Walter Thurnherr (born 11 July 1963) is a Swiss government official who has served as

Chancellor of Switzerland The Federal Chancellor is the head of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland, the oldest Swiss federal institution, established at the initiative of Napoleon in 1803. The officeholder acts as the general staff of the seven-member Federal Coun ...

since 2016. Although he holds a traditionally nonpartisan office, he was elected as a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC). When it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre (DM/LC) in 2021, Thurnherr joined the new party.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Muri, Aargau Muri, formerly known as Muri (Freiamt), is a municipality in southeastern Swiss Canton Aargau and is the capital of same district. The present municipality of Muri was created in 1816 from the merging of the four municipalities Langdorf, Egg, Has ...

, Thurnherr graduated as a physicist at the ETH Zurich in 1987, before studying mathematics at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

. In 1989, he joined the ranks of Switzerland's diplomatic corps. In 2002, he was appointed chief of staff of the

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten, french: Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, it, Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri, rm, ), so name ...

under Federal Councillor

Joseph Deiss Joseph Deiss (born 18 January 1946) is a Swiss economist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1999 to 2006. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), he first headed the Federal Departmen ...

. The following year, he was named chief of staff of the

Federal Department of Economic Affairs The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung; french: Département fédéral de l'économie, de la formation et de la recherche; it, Dipart ...

, first under

Pascal Couchepin Pascal Couchepin (born 5 April 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1998 to 2009. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD), he was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2003 and 2008 ...

, then Deiss and finally

Doris Leuthard Doris Leuthard (born 10 April 1963) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2006 to 2018. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), she was elected as President of the Swiss ...

. He followed Leuthard when she took over the

Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications The Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation, french: Département fédéral de l'environnement, des transports, de l'én ...

in 2011 as her chief of staff.

Federal Chancellor

He stood for election to succeed

Corina Casanova Corina Casanova (born 4 January 1956) is a Swiss politician who was the Federal Chancellor of Switzerland between 2008 and 2015. Born in Ilanz, Graubünden, Casanova worked as a lawyer in the practice of the former President of the Swiss Federa ...

on 9 December 2015, as the first unopposed candidate in 90 years. He was elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly with 230 votes out of 234. He assumed office on 1 January 2016. He was reelected on 11 December 2019 with 219 votes out of 224.

References

External links

Official biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurnherr, Walter 1963 births 21st-century Swiss politicians Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland politicians Federal Chancellors of Switzerland Living people University of Bern alumni