Philipp Gottlieb Labhardt

Philipp Gottlieb Labhardt (born May 26, 1811 in Steckborn , † July 21, 1874 in Frauenfeld ) was a Swiss politician . From 1848 to 1851 and from 1865 to 1869 he was a member of the National Council. From 1844 to 1848, 1861 to 1864 and 1869 to 1874 he was a member of the government of the Canton of Thurgau .

biography

The son of the chief bailiff Christian Labhardt began studying theology and philosophy at the University of Basel , but broke it off and joined the Neapolitan military service in 1830 . In 1833/34 he studied law at the newly opened University of Zurich , after which he worked as a lawyer in Steckborn until 1844 . In addition, he held the office of vice district governor in 1836, and from 1837 to 1844 that of the clerk of the higher court. Labhardt was elected to the Grand Council in 1841 , to which he belonged until 1843. In 1844 he was elected to the government council, where he was responsible for the internal affairs and military departments. Four years later he resigned because of differences with the Catholic-Conservative government councilor Johann Andreas Stähelin and went back to work as a lawyer.

In October 1848 Labhardt ran successfully in the first National Council elections , but three years later he did not manage to be re-elected. From 1849 to 1842 he was again a member of the council, then until 1857 he was deputy public prosecutor. From 1854 to 1857 he was also a substitute judge and secretary of the federal court , from 1856 to 1861 the chief judge of the cantonal court martial. In 1859 Labhardt was elected to the Grand Council for the third time. This in turn elected him to the government council for the second time in 1861. After he had headed the finance department for three years, he resigned in 1864 because of differences of opinion. In 1868/69 he was President of the Frauenfeld District Court , and in 1869 he resigned from his seat in the Grand Council.

Labhardt founded the Liberal Association in 1858 together with Fridolin Anderwert and Johann Ludwig Sulzberger . This resulted in the democratic movement of the 1860s, which campaigned for the expansion of popular rights and was directed against Eduard Häberlin's accumulation of offices . Also directed against Häberlin was the Seetalbahn Committee founded and chaired by Labhardt, which favored the route of the Rorschach – Kreuzlingen railway line via Romanshorn , while Häberlin wanted to run the line via Amriswil . Due to his relationship with the Swiss North Eastern Railway , of which he was a member of the Board of Directors , Labhardt was able to assert himself on this issue. In addition, the steamship company for the Untersee and Rhine was established under his leadership in 1863 .

In 1865 Labhardt moved back to the National Council. The democratic movement forced the revision of the Thurgau cantonal constitution in 1868. Labhardt was then a member of the constitutional council and was a member of the drafting committee of the constitutional commission. After the people had adopted the new constitution in 1869, he was elected to the government council for the third time; he gave up his mandate in the National Council. Until his death in 1874 he was in charge of the finance department.

Web links

• André Salathé: Labhardt, Philipp Gottlieb. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .