The Swiss Border Guard

[Gordon Craig]

The Swiss Border Guard - BG for short - (Grenz Polizei) is the uniformed and armed part of the Federal Customs Administration (FCA), and as such forms part of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF). It operates in the fields of customs, security and migration. As the country's biggest national, civil security organisation, the BG is Switzerland's first defensive filter and so contributes to the protection of the country's internal security. Since its inception over a hundred years ago, the corps has undergone considerable changes.

The federal government does not run a general purpose law enforcement agency. National-level law enforcement coordination is provided by a board of cantonal police commanders. The Federal Office of Police, an organisation belonging to the Federal Department of Justice and Police, coordinates international operations and may request cantonal police support for criminal investigations conducted under federal jurisdiction (such as with respect to organised crime, money laundering and terrorism). The Office's investigative arm is the Federal Criminal Police, which operates a small special operations unit, Einsatzgruppe TIGRIS, whose existence was not made public until 2009.

The Grenz Polizeis operational fields requires that it operates throughout the country and not just at the border. For reasons of tactical control, the BG has divided the country into VIII Districts which are identified through the use of Roman numerals I through VIII.

As Switzerlands National Security Organization, the BG works in close co-operation with its partners: this may be at the National level with Federal Authorities such as the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) or the Federal Office of Migration (FOM), or at operational level with partners in the Cantons especially the Cantonal Police services. In this respect, the Swiss Border Guard acts on the basis of existing agreements with each Canton. In these agreements, the competence of the Cantons are delegated to the BG and the division between the partners is clearly regulated.

As of the 12th of December, 2008 Switzerland became a member of the Schengen Border Agreement. The Schengen Border Agreement is what allows EU members to open their borders to other EU members once certain requirements have been met. Although the Swiss have had several referendum on whether or not to join the EU they have voted no each time. However, for economical reasons the Swiss government has decided to join the Schengen countries and open its borders to them. This will mean some changes of structure within the BG but is not expected to cause a big upheaval. It did mean a change of uniform colours from green to blue. Blue being the standard police uniform colour worn in EU countries. EU regulations require that member states disband their Border Guards by turning them into policemen. It the Swiss ever decided to join the EU the BG could become the Federal Police force as has happened with the Border Guard in Germany.

Below is a photo of two BG officers. One in the old green uniform the other in the new blue uniform.

I believe that the Roman numeral II, just visible on the shoulder of the chap in the blue uniform, probably stands for the IInd BG district where he is stationed.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

The next picture is of a uniform of the Swiss Border Guard from my collection. The owner of this uniform was assigned to the Zurich airport. This is shown by the wings above his left breast pocket. The blue and white crest in the centre of the wings is for the Canton of Zurch. On his left sleeve he wears the badge of the GRENZPOLIZEI. The red slips-on on the shoulders also indicate that he is with the Grenzpolizie. The gold buttons on the tunic have a crest the same shape as that of the Canton of Zurich and are divided in a similar manner. One half of the button shield is plain while the other is crosshatched indicating that the shield is of two different colours. The tunic is not dated but this arm badge was worn during the 60s and 70s.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

A close up of the winged device worn by the BG assigned to the Zurich airport. The wings are metal and the crest is of fired enamel.

[Gordon Craig]

The shield on the left arm.

[Gordon Craig]

The slip-ons on the shoulder. This also gives a good view of the crest on the buttons.

Regards,

Gordon

Edited January 25, 2010 by Gordon Craig

[peter monahan]

Gordon

I love uniforms that act like road maps/calenders! Thanks for sharing this one, though for some odd reason when I first saw the title I was anticipating a long joke, probably to do with neutrality!

Peter

"A priest, a nun and a Swiss border guard walk into a bar." :speechless:

[Gordon Craig]

Gordon

I love uniforms that act like road maps/calenders! Thanks for sharing this one, though for some odd reason when I first saw the title I was anticipating a long joke, probably to do with neutrality!

Peter

"A priest, a nun and a Swiss border guard walk into a bar."

Peter,

I used to pass through Zurich airport fairly often while these uniforms were in wear. The guys that wore them were armed to the teeth. Definitely not "neutral" pleasant looking chaps to deal with. Zurich was/is a central hub for flying into Europe and a highly attractive terrorist target. I was through there one day shortly after someone had dropped a grenade from the balcony onto the concourse below. I think the BG were very busy that day!

Regards,

Gordon

[Mervyn Mitton]

Thankyou Gordon - one of those Forces that you never think about - or, at least I hadn't......

Once you start to read about them, you quickly realise how well trained and professional they are. Would be good if others could add to your info..

[Chris Boonzaier]

"the Swiss Border Guard".... better known as "the Swiss watch" ? ;-)

[Gordon Craig]

Thankyou Gordon - one of those Forces that you never think about - or, at least I hadn't......

Once you start to read about them, you quickly realise how well trained and professional they are. Would be good if others could add to your info..

Mervyn,

Thanks for your comments. I like to research little known outfits. Be they police, military, para-military or European civil defence organization.

The Swiss seem to get laughed at because they haven't gone to war in 500 years. Even Hitler left them alone. When you consider that every man in the country has all of his kit, including his rifle, in his home and is a trained soldier who can walk out the door and into battle at a moments notice I think they deserve more credit than they get. They have been good enough to guard the Pope for over 400 years so they must have something going for them!

I wish that I had more to add to this thread myself and perhaps with some more digging I can. It would be nice if someone else could add to it. There is nothing in print about police uniforms in the past and even the collectors who collect Swiss militaria do not have much to add.

Regards,

Gordon