Ulrich Giezendanner

Ulrich "Ueli" Giezendanner^[1] (Swiss Standard German: [ˈʊlrɪç ˈɡiːəzn̩ˌdanər]; born 31 October 1953) is a Swiss businessman and former politician who served as a member of the National Council for the Swiss People's Party from 1991 to 2019.^[2][3] He previously also served on the Grand Council of Aargau from 1989 to 1991. He remains a controlling shareholder in Giezendanner Group and serves as deputy chairman of KPT Health Insurance in Bern, Switzerland.^[4]

Ulrich Giezendanner
Official portrait, 2011
Member of National Council
In office 11 November 1991 – 1 December 2019
Constituency	Canton of Aargau
Member of Grand Council of Aargau
In office 1 March 1989 – 31 October 1991
Personal details
Born	Ulrich Giezendanner (1953-10-31) 31 October 1953 (age 71) Rothrist, Aargau, Switzerland
Political party	Swiss People's Party
Spouses	Helene Rüegger ​ ​ (m. 1975; died 1997)​ Roberta Baumann ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	4, including Benjamin and Stefan
Residences	Rothrist Vira (Gambarogno)
Occupation	Businessman, politician
Military service
Allegiance	Switzerland
Branch/service	Swiss Armed Forces
Rank	Soldier

Early life and education

Giezendanner was born 31 October 1953 in Rothrist, Switzerland to Johann Ulrich Giezendanner, originally from Wattwil, who founded Giezendanner Group in 1934.^[5] He has one sister who permanently resides in Vira (Gambarogno) in Ticino.^[6] According to his own statements, Giezendanner completed a commercial apprenticeship, and did not pursue further education.

Career

In 1976, Giezendanner took over the company from his parents and turned it into a stock corporation.^[7] Today the business is managed by his son Benjamin Giezendanner, since 2017 as sole managing director, after his brother Stefan was excluded from management due to internal discrepancies.^[8]

More recently, Giezendanner has become deputy chairman of KPT Health Insurance, where is also a member on the Nomination and Compensation Committee.^[9][10] He remains a board member of the board of all Giezendanner companies.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Politics

From March 1989 to November 1991, he served in the Canton of Aargau legislature. In 1991, he was elected to the National Council, representing the canton of Aargau, and since 1995 he has been the head of the Commission for Transport and Telecommunications.^[15] Until mid-1996, he was a member of the Freedom Party of Switzerland. Since then, Giezendanner has been a member of the Swiss People's Party.

Giezendanner supported the expansion of the Baregg tunnel (a bit of a bottleneck in the Swiss motorway network) in 2003, and the adding of a second tube of the Gotthard road tunnel. He currently is an advocate of the creation of a Formula 1 circuit course in Switzerland. The federal government's policy of shifting the heavy transit traffic to rail, has been the cause of criticism of Giezendanner, because of his work on the Baregg tunnel and on the Gotthard road tunnel.

He's a member of a Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland.^[16]

Private

In 1975, Giezendanner married his first wife Helene (née Rüegger), who died in 1997. They had four children together. His eldest son, Oliver, died in infancy.^[17][18] His youngest son, Benjamin Giezendanner, was the youngest elected member of the Grand Council of Aargau and current member of the National Council, and most recently prospective candidate for Council of States (Switzerland).^[19] His elder son, Stefan Giezendanner, is a member of the Grand Council of Aargau since 2020.

Since 2017, he is married to his second wife and long-term partner Roberta Baumann (born 1965).^[20]