�鶹��ý

In this interview Vilmar Kräehenbüehl relates how he joined a political party, what offices he has held in Swiss government as well as what callings he held in the church simultaneously. He voices his frustration at politics but urges others to get involved while remaining close to the Lord. This interview was conducted on June 16, 2021, by Kate Hall, a BYU student majoring in political science and minoring in civic engagement leadership.

Kate Hall: OK, before we get into the deeper questions, would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, where you went to school, about your family?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: OK, I was born in Lucerne, grew up there. I went to secondary or high school there. I have three sisters and one brother. After high school, I went to the Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich to study civil engineering. I have a master’s degree in civil engineering. I am married. I have four children: three girls and a boy. I have fifteen grandchildren and still growing. I worked for multiple businesses: I worked first in tunneling on military buildings, then I was in foundation, and then I changed to the city of Zürich. I was a bridge engineer first, and in the end I was the director of the civil engineering department of Zürich. Now I’m retired. I have my own little firm. I still work a little bit on a very low temperature. I am on the board of directors for a parking firm, and I’m president of two building commissions, and I’m still in politics a little bit. And I had a lot of church callings. When I had finished my school, I was very soon a stake executive secretary, and then I was high councilor, and then I was bishop. Then, again high councilor, and then I was in the high priest leadership. And then one day that was replaced by the elders quorum president; I was in the elders quorum presidency. And now I am the first counselor of the mission presidency of the Alpine German-Speaking Mission (AGSM). I’m very thankful for my children, and my wife for all they do for me. They give me time so I can do all the things I want to do.

Kate Hall: Are you a lifelong member, or are you a convert to the church?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: I was born into the church. My grandma, she joined the church in 1927. My dad was in the church, and my mom, she was converted. But I was born into the church.

Kate Hall: When did you first become interested in politics?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: As a child at the table, we were a great big family: grandpa, grandma, mom and dad, and my four sisters and brother. At the table they were discussing politics. And my dad was in politics a little bit. He was in charge for the schooling, you have some supervision jobs for schooling. And so they discussed a lot of politics when I grew up. But then I went on a mission. I went and there was no interest or time for politics. After I finished my engineering certificate, I started to be interested in politics. There were two parties in Switzerland that I was thinking about joining. And I went to the party I really wanted to join. It’s the Freie Demokratische Partei of Switzerland. But they were so nasty. They didn’t even say hello when I went there. And so I went to the other party, which was not my first choice. It’s the Swiss People’s Party. They are really, on the right side, very, very right. And I chose them because I thought they have the family on their program. The family is very important for them. They were friendly to me. They welcomed me when I came to their party. And so I joined the Schweizerische Volkspartei.

Kate Hall: What was the first office that you ran for or served in, and why did you decide to run for that office?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: OK, my first office I had was the Cantonal Parliament of Canton of Zürich. I ran for the party. I was not elected, but I was on a good step behind. And then there was a guy that did stupid things, and so he was excluded from the council, from the parliament, and so I could replace him. That’s how I started. For eight years, I was in the parliament of Canton Zürich—from 1993 until 2001. In 1997 they asked me to run for the city council of Zürich. On this council there’s nine people that run the city of Zürich. So I decided to go for that. And there were three men out of the party and two were selected to run. I ran there—in the 1998 election. Luckily, I was not elected, I’m glad that they didn’t choose me. So I stayed till 2001 in the Parliament, and then I decided I did not want a political career. That’s why, in the end, I was the director of the civil engineering department I worked for.

But then in 2004, I moved to a little village outside of Zürich. I was, for a while, inactive in politics. Then I decided, well, I should probably do something too. I was in the audit committee. We audit the bills. I have served there for eight years, and now, I’m in the last time I do this. I’m the president of this audit committee now, and they want me to come on the council of the village, but my wife is against it. I’m retired now and I don’t want to be in politics anymore. That’s my political career.

Kate Hall: I’d be interested to know who influenced you either when you were running or while you’ve been serving.

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: I had a lot of friends that helped me when I went for the city council. One guy taught me how to present myself, and he helped me a lot. Well, I was influenced by my dad too, because at the table we talked about politics, and he was an example for me too: the things he did for the government and for the public and so on.

And it was strange, when I ran for the city council of Zürich, right then the stake president decided, “Well, you ought to be bishop too.” So it did not help very much, but it was another point that newspapers wrote about, “Oh, now he’s a bishop, a Mormon bishop too.” And they wanted to know about church too. It was a good thing to talk about the church, but it probably did not help very much. But that’s no problem. I did receive letters telling me, “Well, I would choose you if you were not a Mormon, but being a Mormon, I’m sorry, I can’t choose you.” But then they didn’t sign. I didn’t know who wrote those letters. But that’s in Switzerland.

Kate Hall: Going off that, how did you balance holding church callings while being in office?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: My wife kept my back free so I could do what I wanted to do. She was caring for the kids, and she gave me a lot of free time so I could run politics. In Switzerland, we are not professional politicians; it’s just besides the work we do. So I had my church calling as the bishop. I was in the Parliament. My work was nice; they gave me one day off a week so I could do my political assignment. Every Monday morning, we had the Parliament sessions and on Monday afternoon we were together with the party to discuss the things that happened in the morning, to discuss things that should happen next week. So my office was nice, the city of Zürich was nice. They helped me to do the job too.

Kate Hall: Were there any church teachings that influenced you to become involved in politics?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: Definitely. The twelfth article of faith, which talks about that we should be there for the government and sustain the government. That was really an influence on me to do this work. And all the stories in the Book of Mormon of the leaders—Moroni, for example, and other leaders—that were doing good work for the people. That’s why I wanted to do this too.

Kate Hall: How did your religion affect your approach to your office?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: Well, now my religion is the most important thing. I had times where I worked hard for religion, and I had times where I worked hard for my office. I’ve had times where I worked hard for the politics, but I was not able to match everything. Now I’ve changed a little bit. I want the church first. Everything that I do is for the church, and if there is time left there is other things I can do, and I will do, but if not, church is the most important thing. That was not back when I was in office and had to earn money for my family. I split my time as it says in Proverbs. There’s a time for work, time for fun, time for family, and a time for politics.

Kate Hall: Has your approach to particular policy issues been affected by your religious beliefs?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: I did not care for those things that went against my church—the things I was convinced about. I just left them aside. I did not care for that. I let other people of my party care for these things. But I was, maybe today, I would say I was a coward too because… I was maybe afraid to go against them and say the thing that the church taught me. But I was alone there, and I was probably not strong enough to have my own opinion and to bring it in. In one-to-one talks I’d probably do it, but we were forty or forty-five members of the Parliament together. And, well, I did not want to offend anyone by my opinion, so I didn’t. Today I say it was not good; but back then, I decided this way.

Kate Hall: What do you think the relationship between religion and politics should be?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: I think there should be no mixture between religion and politics. Politics is something that should be separated from religion. Religion should not be involved into politics. You can as a person and that’s the important thing. I think you should, as a person, stand up for the standards you have. But not as a religion. The religion, the prophet, should not take care of the party for the Democrats or the Republicans. I don’t think the stake president should do that and not the church. But me as a person, I can go and I can go for it and I can tell them what my opinion is; and I did it in those days too. I’m not doing it because I’m a representative of the church, but I’m doing it because I’m convinced that what the church taught me is correct, and it’s the way to go back to our Father in Heaven.

Kate Hall: Do you believe that incivility in politics and partisan polarization are problems today and, if so, how would you suggest that we address those problems?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: Definitely, it’s a problem. Because, well, I don’t know in other countries, but here in Switzerland, because they fight against each other—ten parties run to be elected and then to be voted for. And it’s hard, and they fight each other, and that’s not good. I think that’s the main problem. Most politicians just look for their own career, for their own money, for their own things they want to bring in, and they don’t care. They say care for the people, but most of them, they don’t care for people, they just care for themselves. And that’s why they fight each other, and I think that’s not good. That doesn’t help anyone. That doesn’t help the country, that doesn’t help the people, and that doesn’t bring us forward.

Kate Hall: How do you think we can solve those problems of fighting and polarization?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: You really want to know this? They should all become members of the church. No problems then. They should believe, well, it would even be enough if they would believe in Christ and do what Christ taught them to do. That would help a lot. We are talking right now, we are talking about how our constitution says, “In the name of God.” And they’re even talking about getting rid of that “In the name of God.” That’s to get it out of the Constitution, that there should be no God in the Constitution. Things are getting worse and worse, and I don’t think it’s getting any better. We have to care for ourselves to be steadfast in believing in Christ and in staying close to the Lord and serving. It’s good to serve, but the serving can go only as far as it does not become a conflict with my religion.

Kate Hall: What lessons have you learned about politics that you would like to share with young Latter-day Saints considering an involvement in politics or a career in government?

Vilmar Kräehenbüehl: Don’t put a political career over any church calling. If you go for a political career and you want to serve, the Lord will help you. For whatever calling he gives you, he will sustain you and you will be able to do both a political career, the governmental job, and the Lord’s work. I believe when we try to stay close to the Lord, he is the man that knows everything, and if we let ourselves be guided by him, he can make things easier for us. We learn quicker. We make decisions quicker. We get knowledge from him that helps us to make better decisions and make good decisions. Probably that’s what I learned too late, but I learned it.