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Robert Tobler

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Robert Tobler
Born
Robert Tobler

(1901-12-23)23 December 1901
Died17 June 1962(1962-06-17) (aged 60)
NationalitySwiss
Alma materUniversity of Zurich
OccupationLawyer
Known forPolitician
Political partyNational Front

Robert Tobler (23 December 1901 – 17 June 1962) was a Swiss far-right politician.

Born in Zürich, he followed his father by studying law at University of Zurich and working as a lawyer.[1] Initially attracted to liberalism, he came into contact with Hans Oehler and soon helped to found the New Front in 1930.[1] As chairman of the new group he was heavily influenced by Othmar Spann, although fascism quickly became more important for the Front.[1]

The tomb of Tobler, his wife Nelly, née Giger (1901-1982), and of his parents Adolf (1870-1923) and Fanny Anna, née Bruppacher (1871-1950), at the cemetery of Fluntern in Zurich.

He served as Gaufuehrer for Zürich in the National Front and ran the party paper Die Front, which was funded by Nazi Germany.[1] Tobler was elected to the Swiss parliament in 1935, becoming the only member of the National Front (or indeed any pro-Nazi group) to hold a parliamentary seat in the country.[2] He took over as Front leader in 1938, leading to his predecessor Rolf Henne splitting the movement.[1] Tobler attempted to find a common ground with the government, although by this time it was too late as the movement already had a reputation as firmly pro-Nazi.[1] He was imprisoned in 1940 as a fifth columnist and the Front fell into decay.[1] After his release he led the Eidgenössische Sammlung and Schaffhausen Nationale Gemeinschaft, although both these groups were outlawed in 1943 as part of a wider ban on the National Front and its offshoots.[1] Tobler took no further role in politics and died in his home town.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, 1990, p. 391
  2. ^ Stephen P. Halbrook, Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II, Da Capo Press, 2003, p. 37