Photo archive Walter Rutishauser
Which Swiss politicians do you remember? What topics were discussed in the political arena from the 1970s to the turn of the millennium? Press and agency photographer Walter Rutishauser gave us an in-depth insight into the workings of parliament. Held at the Library Am Guisanplatz since 2013, his photo archive contains a wide range of portraits and topical photos spanning the years 1960 to 2000.
Niklaus Meienberg, 1979
Swiss journalist and author
Friedrich Traugott Wahlen, 1965
Wahlen was a member of the Federal Council from 1959 until 1965, but is best known for the ‘Wahlen Plan’, a programme to ensure Switzerland’s food security during the Second World War.
King Juan Carlos, Hans Hürlimann, 1979
The Spanish king and the President of the Swiss Confederation drinking wine among members of the Armed Forces.
Ruth Dreifuss, Christiane Brunner, 8 March 1993
The photo was taken shortly before Ruth Dreifuss was elected to the Federal Council. Christiane Brunner, the official SP candidate, was not elected.
Willi Ritschard, 1983
The SP politician sat on the Federal Council from 1974 to 1983.
Rudolf Gnägi, 1979
Gnägi sat on the Federal Council for the Farmers’, Trades’ and Citizens’ Party (BGB) from 1966 to 1979
Yasir Arafat, 1994
Arafat, Peres and Rabin received the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year for their contribution to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Lilian Uchtenhagen, probably in 1986
The SP politician was one of the first women elected to the National Council, in 1971.
Ernst Sieber, 1994
The pastor from Zurich was a member of the National Council for the Evangelical People’s Party from 1991 to 1995.
Walter Rutishauser (1940–2000) worked as a photographer all his life. From 1960 onwards, he worked for various publishing houses and agencies. From 1969 he worked for the Keystone agency, then for the Tages Anzeiger newspaper, where he was mainly responsible for political events in Bern.
The Library Am Guisanplatz BiG acquired the Walter Rutishauser photo archive in 2013, while a number of prints had already been transferred to the library collection in 2000.
The photographs depict everyday political life
The photo archive contains an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 photographs from the years 1960 to 2000, mainly in the form of black-and-white negatives. They depict everyday political life in Bern with all its protagonists, events and occasions, and general social and military topics.
In a project lasting several years, the extensive collection will be archived, catalogued and made available to the public via the Alexandria search portal.
If you would like to research the archive on the library premises, please contact us at recherchen@gs-vbs.ch or on +41 58 464 50 97.