Daniel Anrig

Colonel Daniel Rudolf Anrig (born 10 July 1972) was the thirty fourth Commandant of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 August 2008,[1] He replaced Elmar Mäder who had served as Commandant of the Swiss Guard since 2002.[2] He was succeeded by Christoph Graf as his term ended on 31 January 2015 and was not extended by Pope Francis.[3][4]

Daniel Anrig
Born (1972-07-10) 10 July 1972
Walenstadt, Switzerland
Allegiance  Vatican City
Service/branchPontifical Swiss Guard
Swiss Army
Years of service1992–1994
2008–2015
RankColonel
Commands heldPontifical Swiss Guard
Other workPolice officer
Banner of the Pontifical Swiss Guard of Pope Francis under the command of Anrig (2013–2015)

Anrig was born in Walenstadt (Canton of St. Gallen), Switzerland. He is married and has four children. Anrig served as halberdier in the Swiss Guard between 1992 and 1994.[5] He graduated in civil and ecclesiastical law from the University of Fribourg in 1999.

Anrig held the rank of a captain in the Swiss Army.[6]

He was head of criminal police in the canton of Glarus, from 2002 to 2006 when he became commanding general of the police body of the canton of Glarus. Since July 2015 Anrig has also been head of a section of the Zürich Airport corps of Kantonspolizei Zürich.[7]

In 2003, Anrig was jointly responsible for a controversial raid by the Glarus cantonal police on human and drug trafficking in a home for asylum seekers. The investigating judge dropped the investigation into disproportionate action by the police following a complaint by Amnesty International because he did not see any behavior relevant to criminal law. However, Anrig had to bear part of the legal costs.

In March 2006 he was promoted to commander of the canton police.

The period between 2012 and 2014 was increasingly overshadowed by internal quarrels. In 2012, the head of the Vatican police, Domenico Giani, and not Anrig, was honored by the international Catholic association "Tu es petrus" for his services to the security of the pope. In the tribute, Giani was referred to as the "Guardian Angel of the Pope."[8]

On December 2, 2014, Anrig was unexpectedly dismissed, which was discussed by numerous media. He ruled with an iron fist and lived in a luxury apartment. His military style irritated Pope Francis. The pope and ex-guards denied this.[9]

From 2015 to 2020, Anrig was head of the staff department, the smallest of the four departments, the airport police at the Zurich cantonal police. This employment was partly questioned critically.[10]

From November 1, 2020, Anrig was in charge of public administration in Zermatt as a communal secretary.[11] In November 2022, he was reported missing for several weeks before the commune declared that he was sitting in pre-trial detention for a "relationship delict". In February 2023, he was released; and his employment with the commune of Zermatt was terminated. In 2020, he was ordered to pay a monetary penalty for threatening to kill himself, his ex-partner and their son; but his appeal is still pending.[12]

References
  1. Bunson, Matthew (15 October 2008). Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Almanac. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. pp. 261–. ISBN 9781592764419. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  2. "Swiss guard row over brutal police raid". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  3. "Pope Francis removes Swiss Guard chief". Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  4. "Ex-Swiss Guard head defends leadership style". 31 January 2015.
  5. "Swiss Guard — Organization". Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  6. "Neuer Kommandant der Schweizergarde | NZZ". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  7. Ex-Kommandant beschäftigt Regierungsrat, Zürcher Unterländer 30 June 2015.
  8. "Krempelt der Papst die Schweizergarde um?". watson.ch (in German). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  9. Jürgensen, Nadine. "Der Papst nimmt Daniel Anrig in Schutz | NZZ". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  10. "Ex-Kommandant beschäftigt Regierungsrat". Zürcher Unterländer (in German). 30 June 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  11. "Daniel Anrig neuer Gemeindeschreiber" (PDF).
  12. Kunz, Samira (27 March 2023). "Deshalb war der Ex-Kommandant der Schweizergarde monatelang in U-Haft" [This is why the ex-commander of the Swiss Guard was in pre-trial remand for months] (in German). 20 Minuten. Retrieved 27 March 2023.


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