Fathers shape our lives – but what remains of them? Twice a month we survey celebrities about their relationship with their father. This time: the Zurich Council of States Ruedi Noser.
Ruedi Noser with his father Meinrad.
1. Describe three characteristics of your father.
My father believed he could do anything you could do with your hands. The people around him were only there so that he could do what he wanted. Because he alone didn’t have enough time for everything he wanted. Holidays were invented for him to work.
2. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree: What are typical characteristics that characterize you as your father’s son?
I get frightened more and more often when I look in the mirror: the older I get, the more I resemble my father on the outside. It’s not meant in a negative way, it just shows me that I’m getting old. Because the image I have of my father is that of an old man.
3. Complete the following sentence: Unlike my mother, my father was . . .
. . . one driven by work. My father and mother would never “match” on today’s dating platform: After six years of schooling, he went to work in the factory, then went into active service, and only at the age of 26 did he start an apprenticeship. My mother, on the other hand, had top grades in school but was not allowed to go to high school as a girl and compensated for this by reading a lot – she has read thousands of books. And yet they found each other and spent a lifetime together.
4. What did your father teach you about life?
a lot! Working with your hands, having confidence and being able to achieve whatever you want; it just takes perseverance and hard work. But he also taught me that you should stay away from the “regulars’ table” because that’s where you only learn to talk stupid.
5. . . . about love?
For him, love was something practical, something manual. So if you created a work together that everyone contributed to, then that was love for him. That was always clear to us children. To what extent that also applied to the relationship with our mother, I do not know.
6. . . . about money?
That you should never go into debt and always pay everything on time.
About Ruedi Noser and his father:
Ruedi Noser is a politician and entrepreneur. He was born in Glarus in 1961. After an apprenticeship as a machine mechanic, he completed a technical college degree in electrical engineering. This was followed by further training at the University of Zurich and at the HSG in corporate management and business administration. Together with his brother, he founded a software company in 1988, and since 1996 he has been the sole owner of what is now the Noser Group. Between 1999 and 2003, Ruedi Noser was a member of the cantonal council in Zurich for the FDP before he was elected to the Swiss Parliament as a member of the National Council. He has represented the canton of Zurich in the Council of States since November 2015.
Ruedi Noser is the father of five children and lives with his wife in Winterthur.
His father, Meinrad Noser (1921-1997), was a trained car mechanic.
Councilor of States Ruedi Noser
7. Tell about your most formative experience with your father.
There’s a lot there, but a lot of it is too personal. But one of the most influential things was certainly his reaction when I came home from school with a bad grade – which was practically always the case. My mother was upset while my father was happy that I was back and able to work with him. Grades never interested him. If you can work, you don’t need grades, that was his motto.
8. What did you want to do differently than your father?
I want to be less irascible. But I don’t do that very well. I’m not short-tempered like him, but I can get very angry inside. And I want to give my children the freedom to decide for themselves, to go their own way, without having to argue with me. I can do that quite well, I think.
9. What has always annoyed you about your father, but now do the same thing?
I was often annoyed that he always had to work. Today I do the same for him.
10. A phrase your father often said to you?
“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
11. What did you always want to say to your father?
I worked a lot with my father and kept quiet a lot. When he was diagnosed with cancer and decided to stop therapy, I drove him to the hospital. It was only then that I was able to talk to him for a really long time – for hours – for the first time. Before he died, I could ask anything and got long, detailed answers. Answers he had previously hidden within himself for a lifetime. That was a very nice experience.