Page 73 - Celebrating Swiss Independence
P. 73
1936 National Defence Fund
The first stamps to bear the inscription ‘Pro Patria’ were issued on 1 October 1936, and included a surcharge for the
Federal Defence Fund. Designed by Karl Bickel (from a painting by the Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler) the stamps
feature a shepherd of the Gruyeres District of Canton Fribourg.
In 1936, Federal President Albert Meyer urged the public to purchase subscriptions to a National Defence Fund, emphasising that
the country’s neutrality and independence were more endangered now than at any time during the Great War. The German plan to
invade Switzerland ‘Operation Tannenbaum‘ was real, but was never carried out.
A souvenir sheet, incorporating the three stamps, was also issued, and sold for SFr.2.
Although not sponsored by the Bundesfeier Committee, the above adhesives are viewed as forerunners
of the Bundesfeier (renamed Pro Patria in 1952) charity postage stamp issues that commenced in 1938
