to the region.

Early life

Maria Magdalena Moser was born on 22 January 1864 in Rorschach, the second of five children of Karl Anton Moser, a farmer and bailiff, and Maria Magdalena Züllig, who worked as a housekeeper and innkeeper. She grew up in Rorschach, where she attended primary school.

In 1886, Moser moved to Oberegg in Appenzell Innerrhoden, where she worked as a housekeeper and innkeeper at the Krone brewery and inn. Three years later, in 1889, she married Johann Josef Locher, a brewer from Oberegg and son of the establishment's owners. The couple had five children together, though one died shortly after birth.

Business leadership

Johann Josef Locher took over the family business in 1890. His father, Johann Christoph Locher, had acquired the bankrupt Fässler brewery of Appenzell at auction four years earlier, operating it separately from the Oberegg establishment. This business would later become known as Brauerei Locher AG, which continued to operate into the 21st century.