Eugen Bircher (17 February 1882 – 20 October 1956) was a Swiss politician and military leader who became associated with a pro-German position in the inter-war years.
An opponent of immigration, in 1919 he formed the Schweizerischer Vaterländischer Verband, SVV (Swiss Fatherland Association), a militia and semi-secret society with links to fascist groups abroad.
[2] An influential figure in society, Bircher numbered the federal councillors Marcel Pilet-Golaz, Giuseppe Motta, Eduard von Steiger, Philipp Etter, Walther Stampfli and Ernst Wetter amongst his close political associates.
[3] Bircher sought a close relationship between Switzerland and Nazi Germany, and it has even been alleged that he funded Adolf Hitler in his early years (although no conclusive evidence has as yet been provided and his biographer rejects this claim outright).
[5] Bircher was a physician (Chief Surgeon 1917–1932, Director 1932–34 of Kantonsspital Aarau) by trade and in the 1920s published several groundbreaking papers detailing arthroscopy procedures on the knee.