Josef Büsser

Josef Büsser, the brother of Eduard Büsser, was a sculptor, painter and teacher. Josef attended the Gewerbeschule (vocational school) at St. Gallen and was then trained as a stone and sculptor. He became an apprentice of sculptor Wilhelm Meier. Büsser continued his drawing and sculpturing studies, e.g. at the School of Arts and Crafts in München with Josef Wackerle. In 1923 he returned to St. Gallen. In the late 1920s, he spent most of his time abroad, in Germany, Italy, France and Greece. Eventually, he was employed as a teacher at the stone and sculpturing vocational school in St. Gallen. He was considered moderately modern and created mostly religious sculptures, portrait busts, nudes and grave characters, but also medals and plaques. His paintings were characterized by landscapes, urban scenes, still lifes and interiors.

The event for which Josef Büsser designed the submitted medal was a tripartite athletics meeting of Switzerland, Germany and France on 22 August 1926 in Basel. It was the first sporting encounter of German and French athletes after World War I.