The freedom trychlers want to be “a united people of brothers”. That’s what they write on their website, on their flyers, in their online chats. The quote from Friedrich Schiller’s “William Tell” is part of their “confession”.
However, the freedom trychlers are no longer united – rather hopelessly broken up. SonntagsBlick researched the depths of the bell-bearer milieu and found one thing above all: a bitter dispute. A power struggle is raging among the Trychlen. The flagship force of the Corona movement is about to break up. The clashes have escalated in recent weeks. The police had to come several times. Two camps are irreconcilably opposed. They are led by the media figureheads of the Freiheitstrychler: Andy Benz (60) from the canton of Schwyz and Roland Schätti (55) from the canton of St. Gallen.
Benz, a self-employed construction manager and a police scare known to the police, founded Trychler. In September he appeared in the SRF “Arena”, in November he was emblazoned on the front page of the “NZZ am Sonntag” magazine. Che Guevara pose, the crooked corner of the mouth – a right-wing nationalist rebel, as he is written in books.
Schätti, his opponent, joined the Trychlers a little later than Benz. The qualified farmer places himself politically between the FDP and SVP. A month ago, SRF broadcast a documentary about him. A reporter accompanied him for 24 hours to a Corona demo in Geneva, home to his family. Schätti is an idealist. He sold his motorcycle to buy two Trychlen. “When I heard the bells, I had tears in my eyes,” he says.
Sandbox War
Both Benz and Schätti have gathered followers around them. Right-wing IT entrepreneur Markus Hilfiker, owner of the Freiheitstrychler website and patriot.ch, acts as Benz’s closest confidante. Comparatively moderate people from the base of the movement in eastern Switzerland are grouped around Schätti.
On January 20th there was a scandal. Benz and his followers showed up unannounced at Schätti’s home. To “protest cheat,” they say, because he gave a live interview on behalf of the freedom cheat without permission.
Schätti claims that Benz and his cronies broke into his house without asking, scratched the floor, and insulted and threatened his son. Schätti then called the police and reported his opponents. Benz vehemently denies the allegations – the police are investigating.
Two weeks later, the leaders of the hostile camps met in a country inn in eastern Switzerland. Also present: two mediators. You should reconcile the brawlers. But the attempt failed. The fronts continued to harden.
Right-wing extremists are there
Ten days ago the next escalation: Schätti met Trychlers from Eastern Switzerland and the Zurich Oberland in the back room of a restaurant. Behind closed curtains, they discussed seceding from the Freedom Trychlers.
During the meeting, Benz and his comrades showed up. According to Schätti, he felt threatened and called the police again. Their spokesman confirms: “We were called there because of differences of opinion.” Criminal offenses were not found.
But what is the dispute about? Schätti and other freedom trychlers accuse founder Benz of making decisions that ignore the grassroots level. He doesn’t tolerate competition and behaves “like a little dictator”. Those who express themselves critically will be intimidated.
“These are no longer my freedom trychler,” says Schätti. Even more: “Some in the group are right-wing extremists and a danger to society.” In fact, several Trychlers are afraid of Benz and his men. This is shown by chat histories provided by SonntagsBlick. It speaks of threats – and of another unannounced home visit by an ally of Benz.
But the dispute is also about money. Right from the start, Benz secured the trademark rights to the liberty trychlers. Most of the donations go to his account. The proceeds from the Trychler web shop, which sells shirts, hats, mugs and mobile phone cases with the gentian and edelweiss emblems, also go to Benz and Hilfiker.
Troublesome loner
Schätti claims that the grassroots have seen little of the money. The proceeds from fundraising only end up with individual people.
SonntagsBlick tried to contact Andy Benz. Instead of the central Swiss, however, a lawyer from the law firm of criminal defense attorney Valentin Landmann, Jürg Krumm from Zurich, reported. He represents Benz – and let it be known that the founder of the Freiheitstrychler was ready to answer questions.
However, the replies had not arrived by the time of going to press. Instead, Benz and some of his followers released a video on Friday evening, accompanied by the national anthem. In it they describe their point of view. They portray Schätti as a loner and troublemaker. “We freedom trychlers have rules of conduct, unfortunately Roland Schätti has violated them several times.” Schätti was asked not to make any more media appearances on behalf of the Trychlers, but continued to be unreasonable and behaved aggressively.
Sinister symbolism
Until the video appeared, the Freiheitstrychler were largely able to keep their internal quarrels secret. Cracks in the fair-weather facade only appeared twice. Last Tuesday, the power struggle briefly escalated on Trychler’s official Telegram channel. A web administrator changed the profile picture. The Freedom Trychler logo was supplemented by a grave cross and the three capital letters RIP – Rest in Peace. The description of the channel has also been temporarily changed. Suddenly it said: “The rats are leaving the sinking ship.”
Research Notes
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Shortly thereafter, a statement appeared in another channel of the Freiheitstrychler: “Warning, telegram channel fell into the wrong hands!” The replacement channel is temporarily valid with immediate effect. The original one, which had announced the death of the Freiheitstrychler, changed its name to Freiheitliche-Trychler – presumably so as not to violate Benz’s trademark rights.
Two days later it got even more absurd. Roland Schätti, the certified farmer from Eastern Switzerland, offered the Trychler shirt of his opponent Andy Benz for sale on the online auction platform Ricardo. Initial offer: 500 francs.
Köppel: “Switzerland’s last line of defense”
In turn, one must know that the shepherd’s shirts symbolize the identity of the freedom trychler. Each member receives a personalized shirt with their membership number and initials sewn into it. In the case of Andy Benz: 001 AB. At Schätti: 066 RS. The auction on Ricardo has now been deleted.
The split between the freedom trychlers hits the core of the Corona movement. After all, the bell rebels were the symbol of the protests par excellence, known far beyond the country’s borders – and more: they were considered a link between opponents of the measures and the conservative political elite in the country. Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer (SVP) and his party friend Christoph Blocher posed in a shepherd’s shirt, SVP National Councilor Roger Köppel called the group “Switzerland’s last line of defense”.
In their statement on the website, the Freiheitstrychler still affirm, loosely based on Friedrich Schiller: «We want to be a united nation of brothers and sisters. In no need separate us.” A promise they will break. The separation is imminent.