Wilhelm Hertenstein

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Wilhelm Hertenstein

Wilhelm Friedrich Hertenstein (born May 5, 1825 in Kyburg , † November 27, 1888 in Bern , resident in Kyburg) was a Swiss politician , forester and officer . In the canton of Zurich he was a member of the cantonal council from 1858 , and from 1872 he was a member of the cantonal government . Also from 1872 he represented his canton in the National Council , from 1878 in the Council of States . As a representative of the liberal center (today's FDP ) he was elected to the Federal Council in 1879 . He headed the military department until his death .

biography

Profession and military

He was the third oldest of four children of the cantonal forester Jakob Hertenstein; his mother died when he was seven years old. From 1837 to 1842 Hertenstein attended the industrial school in Zurich , after which he learned the forester's trade from his father . After an internship in the Black Forest , which he attended together with Elias Landolt , who would later become a professor and head forester from Zurich , he completed courses at the forest schools in Hohenheim (Württemberg) and Tharandt (Saxony). In 1847 he received his degree as a forester, in 1853 he married Katharina Elisabetha Thalmann, with whom he had two children. In 1855, Hertenstein took over the post of forester of District II in Fehraltorf from his father and carried out this activity for the following 17 years.

During the Sonderbund War in November 1847, Hertenstein appeared as a lieutenant in the artillery. Promoted to major , he led two batteries of mountain artillery across the Forcellina Pass in the summer of 1861, which was considered a bravura piece. From 1866 to 1872 he was chief of weapons in the Zurich artillery and, at the same time, from 1869 to 1872, chief of weapons in the cavalry. In 1872 he was promoted to colonel , and from 1875 to 1877 he was in command of the VII Artillery Brigade.

Cantonal and federal politics

Hertenstein was elected to the Zurich government council in 1872 . In this body, which is otherwise completely dominated by the Democrats , he was the only representative of the Liberals. First he headed the military directorate, from 1875 to 1877 the building directorate and then the military directorate again. During his term of office, the construction of the Zurich barracks in the then still independent suburb of Aussersihl falls . He increased the popularity of voluntary shooting courses and promoted preliminary military instruction in the form of cadetism .

At the same time, Hertenstein was also politically active at the national level. He ran for parliamentary elections in 1872 and was elected in the second ballot to one of the five representatives of the Zurich-Southwest constituency in the National Council. Although he belonged to the moderately liberal group around the influential "railway king" Alfred Escher , he proved his independence. He appeared less as a leader than as a factual politician seeking consensus. After the elections of 1878 he moved to the Council of States , which he only belonged to for a few weeks.

With the death of Johann Jakob Scherer on December 23, 1878, a seat in the Federal Council became vacant. The Zurich democrats did not find a suitable successor, which is why Alfred Escher and Emil Welti instead discreetly proposed Hertenstein, who had just been elected to the Council of States. On March 21, 1879, this prevailed in the first ballot and received 92 of 167 votes. His left-wing rival candidate Emil Frey received 63 votes, and 12 more votes. The country messenger criticized the choice; Hertenstein was merely a candidate for embarrassment and represented the "old system" of the canton's capital.

Federal Council

During his entire tenure, Hertenstein was in charge of the military department . He continued to implement the military organization begun in 1875, which brought increased control of the cantonal armies by the federal government. Despite resistance, he managed to increase the military budget from 11 to 16 million francs. He also succeeded in promoting uniform training, equipment and armament. Further innovations were the introduction of infantry sergeant schools, the re-arming of the artillery and a construction program for fortifications. He also campaigned for better training and catering for the troops. When he wanted to introduce refresher courses for the Landwehr in 1880 , the other federal councilors initially refused the required credit, but he finally got his way on this matter too.

In the Federal Council election in 1881, Hertenstein was again harassed by a candidacy from Emil Frey, but retained the upper hand with 95 to 75 votes. The other confirmatory elections went smoothly, and in 1887 he even achieved the best result. In 1888 he served as Federal President . Since Numa Droz had broken the previously applicable principle of rotation in the office of foreign minister and remained head of the political department , there was no change of department. In November of the same year, Hertenstein fell seriously ill. Blood congestion made it necessary to amputate a lower leg, as a result of which he died. He is the first Federal President who has not been able to end his term of office normally.

literature

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Hertenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sigg: The Federal Council Lexicon. P. 173.
  2. ^ Sigg: The Federal Council Lexicon. Pp. 173-174.
  3. ↑ a b c Sigg: The Federal Council Lexicon. P. 174.
  4. ^ Sigg: The Federal Council Lexicon. Pp. 174-175.
  5. ^ Fritz Grieder: Emil Frey . In: Urs Altermatt (Ed.): Das Bundesratslexikon . NZZ Libro , Zurich 2019, ISBN 978-3-03810-218-2 , p. 195 .
  6. ^ Sigg: The Federal Council Lexicon. Pp. 175-176.
predecessor Office successor
Johann Jakob Scherer Member of the Swiss Federal Council
1879–1888 		Walter Hauser
personal data
SURNAME Hertenstein, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hertenstein, Wilhelm Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Kyburg ZH
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1888
Place of death Zurich