**Two policemen escort Hans Vollenweider to his trial.** Staatsarchiv Obwalden

The last civilian execution

On 18 October 1940 in Sarnen, the last death sentence under civil law in Switzerland was carried out. Although Hans Vollenweider had killed three people, he was convicted of only one murder.

Andrej Abplanalp

Historian and communications chief of the Swiss National Museum.

At 2 a.m. on 18 October 1940, Hans Vollenweider was executed by guillotine in Sarnen. Vollenweider, from Zurich, had shot dead an Obwalden policeman in 1939. However, two other murders in the Cantons of Zurich and Zug, which Vollenweider had also committed, were not part of that sentence. Vollenweider’s was the last death sentence carried out under civil law in Switzerland.

Born in Zurich in 1908, Vollenweider had an unremarkable childhood, although he is known to have grown up in impoverished circumstances. After a commercial apprenticeship and a number of positions as a clerical worker he went into business for himself, but quickly lost all his savings. A planned abduction and an attempted bank robbery marked the beginning of his criminal career. After serving his sentence, however, Vollenweider was not released; instead, he remained incarcerated as he was considered at risk of re-offending. He was supposed to spend another three years in prison. But Vollenweider failed to return from his first permitted leave of absence in June 1939. He went on to murder three people within a short space of time.

Model of the Lucerne Guillotine. — **Model of the Lucerne guillotine. It was transported from place to place in Switzerland to carry out executions.** © MUSEUM LUZERN / photo: Theres Bütler

Who was responsible for trying the case?

In 1939, criminal justice was still entirely within the jurisdiction of the cantons. For that reason, Vollenweider was convicted and executed ‘only’ for the murder of young Obwalden policeman Alois von Moos. The killings of chauffeur Hermann Zwyssig in the Canton of Zug and postal worker Emil Stoll in Zurich were not part of the proceedings, even though Vollenweider had confessed to both crimes.

When it came to the question of which canton was responsible for the criminal prosecution of the case, feelings ran high. In Zurich, the death penalty had been abolished in 1869. The case was therefore referred from Obwalden to the Canton of Zug, which also carried out executions. However, the courts of Zug adjudged themselves not responsible for the case, because Vollenweider now suddenly claimed to have murdered Hermann Zwyssig in the Canton of Bern. Clearly, he was aware that a conviction in Zug would also have meant death. That left only the judicial systems of Zurich and Obwalden.

Convicted of only one murder

It wasn’t until 1 January 1942, with the adoption of the Swiss Criminal Code, that capital punishment was abolished nationwide for civil offences. That was too late for Vollenweider. Life imprisonment would have been possible in the event of a conviction in the Canton of Zurich, but Obwalden opposed Vollenweider’s extradition to Zurich for precisely that reason. Conversely, the Zurich courts could likewise have transferred their right to seek punishment for the murder of postal worker Emil Stoll to the central Swiss courts of Zug or Obwalden. But they were prepared to do that only if Zug agreed not to impose the death penalty. However, that prospect was of no interest to the Obwalden judiciary, and as a result Vollenweider was ultimately beheaded only for the killing of police officer Alois von Moos. For technical reasons he was not charged with the other two crimes, even though he had explicitly confessed them to the investigating authorities.

**Photograph from the trial of Hans Vollenweider.** Staatsarchiv Obwalden

More of: 20th / 21st century Politics Crime Article

Further posts

Murder and espionage: the Lessing case

Patrik Süess 04.11.2024 The murder in 1835 of German student and spy Ludwig Lessing in Zurich uncovered a network of espionage and political activism among German exiles in Switzerland. His death increased international pressure on Switzerland to adopt a hard line against revolutionaries seeking refuge on Swiss soil.

On November 3, 1835, Ludwig Lessing still celebrates his 23rd birthday in Zurich, but he will not live to see the next morning. Illustration by Marco Heer.

The Keller Affair: conspiracy, coercion and the criminal underworld

Patrik Süess 24.09.2024 With the help of a homeless woman named Klara Wendel, in 1825 the authorities in Lucerne hoped to uncover a conspiracy behind the death of the city mayor, Franz Xaver Keller, nine years earlier.

The authorities in Lucerne were convinced they had caught an entire "counter-society of crooks". Illustration by Marco Heer.

A bloodbath in God’s name

Katrin Brunner 14.03.2024 Gripped by religious hysteria, a group of believers killed two women in Wildensbuch in 1823. The blood-soaked deed still has the power to shock today.

Print of Margaretha Peter being crucified.