Karl Kobelt

Karl Kobelt speaking at the opening of the Fürstenland Bridge in St. Gallen, 1941

Karl Kobelt (born August 1, 1891 in St. Gallen ; † January 5, 1968 in Bern , entitled to reside in Marbach SG ) was a Swiss politician ( FDP ). As Federal Councilor , he was Minister of Defense and twice held the office of Federal President .

Life

The son of a railway mail official was a civil engineer by profession and from 1917 had the title of Dr. sc. techn. ETH . At the Federal Office for Water Management, he headed the department for marine regulation from 1919–33. In 1933 he was elected to the government council of the canton of St. Gallen and headed the building department. Despite an economic crisis, he knew how to manage major projects such as the regulation of the Rhine , the improvement of the Linth and the expansion of the transport infrastructure in hospitals . In 1939 he was elected to the National Council. In the Swiss army he rose to the rank of colonel.

Karl Kobelt was elected to the Federal Council in the 5th ballot on December 10, 1940 . On January 1, 1941, he took over the Federal Military Department . On November 5, 1954, he announced his resignation on December 31, 1954.

He was Vice President of the Federal Council in 1945 and 1951 and Federal President in 1946 and 1952.

Election results in the Federal Assembly

1940: Election to the Federal Council with 117 votes (absolute majority: 108 votes)
1943: Re-election as Federal Council with 163 votes (absolute majority: 92 votes)
1944: Election for Vice President of the Federal Council with 169 votes (absolute majority: 95 votes)
1945: Election to the Federal President with 165 votes (absolute majority: 93 votes)
1947: Re-election as Federal Council with 155 votes (absolute majority: 90 votes)
1950: Election of Vice President of the Federal Council with 148 votes (absolute majority: 80 votes)
1951: Re-election as Federal Council with 176 votes (absolute majority: 93 votes)
1951: Election to the Federal President with 179 votes (absolute majority: 100 votes)

Web links

Karl Kobelt in the Dodis databaseof diplomatic documents in Switzerland
Marcel Mayer: Kobelt, Karl. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Karl Kobelt , Internationales Biographisches Archiv 09/1968 from February 19, 1968, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

predecessor	Office	successor
Johannes Baumann	Member of the Swiss Federal Council 1941 - 1954	Giuseppe Lepori

personal data
SURNAME	Kobelt, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss politician (FDP)
DATE OF BIRTH	August 1, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH	St. Gallen
DATE OF DEATH	5th January 1968
Place of death	Bern