Kurt Furgler

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Kurt Furgler

Kurt Furgler (born June 24, 1924 in St. Gallen ; † July 23, 2008 there ; entitled to live in Valens ) was a Swiss politician ( CVP ) from the canton of St. Gallen . As a Federal Councilor , he was first Minister of Justice, then Minister of Economics, and held the office of Federal President three times .

Life

Furgler grew up as the son of a textile merchant in St. Gallen. His father lost his job during the embroidery crisis of the interwar period and then founded the «Familia» life insurance company to enable his family to make a living. Kurt Furgler studied law at the universities of Freiburg , Zurich and Geneva . He received his doctorate in 1948, was admitted to the bar and worked as a lawyer in St. Gallen. He was a brigadier in the Swiss Army; that was the highest military rank of a Federal Councilor after the Second World War. Furgler was the founder of TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen , in whose handball department he also worked as a player and coach. As a coach at the legendary Seon game, the referee at the time, Walter Brand, referred him to the stands for inappropriate behavior.

Kurt Furgler was married from 1950 and had six children. Daughter Brigitta Furgler (* 1952) is an actress. Matthias and Michael Hüppi are Furgler's nephews. He died of heart failure at the age of 84. Two active and several former members of the state government appeared at his funeral in the collegiate church of St. Gallen .

Political career

From 1955 to 1971 Furgler was a member of the National Council, from 1963 as President of the CVP parliamentary group. In 1964, the first parliamentary commission of inquiry (PUK) was set up at his request . Under his chairmanship, twenty national and twelve councilors of states investigated the so-called Mirage scandal . The parliament finally followed the demands proposed in the final report, which provided for a reduction in the order from 100 to 57 aircraft and improvements in internal processes.

Kurt Furgler

On December 8, 1971, Furgler was elected to the Federal Council and took over the Justice and Police Department . Furgler played a controversial role in the espionage scandal surrounding Brigadier Jean-Louis Jeanmaire . From 1983 on, Furgler headed the Department of Economics . On December 31, 1986, he resigned from the Federal Council. Furgler was Federal President in 1977, 1981 and 1985 and Vice President in 1976, 1980 and 1984.

Furgler campaigned for the constitutional article on equal rights for men and women, reformed family law and spatial planning, initiated a - later failed - total revision of the federal constitution and actively campaigned for the creation of the canton of Jura . He became known in particular through the Lex Furgler , a law that restricted the acquisition of real estate by foreigners. In 1974, Furgler disregarded the principle of collegiality in the Federal Council on the question of abortion : He demanded that he be released from presenting the indication solution to parliament. In 1982 he headed the crisis team during the occupation of the Polish embassy in Bern .

On September 30, 1985, nationalist parliamentarian Markus Ruf harshly demanded the resignation of Federal Councilor Kurt Furgler. With his policy on foreigners, he had committed “betrayal of the legacy of our fathers” and should now bear political responsibility for his “years of failure”. Furgler reacted calmly at the lectern: "I'll adjust to the level of your question and lower the lectern."

In 1985 the President of the United States Ronald Reagan and the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev met for the Geneva Summit Conference (1985) in Switzerland. As Federal President, Kurt Furgler hosted the summit.

Furgler was a member of the Club of Rome and the InterAction Council as well as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee . He has also received several honorary doctorates, including one from the University of St. Gallen in 1987 .

Election results in the Federal Assembly

  • 1971: Election to the Federal Council with 125 votes (absolute majority: 115 votes)
  • 1975: Re-election as Federal Council with 187 votes (absolute majority: 109 votes)
  • 1975: Elected Vice President of the Federal Council with 182 votes (absolute majority: 103 votes)
  • 1976: Election to the Federal President with 190 votes (absolute majority: 97 votes)
  • 1979: Re-election as Federal Council with 206 votes (absolute majority: 111 votes)
  • 1979: Elected Vice President of the Federal Council with 156 votes (absolute majority: 98 votes)
  • 1980: Election to the Federal President with 191 votes (absolute majority: 101 votes)
  • 1983: Re-election as Federal Council with 198 votes (absolute majority: 115 votes)
  • 1983: Elected Vice President of the Federal Council with 162 votes (absolute majority: 96 votes)
  • 1984: Election to the Federal President with 177 votes (absolute majority: 100 votes)

literature

Web links

Commons : Kurt Furgler  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ srf.ch - April 21, 1991: Peymann's Burgtheater production Wilhelm Tell ( Memento from January 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Question time in the National Council on September 30, 1985 On: SRF
  3. ^ Annual review 1985: Summit in Geneva on tagesschau.de
predecessor Office successor
Ludwig von Moos Member of the Swiss Federal Council
1972–1986 		Arnold Koller
personal data
SURNAME Furgler, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politician (CVP)
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Gallen
DATE OF DEATH July 23, 2008
Place of death St. Gallen