Koechlin family

The Koechlin family (French pronunciation: [kœʃ.lɛ̃]; German pronunciation: [ˈkøːç.lɪn]; originally also spelled Köchlin and Köchli) is a French Alsatian family of Swiss origin originally hailing from Stein am Rhein near Schaffhausen. They expanded over several generations via Zurich and emigrated to Mulhouse where they acquired substantial wealth in the textile industry and held several public offices as politicians, military officers and judges.

In 1782, the formerly Swiss family, remigrated to Switzerland and took Swiss citizenship in Basel. There they became members of the social upper class as well, mostly through marrying into families of the Daig (Switzerland). Through these alliances with families such as the Merian family, Burckhardt family and Geigy family they became industrialists, clergy and politicians. Most notably they were involved in J.R. Geigy (presently Novartis) and responsible to turning the firm into a global concern. In 1874 and 1886, a second and third line of the Alsatian Koechlin families, became citizens in Basel.

The original Schaffhausen and Zürich lines of the family are almost extinct.