Hans Conrad Finsler

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Hans Conrad Finsler (born August 18, 1765 in Zurich ; † December 21, 1839 in Bern ) was a Swiss military and politician during the time of the Helvetic Republic , the mediation and the restoration .

biography

Finsler came from an old Zurich council and guild family. His father was a member of the Small Council of the City of Zurich, his mother came from the influential family of the Escher vom Glas. After joining his father's silk trading company, in 1796 he was promoted to the Twelve Council of the Guild of Aries. When the old Confederation collapsed as a result of the French intervention, Finsler was appointed the first finance minister of the newly founded Helvetic Republic. Although Finsler was also initially considered a Unitarian, he became hostile to the influential director Frédéric-César de la Harpe and was therefore dismissed in 1799. After the first coup, Finsler became a member of the Provisional Executive Committee on January 7, 1800, which took care of government instead of the Board of Directors.

In the second coup on August 7, 1800, Finsler finally played a major role and was a member of the legislative council until January 1801. Due to the turmoil and political intrigues, he seems to have turned more and more away from his original political stance, so that he finally became a staunch opponent of the Helvetic Republic and in autumn 1802 supported the Zurich uprising against the Republic and even became a member of the provisional Zurich government was. After the renewed intervention of France and the establishment of the mediation constitution in 1803, Finsler was a member of the large and small councils of the canton of Zurich, now clearly on the side of the aristocrats. From 1814 to 1829 he was also a State Councilor. Thanks to his extensive education and skill, as well as the support of his brother Georg Finsler , who ran the banking house Gebrüder Finsler & Co., Finsler dominated Zurich politics at will and regularly represented Zurich at the Swiss Federal Diet.

Finsler's military career began in 1787 when he became a lieutenant in the mathematical-military society in Zurich. In 1795 he was promoted to adjutant general of the artillery. From 1804 he held the post of chief quartermaster of the Swiss Confederation and in 1815, after the resignation of Niklaus Franz von Bachmann, he was appointed commander in chief of the federal army during the border occupation. In this role he also commanded the Swiss troops during the siege of the Hüningen fortress . In addition, in 1809, on the occasion of the occupation of the border, Finsler established the Swiss national surveying through the surveys carried out under his supervision. In 1822, the Federal Diet, as chief quartermaster, formally assigned him the management of surveying work for all of Switzerland.

In 1829, Hans Conrad Finsler had to resign from all his offices because Bank Finsler went bankrupt and the canton of Zurich made heavy losses. The scandal shook the conservative government in Zurich very hard and contributed significantly to the liberal turnaround of 1830 (→ regeneration ). Finsler was sentenced to one year in exile, after which he moved to Bern, where he worked in the federal commission for regional mapping until his death.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Finsler, Hans Conrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politicians and military
DATE OF BIRTH August 18, 1765
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1839
Place of death Bern