Willi Ritschard (sometimes Willy Ritschard; 28 September 1918 – 16 October 1983) was a Swiss politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SP). He is remembered as the first and to date only working class member of the Federal Council, the Swiss government. Prior to that, he was also a member of the cantonal government of

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...

and a member of the National Council.

Early life and education

Willi Ritschard was born on 28 September 1918 as the son of Ernst Emil Ritschard, a shoemaker in

Deitingen Deitingen is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. History Deitingen is first mentioned in 1244 as ''Teytingen''. In 1252 it was mentioned as ''Tuetingen''. Geography Deitingen has an area, ...

and Social Democrat and Frieda (née Ryf), in

Canton of Solothurn The canton of Solothurn or canton of Soleure (german: Kanton Solothurn rm, Chantun Soloturn french: Canton de Soleure; it, Canton Soletta) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn. Hi ...

. As a child, he was beaten by his neighbors for being a son of left-wing workers. He lost both parents at the age of sixteen. He made an apprenticeship as a

heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

engineer but later got involved in the workers' union. He attended numerous classes at the Swiss Workers' Education Central which was established by the SP politician

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

Career in the Workers Union

In 1945 he became the secretary of the Solothurn branch of the Construction and Woodworkers' Association (SBVH). On the Balmberg he established a Workers' Education School and in 1965, he became the president of the Association for the Furtherance of the Workers School, an office he held until he died. In the workers union, he argued that trade unions should not represent their demands for worker protection and social security on the streets, but instead together with the SP in the government.

Political career

In 1947, Ritschard became the president (Gemeindeamman) of

Luterbach Luterbach is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. History Luterbach is first mentioned in 1052 as ''lutere Bach'', though this identification is disputed. In 1319 it was mentioned as ''ville L ...

, a position which he held until 1959. In 1955 he was elected to the National Council (the lower house of the Federal Assembly). In the National Council, he made himself known as a defender of workers' rights and demanded the limitation of foreign workers in 1962, which made him popular beyond party lines. In 1964 he was elected to the executive council (the cantonal government) of Solothurn. He supported the inter-cantonal commission for the harmonization of taxation. He also supported nuclear energy and was on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of Atel (now

Alpiq Alpiq is a leading energy company in Switzerland and the largest energy service provider with focus on European markets. The company operates mainly in Switzerland, but it also has power stations in Italy, France, Norway, Hungary and the Czech Repu ...

). The construction of the

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

in Gösgen, Solothurn, began in 1972.

Federal Council

On 5 December 1973, Ritschard was elected to the Federal Council, where he assumed the leadership of the Department of Transport and Energy. He was elected despite not being the official candidate of his own party. He observed his election in front of a TV at home. In 1974, he called the

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity * Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy ...

supporter Michael Kohn to the Energy Commission, which caused some controversy within the

anti-nuclear movement The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

. In 1975, as protestors occupied the construction site for the nuclear plant in Kaiseraugst, Ritschard was able to calm the situation offering the occupiers a halt for its construction for the time negotiations would take place. In 1978 he presided over the Federal Council as that year's

President of the Swiss Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council, the country's ...

. The Nuclear Energy Act, which the Swiss citizens accepted in a national referendum in 1979, was enacted under his lead. He was not amused when he had to attend a royal banquet dressed in

black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

on 1 May,

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...

, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's state visit to Switzerland in 1980. From 1980 onwards Ritschard was the head of the

Federal Department of Finance The Federal Department of Finance (FDF, german: Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement, links=no, french: Département fédéral des finances, links=no, it, Dipartimento federale delle finanze, links=no, rm, ) is one of the seven departments of ...

. He announced his resignation on 28 September 1983 but died on 16 October 1983 before it could take effect.

Legacy

Ritschard is remembered as the first Federal Councilor who belonged to the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

. He was a celebrity politician, and the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Hertz released a song about him while he was in office. His nickname was "Willi National". He was a well-known speaker, credited with being authentic. He acknowledged that he did not write all his speeches by himself; some were written by the writer and journalist

Peter Bichsel Peter Bichsel (born 24 March 1935) is a popular Swiss writer and journalist representing modern German literature. He was a member of the Gruppe Olten. Bichsel was born 1935 in Lucerne, Switzerland, the son of manual labourers. Shortly after he ...

, his neighbor. Two books with quotes of his were released during his tenure as a Federal Councilor, one in 1975 and another in 1982. Both were published by the Benteli publishing house.

Personal life

Ritschard and Greti Hostettler married in 1941 and had two children, Margaretha Ueker-Ritschard and Rolf Ritschard, the latter becoming a member of the executive council of Solothurn. Ritschard died on 16 October 1983, during a hike on the Grenchenberg near

Grenchen Grenchen (french: Granges) is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne, approximately north of Bern. With over 16,000 i ...

. His funeral service took place in the St. Urs and Victor Cathedral in Solothurn on 20 October. He was buried in

, where in 2011 the Executive Council of Luterbach announced that Ritschard would be able to rest in Lautebach's graveyard without restriction, and extended this right to all of Luterbach's honorary citizens.

References

External links

* * 1918 births 1983 deaths People from the canton of Solothurn Swiss Calvinist and Reformed Christians Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Finance ministers of Switzerland Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 20th-century Swiss politicians {{-