General Staff (Switzerland)
The General Staff of the Swiss Armed Forces (German: Generalstab Schweizer Armee) was the managing military staff of Switzerland. It was led by a Chief of the General Staff who held the rank of Korpskommandant (NATO: OF-8). He/she was effectively the highest-ranking officer in the Swiss military. Until 1830, the general staff consisted of 12 to 24 federal colonels and a few lieutenant colonels with experience in serving foreign armies. In 1865, the Federal Staff Office was created, with its responsibility being to maintain the Swiss combat readiness for war. In 1948, most of the services of the Federal Military Department were grouped together in the General Staff. After the Second World War, General Staff training was increasingly a precondition for the assumption of an army unit command. It operated until the end of 2003, when the reforms of Armee XXI introduced the position of Chief of the Armed Forces. Until its reorganization, the General Staff was the highest level of command in the Swiss Armed forces, with the Chief of the General Staff acting as the primus inter pares (first among equals). Even after the reform of the army, the military continued to utilize, General Staff officers, who are trained in the General Staff School to become senior management assistants in the armed forces.[1][2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Generalstabschef_Oberst_von_Sprecher.jpg/220px-Generalstabschef_Oberst_von_Sprecher.jpg)
List of Chiefs of the General Staff
editThe following is a list of chiefs of the General Staff from 1870 to 2003:[3]
No. | Picture | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Election | General | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Rudolf Paravicini (1815–1888) | Oberstkorpskommandant21 July 1870 | 1875 | 4–5 years | 20 July 1870 | Hans Herzog (1870 – 1871) | [4][5] | |
2 | Hermann Siegfried (1819–1879) | Oberstkorpskommandant1875 | 1879 | 3–4 years | ? | — | — | |
3 | Johann Rudolf von Sinner (1830–1901) | Oberstkorpskommandant1879 | 1882 | 2–3 years | ? | — | — | |
4 | Max Alphons Pfyffer von Altishofen (1834–1890) | Oberstkorpskommandant1883 | 1890 † | 6–7 years | ? | — | — | |
5 | Arnold Keller (1841–1934) | Oberstkorpskommandant1890 | 1905 | 14–15 years | ? | — | — | |
6 | Theophil Sprecher von Bernegg (1850–1927) | Oberstkorpskommandant1905 | 1919 | 13–14 years | ? | Ulrich Wille (1914 – 1918) | — | |
7 | Emil Sonderegger (1868–1934) | Oberstkorpskommandant1920 | 1923 | 2–3 years | ? | — | — | |
8 | Heinrich Roost (1872–1936) | Oberstkorpskommandant1923 | 26 May 1936 † | 12–13 years | ? | — | — | |
9 | Jakob Labhardt (1881–1949) | Oberstkorpskommandant1936 | 1940 | 3–4 years | ? | Henri Guisan (1939 – 1945) | — | |
10 | Jakob Huber (1883–1953) | Oberstkorpskommandant23 March 1940 | 1945 | 4–5 years | ? | Henri Guisan (1939 – 1945) | — | |
11 | Louis de Montmollin (1893–1974) | Oberstkorpskommandant1945 | 1957 | 11–12 years | ? | — | — | |
12 | Jakob Annasohn (1893–1974) | Oberstkorpskommandant1 January 1958 | 31 December 1964 | 6 years | ? | — | — | |
13 | Paul Gygli (1909–1992) | Oberstkorpskommandant1 January 1965 | 31 December 1971 | 6 years | ? | — | — | |
14 | Johann Jakob Vischer (1914–1985) | Korpskommandant1 January 1972 | 31 December 1976 | 4 years | ? | — | — | |
15 | Hans Senn (1918–2007) | Korpskommandant1 January 1977 | 31 December 1980 | 3 years | ? | — | — | |
16 | Jörg Zumstein (1923–1997) | Korpskommandant1 January 1981 | 31 December 1985 | 4 years | ? | — | — | |
17 | Eugen Lüthy (1927–1990) | Korpskommandant1 January 1986 | 31 December 1989 | 3 years | ? | — | — | |
18 | Heinz Häsler (born 1930) | Korpskommandant1 January 1990 | 31 December 1992 | 2 years | ? | — | — | |
19 | Arthur Liener (born 1936) | Korpskommandant1 January 1993 | 31 December 1997 | 4 years | ? | — | — | |
20 | Hans-Ulrich Scherrer (born 1942) | Korpskommandant1 January 1998 | 31 December 2002 | 4 years | ? | — | — | |
21 | Christophe Keckeis (1945–2020) | Korpskommandant1 January 2003 | 31 December 2003 | 1 year | ? | — | — |
References
edit- ^ "Generalstab".
- ^ Generalstabsschule (Gst S) (in German) Archived 8 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Generalstabschef der Armee / Chef der Armee". sieber-frauenfeld.ch (in German). Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ^ "Bundesversammlung vom 20. Juli". Intelligenzblatt für die Stadt Bern (in German). 21 July 1870. p. 4. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ "20. Juli. Bundesversammlung". Zürcherische Freitagszeitung (in German). 22 July 1870. p. 3. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.