An officer’s jacket which belonged to revered Swiss general Henri Guisan has sold at auction for SFr155,000 ($179,000).
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The jacket is believed to have been worn by the general between 1939 and 1945. The Stuker auction house in Bern, which sold the jacket, had estimated it would sell for SFr7,000.
Guisan is perhaps Switzerland’s most famous soldier. He is credited with having mobilised both the Swiss army and the country into preparing a resistance against a possible Nazi invasion during the Second World War.
Also sold on Thursday was a pocket watch engraved with the words “General Guisan” and with the Guisan family crest, which fetched SFr5,000.
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To this day Guisan has something of a cult status, an unusual phenomenon in a country not prone to putting anyone on a pedestal. His presence is everywhere, just check the maps of major Swiss cities. Almost all have a Guisan Street, an Avenue General Guisan or a Place General Guisan. And it is very…
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General Henri Guisan (1874-1960) personified Swiss resistance during the war. The charismatic general was revered by the Swiss population, and would become a larger-than-life figure. (photo editor: Christoph Balsiger, swissinfo.ch)
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