Fritz Tschannen

Fritz Tschannen (13 May 1920 – 23 March 2011) was a Swiss accordion player and former ski jumper who competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. Born in Saint-Imier,^[1] 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,^[2] 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.^[1]

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.^[2] He died in Val-de-Travers in March 2011.^[3]

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