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 colon ...

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 Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

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 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 ...

as his term ended on 31 January 2015 and was not extended by

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 fi ...

Life

Anrig was born in

Walenstadt Walenstadt is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is located on Lake Walen (also known as "Lake Walenstadt"). Geography Walenstadt has an area of . Of this area ...

(Canton of Saint Gallen),

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He is married and has four children. Anrig served as

halberdier A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge), is a two-handed polearm that was in prominent use from the 13th to 16th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It may have a hook or t ...

in the Swiss Guard between 1992 and 1994. He graduated in civil and

ecclesiastical law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

from the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City 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

Anrig held the rank of a captain in the

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

. He was head of criminal police in the canton of

Glarus Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, the investigating judge dropped the investigation into disproportionate action by the police because no findings relevant to criminal law were made. However, Anrig had to bear part of the legal costs. On 19 August 2008, Anrig was appointed as the thirty-fourth Commandant of the Pontifical Swiss Guard by

. The period between 2012 and 2014 was increasingly overshadowed by internal quarrels. In 2012, the head of the

Vatican police The Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State (; ) is the gendarmerie, or military police and security force, of Vatican City, Holy See and extraterritorial properties of the Holy See, its extraterritorial properties. It was founded in 1816 as Cor ...

Domenico Giani Domenico Giani (born 16 August 1962) is an Italian ex-police officer security expert who was the Inspector General of the Corpo della Gendarmeria, the police and security force of Vatican City. Biography Giani was born on 16 August 1962 in Are ...

, and not Anrig, was honored by the international Catholic association "Tu es petrus" for his services to the security of the pope. In the tribute, Giani was referred to as the "Guardian Angel of the Pope". On 2 December 2014, Anrig was unexpectedly dismissed. He was reported to rule with an iron fist and lived in a luxury apartment. His military style was alleged to irritate Pope Francis. The pope and ex-guards denied this. From July 2015 to 2020, Anrig was head of the Staff Department – the smallest of four departments – at the office of the Zurich cantonal police at

Zürich Airport Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest of the count ...

, which was questioned critically. From 1 November 2020, Anrig was in charge of public administration in

Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...

as a

communal secretary In a Swiss commune, the communal secretary (, ) is, depending on the municipality's size, either a simple office clerk, or he may be the director of all administrative affairs, with dozens of employees working under his direction. The secretary is ...

. In November 2022, he was reported missing for several weeks before the commune declared that he was sitting in

pre-trial detention Pre-trial detention, also known as jail, preventive detention, provisional detention, or remand, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is ...

for a "relationship conflict". In February 2023, he was released and his employment with the commune of Zermatt was terminated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anrig, Daniel Rudolf Living people 1972 births 20th-century Swiss military personnel 21st-century Swiss military personnel Commanders of the Swiss Guard People from Walenstadt Swiss military officers Swiss police officers Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre University of Fribourg alumni