“Take advantage of all the choices open to you! Go for it! But never on credit. It will destroy you.”
Jean-Jacques Sollberger was born in 1922 in Montreux. He does not have many memories of his early childhood, but rather of his school years, when he did small jobs here and there to help the family: rowing for English tourists who let themselves be guided in small boats, collecting driftwood for the winter, or retrieving coal from under the wagons at the train station.
As a teenager, Jean-Jacques Sollberger became interested in photography. He discovered a photography shop, where he did small tasks and learned, over two years, the techniques and laboratory work. It was the very beginning of color photography! But his father refused to let him pursue an apprenticeship in this “starvation trade,” as he called it. Eventually, it was in a hardware store that he began his apprenticeship. From the very first day, he learned to put everything in its proper place.
After three years of training, Jean-Jacques Sollberger worked in various companies. He was a valued employee, known for his honesty and frankness. His life journey led him to Moudon, Bienne, and Lucerne, where he met his future wife in 1944.
The couple settled in Le Locle after the war. They married in 1951. For many years, the Sollbergers remained childless and consoled themselves with a dog, before welcoming their first daughter, Christiane, in 1959. A year later, Nicole was born.
After raising their two daughters, the couple returned to Montreux in 1976 to take over the family business. On one side of the shop: jewelry, silverware, watches, the domain of his wife. On the other side: souvenirs, toys, and model trains, his own passion.
Twenty years later, they closed the shop and retired. When the liquidation took place, a large part of the stock remained unsold and is still kept in the cellar of his house in Blonay, overlooking Lake Geneva.
Throughout his life, he has kept everything: his stamp collection, photographs, films, encyclopedias, documents from his many travels, maps, the Reader’s Digest since the very first issue, his collection of dolls, all still neatly coiffed, and the photos of dear ones who have passed away, which adorn the walls and watch over him as he sits at his large wooden desk doing his paperwork.
At the age of 101, Jean-Jacques Sollberger reads 24 Heures every day and watches television. His daughters visit him regularly, and the sadness of losing his beloved wife in 2022 gradually fades. They had been married for 72 years. After her death, he sometimes feels lonely, but he enjoys chatting with his friend the gardener, who is himself nearly 80 years old.
To young people, he says: “Take advantage of all the choices open to you, go for it! Nowadays, young people can choose their profession, it’s wonderful!”.