Germaine Seewer

The career soldier is the first divisional commander in the Swiss Armed Forces. She then oversaw the training of military officers. The native of Upper Valais is remarkable in two respects. She holds a rank traditionally reserved for men and is one of the 1.6 per cent of women in the Swiss Armed Forces. In March 2024, there were 2,301 women enlisted. Germaine Seewer was born in Leuk and studied chemistry at ETH Zurich, obtaining a doctorate in the quality of pork meat and fat. She worked as a scientist at the Federal Animal Production Research Station (Fribourg). In 1998, she began her peripatetic military career, serving in missions in Kosovo then in Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 2019, her name was mentioned as a potential successor to head of the armed forces Philippe Rebord. “Her CV is perfect, except where it says she comes from Valais,” claimed Valais newspaper “Le Nouvelliste”. A German-speaking Swiss, Thomas Süssli, pipped her to the post. Germaine Seewer still lives in Valais. She loves the mountains, and has taken part in the Patrouille des glaciers (a ski mountaineering race organised by the Swiss Armed Forces). Another trait of her personality is discretion and reserve. One exception was when she came out in favour of the women’s strike in 2019, judging it to be “necessary”. She did not, however, join the protest marches in the streets.