Hans Wilhelm Bracher

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Hans Wilhelm Bracher 1950

Hans Wilhelm Bracher , briefly Hans Bracher (born December 10, 1903 in Bern ; † May 11, 1967 in Bern) was a liaison officer between the heads of the Federal Military Department (1939-40 Federal Councilor Rudolf Minger , from 1941 Federal Councilor Karl Kobelt ) and during World War II the commander in chief of the army, General Henri Guisan , with influence on both sides. From 1951 to 1956 he was Director of the Federal Military Administration (today Secretary General of the DDPS ).

Life

The Bundeshaus -Est in which the offices of the EMD top were located.

He was the only child of the architect and builder Wilhelm Friedrich Bracher and Clara Luise Mezener (daughter of Friedrich Mezener). High school and law studies in Bern; lic. iur. 1928. In 1928 he married Elsa Helene Müller and had five sons with her. From 1928–30 he worked in the private sector and from 1931–37 he was a secretary at the Bernese building authorities. 1937–56 he worked in the federal military administration (until 1945 head of personnel, 1946–50 deputy director, 1951–57 director). From March 8, 1938 he was also secretary of the National Defense Commission.

1934 Commander of Dragoon Squadron 9, from 1938 in the General Staff, from October 1940 temporary service in the General's personal staff, 1949–51 Commander of the Motordragoner Regiment 2, 1951–53 Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army Corps. As a result of a cerebral haemorrhage suffered in 1953, he no longer had a military function and from 1957 he was a civil welfare chief of the army, early retired in 1962.

Work in the administrative reform of the EMD (today VBS)

In 1938/1939 Bracher created a modern group structure and the management of the military administration in the military administration.

Work in the Second World War

During the mobilization (border troops deployed on August 28, 1939), Bracher was assigned to the Front Group Army staff and on August 31, Federal Councilor Minger appointed him his liaison officer to General Guisan. In this function he was able to exert influence on various occasions. Mention should be made

Statue of General Guisan

1. Bracher tried to strengthen General Guisan's initially weak leadership position. As early as the third week of active service, he recommended that he form a new personal staff in order to overcome the lack of subordination of the general staff under Chief of Staff Jakob Labhardt . Guisan followed this, according to Hans Senn, problematic recommendation, which, however, consolidated his position; so was z. B. the plan of the Réduit worked out by this personal staff and not by the general staff. Guisan also followed Bracher's suggestion to transfer the command of a new 4th Army Corps to Labhart on January 1, 1940, and to fill the post of Chief of Staff.

2. When the military will weakened after the defeat of France and the speech by Federal Councilor Pilet-Golaz , Bracher recommended General Guisan to counter-steer a commandant appeal somewhere in Central Switzerland and to explain the Réduit strategy. This became the Rütli report .

3. Bracher endeavored to strengthen General Guisan's reputation at home and the confidence in him among the Allies. For example, in October 1940 he arranged receptions for the foreign attachés at the General's two evenings, or in March 1941 a luncheon for General and the English envoy Kelly with their wives. England banned imports from overseas to Vichy France, but not to Switzerland, but wanted security that Switzerland would blow up the Alpine tunnels if Germany attacked. Guisan Kelly gave this assurance at this secret only meeting of the two in a private conversation,

4. At a time when even most of the Federal Councilors and General Guisan did not speak English, Bracher served as a supervisor and translator. B. when visiting an Allied business delegation from mid-February to March 8, 1945 or when visiting on March 8, 1945 the commander of the American strategic air force Lieutenant General Spaatz, who made agreements with General Guisan to avoid accidental bombing; Spaatz was again looked after by Bracher during visits in April 1949 and May 1950.

Federal Councilor Kobelt

5. Bracher was the contact person on various occasions. For example, in July 1944, Fritz Brechbühl, the President of the Basel government, approached Bracher with the request to arrange a meeting between leading politicians of the left ( Oprecht , Bringolf ) and General Guisan, which led to meetings on August 18 and in December. An observer reported to Bracher a mysterious meeting between General Guisan and Germans in March 1943 in Biglen. Bracher found out that Guisan, through the mediation of Roger Masson , head of the intelligence service, had met the SS-Standartenführer and head of foreign espionage Walter Schellenberg twice and had given him a written statement about Switzerland's attitude towards the warring parties. Bracher persuaded Guisan to subsequently report this to Federal Councilor Kobelt and was thus able to avoid a scandal.

After the war

Winston Churchill and General Montgomery

In addition to his full-time position in the military department, whose director (now Secretary General) he was from 1950 to 1956, Bracher was repeatedly assigned special tasks. When a Douglas DC-3 Dakota, which had been missing since November 19, was located on the Gauli Glacier on November 22, 1946 , the organization of the rescue was entrusted to Bracher. He was also entrusted with the organization of the receptions and the care of high-ranking state guests. B. During the stay of Churchill with his wife and daughter Mary from August 23 to September 20, 1946 or of Pandit Nehru from May 3 to 5, 1949. The most lasting contacts were with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery , the Deputy Commander in Chief of NATO 1951– 58, which tried to improve the military fitness of the Swiss Army

reception

The work of Bracher as a creator of the military administration is presented and appreciated by Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg . The historians who examine the military and political situation in Switzerland during World War II mention Bracher in various contexts, but without going into more detail about his work. Bracher himself had decreed in his will that his unvarnished diary with many critical remarks about individual people was not to be published before 1980. The heirs therefore only approved Peter Steiner in 1997 to submit the diaries 1939–45 as part of a licentiate thesis. In 2012, Steiner published the estate in a reading edition. In the foreword Stefanie Frey judges that Bracher, as a key figure, had an overview of practically all matters of the EMD and the army as well as of the contacts with the warring parties. Peter Steiner thinks that Bracher and Barbey made a major contribution to the Guisan myth and prevented an uproar between the Federal Council and the General. When it comes to internees and refugees, Steiner misses signs of inner commitment.

literature

  • Bernard Barbey: Five Years in the General's Command: Diary of the Chief of General Guisan's Personal Staff, 1940–1945 . ("PC du Général: Journal du chef de l'Etat-major particulier du Général Guisan, 1940-1945"). H. Lang & Cie, Bern 1948 (translated by Hermann Böschenstein).
  • Edgar Bonjour : History of Swiss Neutrality Volume IV & V. Verlag Helbling & Lichtenhan, Basel / Stuttgart 1971.
  • Hans Senn: The Swiss General Staff. Volume 7, Verlag Hier und Jetzt, Baden 2002, ISBN 3-906419-58-4 .
  • Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg: Origin and work of the direction of the military administration. Effingerhof Verlag, Brugg 1989, ISBN 3-85648-101-X .
  • Erwin Bucher: Between the Federal Council and the General. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-280-02303-3 .
  • Willi Gautschi: General Henri Guisan: the Swiss army command in World War II. 4th revised edition. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-85823-516-4 .
  • Markus Somm : General Guisan. Stämpfli Verlag, Bern 2010.
  • Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. Reading edition. Library at Guisanplatz, 2012, ISBN 3-906969-51-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence


personal data
SURNAME Bracher, Hans Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bracher, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss liaison officer in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH May 11, 1967
Place of death Bern
  1. ↑ Andrea Weibel: Bracher, Wilhelm. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Historical-Biographical Lexicon of Switzerland. Volume V, 1929, p. 93.
  3. ↑ Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg: Origin and work of the military administration. Effingerhof, Brugg, 1989.
  4. ↑ Hans Senn: The Swiss General Staff. Volume VII, Verlag Helbling and Lichtenhahn AG, Basel 1995, p. 30.
  5. ↑ Files 39.12 / 4 and 39.12 / 7 date 6. December 1939, estate of Hans Bracher, Federal Archives
  6. ^ Statement by Bernard Barbey in Werner Ring's 13-part series by SF DRS 1973 Switzerland in the war 1933–1945 .
  7. ↑ Evaluation of the diary entries. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. Reading edition. Library at Guisanplatz, 2012, ISBN 3-906969-51-7 , p. 42.
  8. ↑ Diary 1937–1952. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, p. 142.
  9. ↑ Diary 1937–1952. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, p. 148 and Sir David Kelly "The ruling few" p. 278, Hollis & Carter, London, 1952
  10. ↑ Diary 1937–1952. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, pp. 279-283.
  11. ↑ Diary 1937–1952. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, pp. 477–478 and 517.
  12. ↑ Evaluation of the diary entries. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, p. 41.
  13. ↑ Evaluation of the diary entries. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, p. 48.
  14. ↑ J. Stüssi-Lauterburg (Hrsg.): Origin and work of the Directorate of the Military Administration (DMV). 1989.
  15. ↑ Roger Cornioley The plane crash of an American Dakota on the Gauli Glacier in November 1946 60 years ago the Haslital was the scene of the largest alpine rescue operation.
  16. ↑ File 469/8 Bracher: Report on the visit of W. Churchill on August 23-20. September 1946.
  17. ↑ Diary 1937–1952. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, p. 478f.
  18. ^ Mauro Mantovani: Swiss Security Policy in the Cold War 1947–1963. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1999, ISBN 3-280-02813-2 .
  19. ↑ Mauro Cerutti: La politique de défense de la Suisse pendant les premiers année de la guerre froide (1945-50) , in: Georg Kreis (ed.): Switzerland in the international system of the post-war period 1943-1950. 1996, ISBN 3-7965-1029-9 , pp. 98-129.
  20. ^ Stefanie Frey: Defense and Security Policy during the Cold War. Verlag Merker im Effingerhof, Lenzburg 2002, ISBN 3-85648-123-0 .
  21. ↑ Stefanie Frey: Foreword. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012.
  22. ↑ Evaluation of the diary entries. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, p. 45.
  23. ↑ Evaluation of the diary entries. In: Peter Steiner: Estate of Hans Bracher. 2012, p. 61.