The government starts the year 2023 with two new members. While the Social Democrat Baume-Schneider is allowed to sit at the round table for the Bundesrat photo, there is no place for the former SVP boss Rösti.
Unity despite all the tensions and chaos in the world: this is how the Swiss Federal Council sees itself.
The Federal Chancellery has published the official Federal Council photo for 2023. With the picture by Vaud photographer Matthieu Gafsou, President Alain Berset wanted to show that the members of the government work well together despite different points of view and that they work together for Switzerland. This also applies to the newcomers, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (far right) and Albert Rösti (second from left, standing).
The photo shows the seven members of the Federal Council and the Federal Chancellor at a large table. According to the Federal Chancellery, they form a college, but also interacted in small groups. “The landscape in the background symbolizes the outside world and connects the actions of the Federal Council with those of the people.”
Poem by Ramuz
For the picture that was taken in the Bernerhof, photographer Gafsou was inspired by genre painting of the 17th century and the Düsseldorf School of Photography. On the table are a compass, a Swiss map and a bound copy of the Federal Constitution, the 175th anniversary of which Switzerland can celebrate in 2023. Carrying a poem by Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, the leaves flying through the room are intended to discreetly symbolize the chaos and tensions in the world.
“In a time of uncertainty and crisis, the official Federal Council photo should convey security and at the same time appear sober,” President Berset is quoted as saying. The official Bundesrat photo was printed in a run of 40,000 copies.