Kuhn Rikon products

In 1926, Heinrich Kuhn-Boller acquired the bankrupt copper and steel manufacturer Kindlimann and founded the Heinrich Kuhn Metallwarenfabrik. He developed the Duro brand of cookware, designed for the emerging electric cookers, with flat bottoms instead of curved ones [2].

When Heinrich Kuhn died in 1932 as a result of a brain tumor operation, Henri Kuhn took over the management and transformed the company into a joint stock company (Aktiengesellschaft). Starting in 1947, his younger brother, Jacques Kuhn, worked as a technical director and introduced the production line. In 1949 they launched the Duromatic pressure cooker, which laid the foundation for export activities, becoming the market leader.

In 1964, when Switzerland welcomed 1,000 Tibetan refugees, Henri and Jacques Kuhn gave them work and accommodation at the company. In 1967, on the advice of the Dalai Lama, they founded the Rikon Tibet Institute with an endowment of 100,000 francs and land to build. The institute was opened in 1968 and has become an important religious center for Tibetans from Switzerland and neighboring countries. Even now, the Kuhn Rikon employees have many workers of Tibetan descent.