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Christoph Graf
Colonel Christoph Graf (born 5 September 1961) is a Swiss military officer. He serves as the 35th Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, appointed by Pope Francis on 7 February 2015, succeeding Colonel Daniel Anrig. Biography Graf was born in Pfaffnau, in the canton of Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ..., Switzerland. He joined the Swiss Guard in 1987. In August 1999 he was promoted to sergeant, and later in 2000 he was promoted to sergeant-major, a position in which he remained until April 2009 when he was promoted to second captain. In October 2010, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and vice commander of the guard, where he acted as a chief of staff and senior adviser to the commander. In late 2014, it was announced that Anrig would leave the po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army. Modern usage varies greatly, and in some cases, the term is used as an Colonel (title), honorific title that may have no direct relationship to military. In some smaller military forces, such as those of Monaco or the Holy See, Vatican, colonel is the highest Military rank, rank. Equivalent naval ranks may be called Captain (naval), captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth's air force ranking system, the equivalent rank is group captain. History and origins By the end of the late medieval period, a group of "companies" was referred to as a "column" of an army. According to Raymond Oliver, , the Spanish began explicitly reorganizing part of thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Commanders Of The Swiss Guard
The Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard is the head of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. In total, there have been 35 commanders of the Swiss Guard serving 51 popes, with interruptions during 1527–1548 following the Sack of Rome, in 1564/5, in 1704–1712 and in 1798/9 following the French invasion. 24 out of 35 commanders were citizens of the city of Lucerne (not counting the incumbent, Christoph Graf, who is from Pfaffnau in the canton of Lucerne). During 1652–1847 the office became quasi-heritable, with ten commanders members of the Pfyffer von Altishofen family of Lucerne. Two commanders were from Zürich, serving during the years of the Swiss Reformation; in modern times, three commanders were from St. Gallen, two from Fribourg, and one each from Solothurn, Grisons and Valais. List of commanders List: , -style="text-align:center;" , colspan=8, ''Guard disbanded''(1527–1548) , - , -style="text-align:center;" , colspan=8, ''Guard disbanded''(1564–1566) , - ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Anrig
Colonel Daniel Rudolf Anrig (born 10 July 1972) is a Swiss military officer and police officer. He served as the 34th Commandant of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 August 2008. He replaced Elmar Mäder who had served as Commandant of the Swiss Guard since 2002. He was succeeded by Christoph Graf as his term ended on 31 January 2015 and was not extended by Pope Francis. Life Anrig was born in Walenstadt (Canton of Saint Gallen), Switzerland. He is married and has four children. Anrig served as halberdier in the Swiss Guard between 1992 and 1994. He graduated in civil and ecclesiastical law from the University of Fribourg in 1999. In 2020, he was fined by the Zurich district court for threatening to kill himself, his ex-partner and their son. In 2024, Anrig was sentenced by a Swiss court to a conditional sentence of ten months and to a fine of 1,000 francs; where in November 2022 he had threatened a man with a running chainsaw. Career A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Pope Gregory III, Gregory III. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a family of Italian Argentines, Italian origin, Bergoglio was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from a severe illness. He was Ordination#Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches, ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 he was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Following resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the 2013 pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since May 2025. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States and North America, the first to hold Americans, American and Peruvian citizenship, the first from the Order of Saint Augustine, and the second from the Americas (after his predecessor Pope Francis, Francis). Prevost was born in Chicago and raised in the nearby suburb of Dolton, Illinois. He became a friar of the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and was ordained as a priest in 1982. His service includes extensive missionary work in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s, where he worked as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher, and administrator. Elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, he was based in Rome from 2001 to 2013, and extensively traveled to the Order of Saint Augustine#Provinces, order's provinces around the world. He then returned to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pfaffnau
Pfaffnau is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Willisau (Amt), Willisau in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Lucerne (canton), Lucerne in Switzerland. In the municipality two different parts are existing, the village Pfaffnau and the St. Urban's Abbey, Former Monastery of St. Urban. History Pfaffnau is first mentioned in 924 as ''Fafanhaa/Fafana''. In 1173 it was mentioned as ''Phafena''. Geography Pfaffnau has an area of . Of this area, or 64.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 24.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 9.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.2% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data accessed 25 March ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontifical Swiss Guard
The Pontifical Swiss Guard,; ; ; ; , %5BCorps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard%5D. ''vatican.va'' (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2022. also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard,Swiss Guards , History, Vatican, Uniform, Requirements, Weapons, & Facts , Britannica is an armed forces, guard of honour, and protective security unit, maintained by the Holy See to protect the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City State. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, it is among the oldest military units in continuous operation and is sometimes called "the world's smallest army". The Swiss Guard is recognised by its Renaissance-era dress uniform, consisting of a tunic striped in red, dark blue, and yellow; high plumed helmet; and traditional weapons such as the halberd. Guardsmen perform their protective duties in functional attire and with modern firearms. Since the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, the Guard has placed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucerne
Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), district of the same name. With a population of approximately 82,000 people, Lucerne is List of cities in Switzerland, the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transport, culture, and media in the region. The city's urban area consists of 19 municipalities and towns with an overall population of about 220,000 people. Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne () and its outflow, the river Reuss (river), Reuss, within sight of the mounts Pilatus (mountain), Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. One of the city's landmarks is the Chapel Bridge (), a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century. The official language of Lucerne is German language, Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Commanders Of The Pontifical Swiss Guard
The Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard is the head of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. In total, there have been 35 commanders of the Swiss Guard serving 51 popes, with interruptions during 1527–1548 following the Sack of Rome, in 1564/5, in 1704–1712 and in 1798/9 following the French invasion. 24 out of 35 commanders were citizens of the city of Lucerne (not counting the incumbent, Christoph Graf, who is from Pfaffnau in the canton of Lucerne). During 1652–1847 the office became quasi-heritable, with ten commanders members of the Pfyffer von Altishofen family of Lucerne. Two commanders were from Zürich, serving during the years of the Swiss Reformation; in modern times, three commanders were from St. Gallen, two from Fribourg, and one each from Solothurn, Grisons and Valais. List of commanders List: , -style="text-align:center;" , colspan=8, ''Guard disbanded''(1527–1548) , - , -style="text-align:center;" , colspan=8, ''Guard disbanded''(1564–1566) , - ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1961 Births
Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (Koivulahti air disaster): Douglas DC-3C OH-LCC of Finnish airline Aero crashes near Kvevlax (Koivulahti), on approach to Vaasa Airport in Finland, killing all 25 on board, due to pilot error: an investigation finds that the captain and first officer were both exhausted for lack of sleep, and had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to occur in the country. * January 5 ** Italian sculptor Alfredo Fioravanti enters the U.S. Consulate in Rome, and confesses that he was part of the team that forged the Etruscan terracotta warriors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ** After the 1960 military coup, General Ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
21st-century Swiss Military Personnel
File:1st century collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Jesus is crucified by Roman authorities in Judaea (17th century painting). Four different men (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian) claim the title of Emperor within the span of a year; The Great Fire of Rome (18th-century painting) sees the destruction of two-thirds of the city, precipitating the empire's first persecution against Christians, who are blamed for the disaster; The Roman Colosseum is built and holds its inaugural games; Roman forces besiege Jerusalem during the First Jewish–Roman War (19th-century painting); The Trưng sisters lead a rebellion against the Chinese Han dynasty (anachronistic depiction); Boudica, queen of the British Iceni leads a rebellion against Rome (19th-century statue); Knife-shaped coin of the Xin dynasty., 335px rect 30 30 737 1077 Crucifixion of Jesus rect 767 30 1815 1077 Year of the Four Emperors rect 1846 30 3223 1077 Great Fire of Rome rect 30 1108 1106 2155 Boudican revolt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
