Christine von Wattenwyl (25 November 1888 – 25 January 1964) was a Swiss Salvationist officer and religious worker. She was a Lieutenant Colonel in the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

and a pioneer of prison care in Switzerland. In 1964, she was posthumously awarded the

Order of the Founder In 1917, five years after the death of the founder of the Salvation Army William Booth, his son, General Bramwell Booth, inaugurated the Order of the Founder to recognise Salvationists who had rendered distinguished service, such as would have spe ...

Biography

Christine von Wattenwyl was born on 25 November 1888 to a family of the

Swiss nobility Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a collection of semi-autonomous cantons. As membership of the confederation has fluctuated throughout history, each of these cantons has its own unique history and nobility. Typically, each ca ...

. Her parents were Rudolf von Wattenwyl and Pauline von Wattenwyl. She was raised in the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. Inspired by her aunt, Anna von Wattenwyl, she converted to Salvationism. In 1912, von Wattenwyl enrolled in the Salvation Army's officers' school in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She was appointed to the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1914 to 1916, she worked for the church in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

before returning to Switzerland to work in

Le Locle Le Locle (; ) is a Communes of Switzerland, municipality in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is situated in the Jura Mountains, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. It is the third smallest city in Switzerland (in Swit ...

Orbe Orbe (; ; older , ; ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois. History Orbe is first mentioned about 280 as ''Urba''. In 1179, it wa ...

, and Sainte-Croix. From 1921 until the end of her career, von Wattenwyl was based at the Salvation Army 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 ...

. She spent her life serving prisoners and was a pioneer for prison care for the Salvation Army in Switzerland. Modeled after the prison welfare system of the Salvation Army in Japan, von Wattenwyl set up an independent branch of prison welfare that included spiritual and material support for inmates and their families and aftercare programs following inmate release. Von Wattenwyl died on 25 January 1964 in

Oberdiessbach Oberdiessbach is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bern-Mittelland (administrative district), Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 ...

. She was posthumously awarded the

that same year, becoming the third Swiss woman to receive the honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wattenwyl, Christine von 1888 births 1964 deaths Converts to Methodism Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians People from Thun District Swiss expatriates in England Swiss expatriates in France Swiss nobility Swiss Protestant missionaries Swiss Salvationists

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on Stephen King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' ( ...