Karl Albrecht Gottlieb Ringier (8 December 1837 – 7 January 1929) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

politician, President of the

Swiss Council of States The Council of States is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the other house being the National Council. As the powers of the houses are the same, it is sometimes called perfect bicameralism. It comprises 46 members. Twenty of t ...

(1875) and Federal Chancellor (1882–1909).

Early life and education

Ringier was born 8 December 1837 in

Sumiswald Sumiswald is a municipality in the district of the Emmental administrative district in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It is mostly known for being the manufacturing location of the Swiss railway clock. History Sumiswald is first me ...

, Switzerland. Ringier's father was a

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pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

who supervised the parish Sumiswald at the time of his birth. In 1843 he was appointed to

Huttwil Huttwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau administrative district in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern. History Early history Huttw ...

, where Ringier would attend school. Having spent his youth in

Emmental The Emmental (, ) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme and Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dairy farming. The ...

and studied at

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

, he studied law at the universities of Bâle,

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. He had to terminate his

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

studies after the death of his father in 1860 following financial difficulties.

Career

He opened his

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

in Zofingue, and was elected to the

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1862, serving from 1862 to 1864, and again from 1875 to 1880. He was appointed cantonal government

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

in 1863, a position he held for nine years. He was subsequently elected to the Council of States in 1868, where he was considered a moderate liberal. He was President of the Swiss Council of States in 1875. In 1872, he entered the law firm of his father-in-law in Zofingue. Later, he suffered lung injuries during work as a firefighter that required four years of treatment in

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

Rigi The Rigi (or ''Mount Rigi''; also known as ''Queen of the Mountains'') is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne ...

, and

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

. In 1881, he was elected on the fourth ballot as Chancellor of the Confederation, replacing

Johann Ulrich Schiess Johann Ulrich Schiess (21 February 1813 in Wald, Switzerland – 6 July 1883) was a Swiss politician who served as the third Chancellor of Switzerland. Early life and education Schiess was born 21 February 1813 in Wald, Zurich, Switzerland. ...

. This was the first time since the creation of the Federal Chancellery that several voting rounds were required for the election of the chancellor. The

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

awarded him with an honorary doctorate in 1901. He later served as the president of the Swiss Schiller Foundation (1905-1918). His cousin Johann Rudolf Ringier served in the National Council.

Death

Ringier died 7 January 1929 in

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 ...

References

External links

* *
Information about Person dodis.ch/P33742
in online https://dodis.ch/P33742 Federal chancellors of Switzerland 1837 births 1929 deaths Presidents of the Council of States (Switzerland) 19th-century Swiss politicians 20th-century Swiss politicians {{Switzerland-politician-stub