Office against official and association arbitrariness

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The office of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives against the arbitrariness of official bodies and associations was a Swiss ombudsman instance founded in 1956 by Gottlieb Duttweiler or set up by Werner Schmid , which served to help people “who fell under the wheels of justice or administration were". The Office handled cases where all legal remedies had been exhausted, often with success, on a private basis. It was financed by the Migros Cooperative Foundation . In particular, the second head of the office, Gertrud Heinzelmann , made the office known throughout German-speaking Switzerland through explosive cases in the late 1960s and 1970s. With Heinzelmann's resignation in 1976, the Federation of Migros Cooperatives dissolved the office. The office was located at Limmatstrasse 152 in Zurich .

Head of Schmid 1956–1963

In 1956 Gottlieb Duttweiler appointed one of his greatest critics, the journalist and politician Werner Schmid, to the board of the newly founded office against arbitrariness of the authorities and associations:

“For years Werner Schmid argued publicly with the Migros founder. One day, however, the two made peace and generously put a line under all feuds of the past. In 1956 Schmid resigned as a teacher and headed the "Office against official and association arbitrariness" set up by Migros. With ardor he took care of people under pressure and helped them to gain their rights against arbitrariness by the authorities - a Swiss ombudsman on a private basis "

- Bridge builder , 1968

Schmid wrote about his work:

“The idea of ​​creating an« office against official and association arbitrariness »came from Mr Duttweiler. He asked me to take it over after a designated lawyer canceled. I said yes. They gave me a nice little office and left me to my fate. How should I become aware of the arbitrariness of office and association? How do you discover? Well, they gave me some small bundles of files. In it I found complaints from so-called little people who had somehow been neglected and turned to "Dutti" for help. [...] "

- Werner Schmid, bridge builder , 1959

And: “I've never lacked customers. I was happy to get a legal adviser in my colleague Karl Gasser. "

Schmid managed the office until he retired in 1963.

Heinzelmann director 1963–1976

In mid-October 1963 the women's rights activist Gertrud Heinzelmann took over the management of the office against official and association arbitrariness. The "position as the first ombudswoman in Switzerland" was

“Financed by the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund and is one of the ideas of Migros founder and politician Gottlieb Duttweiler. The ombudsman's office is known throughout German-speaking Switzerland under the name “Office against official and association arbitrariness”. [Heinzelmann] gives everyone free legal advice, files complaints and goes to court when officials or state officials abuse their power or arbitrarily interpret laws and regulations. A diverse clientele is always waiting in the anteroom [...]. Thanks to her office, she has journalistic opportunities for the first time that she previously did not have to this extent. To ensure that her ombudsman remains in conversation and receives legal cases from everywhere, she runs a press service that supplies the daily newspapers with free articles about her current cases. [...] Gertrud Heinzelmann is an uncomfortable opponent for the authorities [...] "

- Barbara Kopp : The Unwavering: How Gertrud Heinzelmann taught the Pope and Switzerland fear. 2003

Walter Biel , who, as editor-in-chief of Duttweiler's own newspaper Die Tat, helped to make explosive cases public, criticized Heinzelmann for the fact that Heinzelmann's formalistic and meticulous approach was "almost something self-righteous". A government council decided internally: “The opinion of Dr. Heinzelmann is pure wishful thinking of a women's rights activist and a man who hates a man's state floating in the clouds. "

As head of the office, Heinzelmann started the Meier 19 1967 case, among other things . Meier 19 was charged “with breach of official secrecy because he had handed over files to the office against official and association arbitrariness.” “In Zurich's largest police and judicial affair, [Heinzelmann] defended detective sergeant Kurt Meier, internally known as Meier 19, the found corruption in the city police corps and accused the chief of the criminal police of theft ”.

In 1976, Gertrud Heinzelmann had to resign due to old age, and the Federation of Migros Cooperatives dissolved the office against official and association arbitrariness.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gertrud Isolani : Letters, Conversations, Encounters . In: Writings on church and legal history . Böhlau, Cologne 1985 ( excerpt in the Google book search).
  2. ^ A b Werner Schmid: Experiences and encounters: Politicians with passion. 1973, p. 194.
  3. ↑ A. (abbreviation): Werner Schmid x-rayed . In: Bridge Builders . November 15, 1968, p. 2 .
  4. ^ Werner Schmid : Against official and association arbitrariness: Small story of a small office . In: Bridge Builders . April 10, 1959, p. 2 f .
  5. ^ Werner Schmid: Experiences and encounters: Politicians with passion. Peter Meili, 1973, 201.
  6. ↑ Werner Schmid: "Office against official and association arbitrariness". In: Werner Schmid: Experiences and encounters: Politicians with passion. Peter Meili, 1973, 194 ff.
  7. ^ Susanne Peter-Kubli: Schmid, Werner. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz ., Retrieved on May 6, 2016.
  8. ↑ a b c Barbara Kopp : The Unwavering: How Gertrud Heinzelmann taught the Pope and Switzerland fear. Limmat Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-85791-442-4 , p. 266.
  9. ↑ Barbara Kopp: The Unwavering: How Gertrud Heinzelmann taught the Pope and Switzerland fear. Limmat Verlag, 2003, pp. 264-265.
  10. ↑ Erich Schmid: Meier19. (PDF; 2.0 MB) erichschmid.ch, accessed on August 7, 2011 .
  11. ↑ Blood from friend . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 1968, pp. 72-73 ( online ).
  12. ↑ Barbara Kopp: The Unwavering: How Gertrud Heinzelmann taught the Pope and Switzerland fear. Limmat Verlag, 2003, p. 265.
  13. ↑ Gertrud Heinzelmann: The eastern Swiss women's penal institution in the democratic mill . In: Tagesanzeiger Magazin . November 6, 1976, p. 31 .

Literature and Sources