Bernhard Hess (born 5 April 1966) is a Swiss politician from the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. He was the president of the Swiss Democrats from 2005 to 2012 and was a member of the National Council from 5 December 1999 to 1 December 2007. Hess was born in

Solothurn Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

, and grew up in

Langnau im Emmental Langnau im Emmental () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Emmental (administrative district), Emmental in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. It is situated i ...

, the son of Karl and Margot Hess. His father was a secondary school teacher of Latin and Greek and an activist of the ''Nationale Aktion'' (later the Swiss Democrats). His mother was the daughter of Swiss expatriates in Germany, and she lived

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Hess completed a management apprenticeship, and then started a career as a loan officer at a bank. In 1988, Hess joined the ''Nationale Aktion'' (what would later be called the ''Swiss Democrats''). Between 1994 and 1998, he served on the city council of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. In 1998 he was elected to the

Grand Council of Bern The Grand Council (, ) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern. It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. The French-speaking part of the canton, the Bernese Jura (distric ...

, the cantonal parliament. In the Federal Assembly elections in 1999, Hess was elected as the only Swiss Democrat in the National Council. In the 2007 election he lost this seat. Since 1992, Hess has worked full-time for the Swiss Democrats. From 1993 to 1995, he was secretary of the Swiss Democrats/

Ticino League The Ticino League () is a regionalist, national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino. The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli. After some public camp ...

group in the Federal Assembly, and from 1995 to 1999 he was secretary for the Swiss Democrats group. From 2003 to 2005 he was general secretary of the party. Hess is a member of the

Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland The Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland ( or ''AUNS'', or ''ASIN'', or ''ASNI''), abbreviated to AUNS, is a political organisation in Switzerland that supports Swiss independence and neutrality. History The AUNS was founded on J ...

, Pro Libertate, and the Sprachkreises Deutsch. During his time in the leadership of the Swiss Democrats, he discussed forming an alliance of right-wing parties in Switzerland, including the

and

Geneva Citizens' Movement The Geneva Citizens' Movement (), abbreviated to MCG, is a right-wing populist political party in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. On its own initiative, it started, and is a part of, the wider Romandy Citizens' Movement (), abbreviated to MCR. ...

References

External links

*
Official website
* 1966 births Living people Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2003–2007 People from Emmental District Swiss Democrats politicians People from Solothurn {{Switzerland-politician-stub