Pierre Dreyer

Pierre Dreyer

Pierre Dreyer (born June 3, 1924 in Villars-sur-Glâne ; † July 28, 2005 in Friborg ) was a Swiss politician ( Council of States and State Council of the Canton of Friborg ).

Live and act

Pierre Dreyer, a Catholic by birth , was a citizen of Ueberstorf . His parents are Joseph Dreyer, assistant to the cantonal engineer, and Marie geb. Blaser. In 1949 he married Adèle Rey. The couple had three children.

After primary school in Villars-sur-Glâne, Pierre Dreyer attended the College of St. Michael , which he completed in 1944 with a technical Matura . He studied law at the University of Freiburg and obtained his licentiate in 1948 and his doctorate in 1949 . After an internship at the Freiburg State Bank , he entered public administration in 1949. In 1951, he moved from the Department of Agriculture (Interior Directorate) to the Department of Industry and Commerce as head of service. As the right-hand man of State Councilor Paul Torche , he worked on the development of the canton's industrialization policy. In 1962 he left the cantonal administration and became commercial director of a large civil engineering company (1962–1966).

In the 1966 general election, Pierre Dreyer was elected to the Council of State with three other members of his party in the second ballot on December 18.

In the government, the 42-year-old Dreyer took over the direction of the interior, the industry, the trade, the trade and the social welfare, which he led for three terms of office (1967-1981). Energetic and generally appreciated, he was the only one of a total of 15 candidates to be re-elected in the first round in 1971. In 1976 he took second place out of eight remaining competitors in the second ballot.

In 15 years in office, he recorded a considerable number of successes in referendums, which apply in particular to the following topics: women's suffrage (1969, 1971), election of councilors by the people (1970, 1972), election of senior officials by the people (1970, 1972) Compulsory financial referendum (1970, 1972), partial revision of the constitution with regard to the eligibility age, the setting of the civil honorary capacity and the date of the Grand Council meetings (1976, 1978). The number of laws and decrees he passed before Parliament, including those submitted to the people, totaled 121. The most innovative laws concerned annual leave (1968), public holidays (1968), tourism (1973, 1975) and the exercise of political rights (1976). Above all, however, the industrial director continued the dynamic development policy begun by his predecessor Paul Torche, with which the Freiburg economy began to catch up.

Pierre Dreyer was President of the State Council in 1973 and 1979. In 1972 he was elected to the Council of States , which he headed from June 7 to November 29, 1982. As a member of several commissions, he sat in the Small Chamber until 1987. From 1968 to 1970 he presided over the cantonal Conservative People's Party and was also represented in the highest instances of the Swiss CIP . From 1983 to 1989 he sat in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe .

Pierre Dreyer headed numerous organizations in a wide variety of areas during his political career. This included in particular the committee for the introduction of women's suffrage and, in the economic area, the boards of directors of the Freiburg Electricity Works (1972–1981) and the GFM. He was also a board member of Energie Ouest Suisse, SUVA in Lucerne, Rentenanstalt in Zurich and the Basel sample fair .

Even after his retirement from politics, he remained very active, either on boards of directors (Sibra) or on the boards of cultural, sports and charity associations, such as the Association of the St. Joseph Institute for deaf or hearing impaired children. He was also a member of the Rotary Club and Table Ronde No. 8.

Pierre Dreyer died on July 28, 2005 at the age of 81 in Freiburg. With his energy and telegenicism (he was a frequent guest on French-speaking Switzerland television ), he contributed to modernizing the traditional image of a canton that was in full industrialization. In particular, he succeeded in opening up the canton to the outside world, in line with a dynamic economic policy that was decidedly focused on expansion.

literature

• Georges Andrey , Hubertus von Gemmingen (translation): The Freiburg State Council: 1848–2011; History, organization, members . Ed .: John Clerc, Jean-Pierre Dorand, Nicholas Gex. Paulus, Freiburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7228-0815-4 .

Web links

• Jean-Marc Purro / AW: Dreyer, Pierre. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Obituary in the Freiburger Nachrichten on July 29, 2005
• Pierre Dreyer on the website of the Federal Assembly