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List of ambassadors of Switzerland to Australia

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Ambassador of Switzerland to Australia
Incumbent
Caroline Bichet-Anthamatten
since 1 January 2022
StyleHer Excellency
AppointerSwiss Federal Council
Inaugural holderDr Friedrich Gygax
Formation1961
WebsiteSwitzerland and Australia

The ambassador of Switzerland to Australia is an officer of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the head of the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation to the Commonwealth of Australia. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and holds non-resident accreditation for Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The ambassador is based with the embassy in Forrest in Canberra.

The ambassador is currently Caroline Bichet-Anthamatten. Switzerland and Australia have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1961, although consular representation has existed even before in Australia and its previous colonies: in Sydney since 1855, Melbourne since 1856, Brisbane since 1889, Adelaide since 1879 and consular agencies in Darwin (1978), Hobart (1968) and Perth (1971).

Ambassadors, 1961–present

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Incumbent Start of term End of term
Dr Friedrich Gygax[1] 29 August 1961 23 March 1965
Egbert von Graffenried 2 September 1965 2 March 1970
Dr Max König[2] 26 May 1970 31 December 1975
Marcel Grossenbacher 10 March 1976 30 November 1978
Dr Henri Rossi 3 March 1979 31 October 1984
Alfred Glesti[3] 1 March 1985 22 August 1988
Dr Arnold Hugentobler[4] 25 November 1988 5 May 1992
Peter Niederberger 7 September 1992 2 March 1996
Dr Bernhard Marfurt 1 April 1996 2000
André Faivet 4 May 2000 1 September 2004
Christian Mühlethaler 2004 2008
Dr Daniel Woker[5] 2008 2012
Marcel Stutz 11 April 2012 September 2016
Pedro Zwahlen 12 October 2016 31 December 2021
Caroline Bichet-Anthamatten[6] 1 January 2022 -

Consuls and consuls-general

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Consuls in Sydney, 1855–present

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Incumbent Start of term End of term
Louis Chapalay (honorary consul) 1855 1865
August Parrot (honorary consul) 1875 1880
Friedrich Plüss (honorary consul) 1881 1884
Conrad Staehelin-Werner (honorary consul) 1884 1890
Jakob Roth (honorary consul) 1890 1891
Max Rutty (honorary consul) 1896 1918
Olav Pauss (honorary consul) 1918 1920
Eugen Bloch (honorary consul) 1920 1931
Eugen Bloch (honorary consul-general) 1931 1933
Hans Georg Hedinger (honorary consul-general) 1933 1941
Hans Georg Hedinger (consul-general) 1941 1961
Jakob Huber (consul-general) 1961 1967
Henri Jung (consul-general) 1967 1974
Raymond Tellenbach (consul-general) 1975 1985
Richard Wolf (consul-general) 1985 1988
Hans-Peter Egger (consul-general) 1988 1992
Hans Meier (consul-general) 1992 1997
Heinz Wey (consul-general) 1997 2001
Albert Mehr (consul-general) 2001 2005
Jürg Casserini (consul-general) 2005 2009
Markus Meli (consul-general) 2009 2013
Ernst Steinmann (consul-general) 2013 2017
Bernadette Hunkeler Brown (consul-general) 2017 2022
Cornelia Camenzind (consul-general) 2022 -

Consuls in Melbourne, 1856–present

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Incumbent Start of term End of term
Achilles Bischoff (honorary Vice-consul) 1856 1857
Achilles Bischoff (honorary consul) 1857 1859
Samuel Rentsch (honorary consul) 1859 1864
Frédéric Guillaume de Pury (honorary consul) 1875 1890
Charles Martin (honorary consul) 1891 1906
Gustav Stahel (honorary consul) 1907 1921
Gustav Stahel (honorary consul-general) 1921 1928
Paul Louis Frossard (honorary consul-general) 1928 1931
Emile Bisang (honorary consul-general) 1931 1932
Johannes Alexander Pietzcker (honorary consul) 1932 1951
Paul-Emile Cattin (honorary consul) 1951 1958
Edwin Steiner (honorary consul) 1958 1963
Curt Mahnig (honorary consul) 1964 1970
Urs Karli (honorary consul) 1971 1975
Werner Zellweger (honorary consul) 1975 1980
Werner Zellweger (consul-general) 1980 1983
Henning Rieder (consul-general) 1983 1986
Günter Britschgi (consul-general) 1987 1990
Leo Renggli (consul-general) 1990 1995
Bernard Sandoz (consul-general) 1995 ????
Erika Esther Kimpton (honorary consul) 2007 2016
Manuela Erb (honorary consul)[7] 2016 -

Consuls in Adelaide

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Incumbent Start of term End of term
James Page (honorary Vice-consul) 30 December 1879 31 December 1913
Eduard Willis Van Senden (honorary Vice-consul)[8] 6 November 1914 31 December 1918
Paul Anton Richter (honorary consul) 3 June 1969 ????
René Pfister (honorary consul) 28 June 2000 2019
Patrick Wille (honorary consul) 2019 -

Consuls in Brisbane

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Incumbent Start of term End of term
Jakob Leutenegger (honorary consul) 5 March 1889 1909
George Gross (honorary consul) 17 March 1909 30 June 1909
William Schoch (honorary consul) 25 July 1910 1925
Henri Schaub (honorary consul) 4 November 1926 1960
Daniel Gschwind (honorary consul) 23 April 2008 -

Consuls in Perth

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Incumbent Start of term End of term
Rudolf Hermann Abplanalp (honorary consul) 11 August 1971 30 June 1993
Prof. Ernst Jürg Weber (honorary consul) 1 July 1993 2023

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "AUST. TO HAVE SWISS EMBASSY". The Canberra Times. 3 June 1961. p. 3. Retrieved 13 November 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "SWISS EMBASSY IN CANBERRA". The Australian Women's Weekly. 22 October 1975. p. 136. Retrieved 13 November 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Mr ALFRED R. GLESTI Swiss envoy to Australia, PNG". The Canberra Times. 3 September 1988. p. 2. Retrieved 13 November 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Vice-Regal". The Canberra Times. 2 December 1988. p. 8. Retrieved 13 November 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Executive School Team – Dr. Daniel Woker". Executive School of Management, Technology and Law. University of St. Gallen. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Welcome - A greeting from the Ambassador". Embassy of Switzerland in Australia. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Confederation. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  7. ^ "consulate of Switzerland in Melbourne". www.eda.admin.ch. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  8. ^ "SWISS CONSUL APPOINTED". The Sunday Times. Perth. 25 July 1915. p. 1 Section: First Section. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
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