Swiss national donation

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Logo of the Swiss National Donation Foundation

The Swiss National Donation for our soldiers and their families (SNS) ( Swiss National Donation for short , French Don national suisse pour nos soldats et leurs familles , Italian Dono nazionale svizzero per i nostri soldati e le loro famiglie , Rhaeto-Romanic Dun naziunal svizzer ) is a 1919 established Foundation for the promotion of the welfare of the Swiss army members and their families, which emerged from the first national campaign for the needy in 1918. As long as there were no social services, Swiss national donations played an important role. Today (2019) it pays out one million francs a year.

Founding history

Collection for the Swiss national donation (1929)

The First World War with the occupation of the border brought hardship and privation for the soldiers and their families. The strong solidarity between the civilian population and the army was evident in the support of the armed forces and their relatives through the creation of numerous civil aid organizations and repeated donation campaigns at cantonal and national level. At the initiative of the Swiss Association of Soldiers 'Welfare (later the Swiss Association of People's Service (SV) ), around 1,000 soldiers' rooms were set up within a short period of time.

In February 1918, the Department for Social Welfare (today Armed Forces Social Service) was established within the Army Staff of the Swiss Army . Her task was to coordinate aid for military men and their families who were in financial need due to active service during the First World War. The Swiss Income Compensation Ordinance (EO) (then called "Wehrmannsschutz"), which was supposed to compensate for loss of earnings by those doing military service, was only introduced in the form of insurance during the Second World War .

In 1918, the Social Welfare Department organized the first national collection for the needy with volunteers. The remaining amount of eight million francs from the collection that was not needed became the basis of the Swiss National Donation Foundation, established in 1919 , which was later continuously expanded through collections, donations and income from assets. One of the founding members of the foundation was the "mother" of the soldiers' rooms, Else Züblin-Spiller . The Board of Trustees was headed from 1924 to 1955 by the later General Henri Guisan . According to federal law, the foundation is supervised by the DDPS . The purpose of the foundation was to promote the physical, moral and spiritual welfare of the Swiss military men and their families .

Activity in the interwar period

In the first few years, the foundation was able to alleviate the emergencies caused by the war and the Spanish flu with seven million francs . For many years, the focus of the foundation's activities was the support of two sanatoriums for the treatment and rehabilitation of soldiers who had an accident or were sick during military service. From 1920 to 1930 and from 1939 to 1945 alcoholic military men were supported in the “Götschihof” sanatorium in Aeugstertal . In 1921 the “Arbeitsheilstätte Tenero” foundation was created as a working healing center for military patients in Tenero to relieve the Novaggio military hospital , which primarily admitted convalescent tuberculosis sufferers. The Tenero Sanatorium was used as a general convalescent ward for military patients during and after the Second World War.

In the interwar years, facilities for recreational activities for the military men on instruction service (soldiers' houses, etc.) were supported. In addition, welfare organizations (cantonal Winkelried foundations, associations “In Memoriam”, Volksdienst association, non-profit women's associations, etc.) received financial support. The funds received additional funds from the proceeds of the Federal Celebration Collection on August 1, 1929 as well as annual support from the interest of the Eidgenössische Winkelriedstiftung.

Second World War to this day

Collection 1940

After the mobilization of the war, the foundation meeting decided to use all available funds for the mobilized soldiers. In 1940 a collection was carried out in favor of the national donation and the Red Cross, which resulted in around ten million francs. The film Gilberte de Courgenay was made in 1941 as a contribution to the spiritual defense of the country under the patronage and for the benefit of the Swiss national donation. In 1942 another collection brought proceeds of around 6 million francs.

After the end of active service, various aid funds for the troops (1952 Grenus Invalidenfonds) were transferred to the foundation. In the years that followed, cooperation with the Central Office for Soldiers ' Welfare was intensified and the construction and operation of soldiers' houses promoted. In the 40 years up to 1959, 65 million Swiss francs were raised and 47 million were spent for foundation purposes.

Due to a lack of military patients, the Tenero Health Center was closed in 1961 and the Tenero Estate was taken over by the Foundation. From the summer of 1963, the first pre -class and sports camps took place on the site . The “Götschihof” drinking sanctuary was also taken over by the foundation in 1963.

In addition to the usual support tasks, the military magazines Schweizer Soldat and Notre Armée de Milice received annual contributions from the foundation from 1988 onwards .

Due to the restructuring of the soldiers' welfare, the foundation organs could be reduced. The Tenero estate was sold in 1972 and the national youth sports center Centro Sportivo Nazionale della giuventù Tenero (CST) was set up there. In 1994, the armed forces' social service, which is linked to the foundation, as well as the armed forces' leisure facilities, soldiers' houses, hospitals, etc., were taken over by the Federal Military Department and the Swiss armed forces. The Foundation continued to provide financial support to these institutions.

In 2000 the foundation's assets amounted to around CHF 75 million. In the 1990s, between 5500 and 6000 people were given financial support to supplement the income compensation scheme. Since 1945, the foundation has spent around 100 million francs on the armed forces' social services (including personnel costs). Today (2004) it is self-financing.

After criticism of some of the foundation's support actions (transfer ceremony for Army 95 / Army XXI , assumption of the entry costs of the recruits for Expo.02 ), the purpose of the revision of the statutes of October 15, 1998 was extended to support the welfare of the army in general. In 2011, the purpose article of the deed of foundation was supplemented so that the foundation can also make contributions to companies that serve to maintain the military will .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Swiss national donation  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schaffhauser Nachrichten of May 17, 2019: You have been helping soldiers in need for 100 years
  2. ^ The Armed Forces Social Service (Soldiers Care) Journal: Der Fourier: official organ of the Swiss Fourier Association and the Association of Swiss Fourier Assistants, Volume 58, Issue 3 1985
  3. ^ Organization of the Swiss national donation . Schweizer Soldat: Monthly magazine for the army and cadres with FHD newspaper, Volume 40, Issue 2 1964-1965
  4. ^ The service of the Swiss national donation in the Federal Military Sanatorium Davos-Platz and in the Military Hospital Novaggio (Ticino). Schweizer Soldat, monthly magazine for the armed forces and cadres with FHD newspaper, volume 40, issue 2, 1964-1965
  5. ^ Werner Hungerbühler: Rehabilitation in Novaggio. From the "Military Hospital" to the "Federal Rehabilitation Clinic". Swiss soldier: the leading military magazine in Switzerland, Volume 76, Issue 3 2001
  6. ↑ Swiss national donation : Swiss Red Cross. The Fourier, official organ of the Swiss Fourier Association and the Association of Swiss Fourier Assistants, Volume 13, Issue 6 1940
  7. ^ Swiss national donation : From the history of Swiss national donation
  8. ↑ Parlament.ch: Contribution of the national donation to the celebration of the "Army XXI"
  9. ↑ Limmattaler Zeitung of May 18, 2019: 100th anniversary "The Swiss national donation serves the distressed military man" - a historical look back at the centenary