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Hans Hausamann
Ernst Johann Hausamann (informally Hans Hausamann; 6 March 1897 – 17 December 1974) was a Swiss photographer and businessman who later became an intelligence officer.
Hausamann's father was a photographer, and when Hausamann grew up he became an amateur photographer himself. He joined the Swiss Militia during World War I and this established his political character. He was initially opposed to left-wing politics and supported a strong military. After the war, he opened a specialist photography business and published an associated magazine, that eventually led the company to work for the Swiss press. During the early 1930s, he worked in the militia's education film service, where he created films that promoted a strong military. With the approach of Nazism, Hausamann was initially sympathetic to the Third Reich but realised the danger to Swiss sovereignty and began to resist. In 1935, he began offering his press service to the Swiss Militia with a focus on military intelligence. In 1936, the General staff sent Hausamann for military training at the Prussian Staff College in Berlin. In 1939, he became the defence policy advisor to the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland. In the lead up to the war, he recognised that the militia lacked a competent military intelligence agency and this led to the founding the Büro Ha, an intelligence agency that was established in September 1939, disguised as a press cuttings agency.
In July 1940, Hausamann established the Officers League together with Alfred Ernst, Max Waibel and August R. Lindt, an organisation designed to offer unconditional resistance to the Nazis. This was in response to speech by Marcel Pilet-Golaz, that referenced the coming of an authoritarian regime in Switzerland. When it was dissolved by Henri Guisan, Hausamann along with August R. Lindt, created the secret paramilitary organization "Aktion Nationaler Widerstand", a civilian organisation designed to strengthen the militia against Nazism.
After the war, he lectured on military history at University of St. Gallen. He returned to working in his business and as a keen horse rider, established a number of horse riding tournaments.
Hausamann was the son of the photographer Ernst Gottfried Hausamann (1871-1958) and his wife Erika Neuhauser (married 1923) who was the daughter of the textile industrialist Emil Neuhauser. His father owned a photographic studio and was a noted photographer who developed new techniques. In June 1901 the family moved to the small village of Heiden. Hausamann attended schools in Heiden and Lausanne. After school and seeking independence, he became an amateur photographer.
He died on 17 December 1974 in Orselina.
During World War I, Hausamann attained the rank of leutnant. After the war, he became a radical opponent of the left and publicly supported a strong military in Switzerland. In 1925, he established a photographic business known as Hausamann & Co. AG, opened two shops in St. Gallen and Zürich that had associated laboratories for processing film. The company offered a mail-order facility, that was considered the first in Switzerland. As part of the service he published a bi-monthly magazine, that led to him offering services to the Swiss press. In this manner he moved from dealing strictly in photograph to dealing in information.
He was head of the Swiss Army Educational Film Service. Up until 1936, Hausamann worked as the press chief for the Schweizerische Offiziersgesellschaft (Swiss Officers Society), an umbrella organisation established in Switzerland to promote an efficient Swiss Army (SOG). As the press officer, he built up a press service to counter widespread anti-militarism and defeatism in the Swiss Army and to create a renewed, united and resilient Switzerland. On behalf of the SOG, he led the referendum campaign in favour of the "Wehrvorlage" (draft bill) to extend service in the army, which was adopted in 1935. With the arrival of National Socialism in the early 1930s, Hausamann was initial sympathetic to the Third Reich, but changed his mind. He recognised how Nazism endangered popular sovereignty and ethnic state-building because it wanted a German-ethnic unitary state, to the exclusion of Switzerland. In 1936, the General staff sent Hausamann for military training at the Prussian Staff College in Berlin. In 1938, on the initiative of Swiss politician and trade unionist Hans Oprecht, he became defence policy advisor to the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland. Hausamann produced films and organised around 1,600 educational lectures up until 1940.
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Hans Hausamann
Ernst Johann Hausamann (informally Hans Hausamann; 6 March 1897 – 17 December 1974) was a Swiss photographer and businessman who later became an intelligence officer.
Hausamann's father was a photographer, and when Hausamann grew up he became an amateur photographer himself. He joined the Swiss Militia during World War I and this established his political character. He was initially opposed to left-wing politics and supported a strong military. After the war, he opened a specialist photography business and published an associated magazine, that eventually led the company to work for the Swiss press. During the early 1930s, he worked in the militia's education film service, where he created films that promoted a strong military. With the approach of Nazism, Hausamann was initially sympathetic to the Third Reich but realised the danger to Swiss sovereignty and began to resist. In 1935, he began offering his press service to the Swiss Militia with a focus on military intelligence. In 1936, the General staff sent Hausamann for military training at the Prussian Staff College in Berlin. In 1939, he became the defence policy advisor to the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland. In the lead up to the war, he recognised that the militia lacked a competent military intelligence agency and this led to the founding the Büro Ha, an intelligence agency that was established in September 1939, disguised as a press cuttings agency.
In July 1940, Hausamann established the Officers League together with Alfred Ernst, Max Waibel and August R. Lindt, an organisation designed to offer unconditional resistance to the Nazis. This was in response to speech by Marcel Pilet-Golaz, that referenced the coming of an authoritarian regime in Switzerland. When it was dissolved by Henri Guisan, Hausamann along with August R. Lindt, created the secret paramilitary organization "Aktion Nationaler Widerstand", a civilian organisation designed to strengthen the militia against Nazism.
After the war, he lectured on military history at University of St. Gallen. He returned to working in his business and as a keen horse rider, established a number of horse riding tournaments.
Hausamann was the son of the photographer Ernst Gottfried Hausamann (1871-1958) and his wife Erika Neuhauser (married 1923) who was the daughter of the textile industrialist Emil Neuhauser. His father owned a photographic studio and was a noted photographer who developed new techniques. In June 1901 the family moved to the small village of Heiden. Hausamann attended schools in Heiden and Lausanne. After school and seeking independence, he became an amateur photographer.
He died on 17 December 1974 in Orselina.
During World War I, Hausamann attained the rank of leutnant. After the war, he became a radical opponent of the left and publicly supported a strong military in Switzerland. In 1925, he established a photographic business known as Hausamann & Co. AG, opened two shops in St. Gallen and Zürich that had associated laboratories for processing film. The company offered a mail-order facility, that was considered the first in Switzerland. As part of the service he published a bi-monthly magazine, that led to him offering services to the Swiss press. In this manner he moved from dealing strictly in photograph to dealing in information.
He was head of the Swiss Army Educational Film Service. Up until 1936, Hausamann worked as the press chief for the Schweizerische Offiziersgesellschaft (Swiss Officers Society), an umbrella organisation established in Switzerland to promote an efficient Swiss Army (SOG). As the press officer, he built up a press service to counter widespread anti-militarism and defeatism in the Swiss Army and to create a renewed, united and resilient Switzerland. On behalf of the SOG, he led the referendum campaign in favour of the "Wehrvorlage" (draft bill) to extend service in the army, which was adopted in 1935. With the arrival of National Socialism in the early 1930s, Hausamann was initial sympathetic to the Third Reich, but changed his mind. He recognised how Nazism endangered popular sovereignty and ethnic state-building because it wanted a German-ethnic unitary state, to the exclusion of Switzerland. In 1936, the General staff sent Hausamann for military training at the Prussian Staff College in Berlin. In 1938, on the initiative of Swiss politician and trade unionist Hans Oprecht, he became defence policy advisor to the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland. Hausamann produced films and organised around 1,600 educational lectures up until 1940.