Page 494 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo II

1134 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

imagological bricolage of Swiss nation building. William Tell stands for the partisan, the
huntsman who knows his firearm, an excellent marksman, the freedom fighter par excel-
lence. Arnold Winkelried stands for the soldier who sacrifices himself for his comrades
and for the collective good. 20
Beside these two heroes the active duty generation was affiliated with the three con-
federates who were seen as the founders of the Old Swiss Confederacy by their mutual
oath of fellowship, the so called Rütlischwur of 1291. This mythic oath was connected
with the military swearing-in ceremony at the beginning of the mobilisation period in
1939, the oath of allegiance. Both oaths on the other hand were repeated during the Dia-
mond Commemorations. Within a ritual manner the mythological national oath and the
own military oath were recapitulated and re-experienced. The mythical imagined fore-
fathers in the tradition of the Rütlischwur and their fight for freedom and independency
were assembled to a unique common destiny with the active duty generation and their
own postulated willingness to fight.
The willing to self-sacrifice was incidentally not only attested to the male part of
the active duty generation but also to the female part. As the men served as fighters, the
women were necessary as mothers and as workers. They were linked with the characters
of Gilberte de Courgenay and the so called Lady Stauffacher. The former was an iconic
waitress in a tavern for soldiers during the First World War. She is accredited as an inspi-
ration for the servicemen. It is said that she gave them comfort and inspired them with
21
trust, courage and audacity. She stands for female aid and care. Lady Stauffacher on the
other hand is a literary character from Schiller’s William Tell play. When her husband,
mayor Stauffacher, doubted about fighting against the foreign oppressors because he
feared for the destiny of his woman, she requests him to fight for the country, independ-
ent of her personal future. She pointed out that she would prefer to kill herself as to live
under foreign oppression. Lady Stauffacher can be taken as a chiffre for the bold and
brave Swiss woman, undaunted by death. 22

20 For further reading: Marchal, Das Schweizeralpenland. Marchal, Schweizer Gebrauchsge-
schichte. Kreis, Georg, Schweizer Erinnerungsorte: Aus dem Speicher der Swissness, Zürich, 2010.
Assimilated for example by Josef Brücker, former president of the cantonal government of Uri, speech held
in Altdorf (02.09.1989): «Auf schweizerischen Stadttheaterbühnen wurde Schillers ‹Wilhelm Tell› gespielt,
und da kam es immer wieder vor, dass die Leute beim Rütlischwur aufstanden und in tiefer Ergriffenheit den
Rütlischwur mitsprachen: ‹Wir wollen sein ein einig Volk von Brüdern. In keiner Not uns trennen und Gefahr.
Wir wollen frei sein, wie die Väter waren. Eher den Tod, als in der Knechtschaft leben. Wir wollen trauen
auf den höchsten Gott und uns nicht fürchten vor der Macht der Menschen.’ Da war das Tellspiel mehr als
ein Spiel, es wurde gelebte Wirklichkeit.” In: Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv, Akten der Abteilung Mobilma-
chung. Bürgin, Die Diamantreden, 53-65.
21 For further reading: Kreis, Georg, Gilberte de Courgenay, in: Kreis, Schweizer Erinnerungsorte, 145-155.
Schmutz, Janine, Idéal de femme suisse: Die Heldin des Schweizer Spielfilms “Gilberte de Courgenay”
(1941) als Frauenleitbild, in: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Bd. 53 (2003), Heft 2, 174–196.
22 Schiller, Friedrich, Wilhelm Tell, in: Sämtliche Werke, Haag, 1830, 570-607, 1. Aufzug, 2. Auftritt.
Both topoi valued for example in the speeches of Adolf Ogi held in Burgdorf (01.09.1989) and Marcel
Gross held in Martigny (26.08.1989): “Die vielen Stauffacherinnen, die vielen Gilbertes de Courgenay
in der Schweiz wollen wir nicht vergessen. Sie haben im Stillen gewirkt – ihnen gehört unser Dank ganz
speziell.” (Ogi) “Souvenons-nous de l’effort fantastique, souvent héroïque, de la femme suisse.” (Gross)
In: Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv, Akten der Abteilung Mobilmachung. Bürgin, Die Diamantreden, 71-78.