Armin Leuenberger

I was born on 13 October 1945 at the Tiefenauspital in Bern. My biological parents were unmarried and did not live together. I was given my father's surname, Armin Bächli. My mother had a guardian. In 1947, I too was assigned a guardian. In a peculiar proceeding, the district court of Zurzach denied paternity in 1946 at the instigation of the home municipality, on the grounds that my father was in prison at the time. I then received my mother's surname, Leuenberger.

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Children's home

I spent the first three years of my life, until 1948, in the children's home in Wohlen.

Placed as an indentured child

At the age of 3, I was placed with a large farmer in the city of Fribourg who had two children of his own, a boy and a girl, both slightly older than me. I was then called Jakob Zbinden. In the third year of primary school, however, my teacher intervened, and I suddenly became Armin Leuenberger again. The farm employed two carters, two milkers, and a maidservant. One of the milkers was very violent and cruel towards me. We all had to get up early and work very hard, including the farmer's own children. I remained on the farm until I was 16.

Terror on the way to school, at school, and at church

As the youngest on the farm, I had to manage the 5-kilometre walk to school alone. The teacher was stubborn and biased. Every December he would announce in front of the class that I had to collect shoes and clothes paid for by the Canton of Bern's welfare services – yet I was living on the farm of the wealthiest farmer in the area. The parish priest also made my social standing very clear to me.

The mother kept secret

Shortly before my confirmation, the maidservant suddenly disappeared. When I asked why, I was told: she had been my biological mother.

What now?

The farmer's son, who now ran the farm, made it clear to me at the end of compulsory schooling that I should look for work. At 17, I became a hired thresher on a new machine and earned my own money for the first time.

Office apprenticeship, commercial school, sales, marriage

I began an office apprenticeship with the Fribourg firm Michel, a supplier of building materials and tools, but left after two years. I then obtained driving licences for cars and lorries, and subsequently completed a commercial school course. After completing military recruit school, I started as a sales assistant at Coop in the Bern region, was immediately sent for further training, and fairly quickly became deputy branch manager. My first love was a cheesemaker's daughter. When we married, we set up our own dairy business, which brought in less than we had been led to expect. Disputes with the industry association over opening hours followed. Divorce brought that chapter to an end.

Lorry driver and second marriage

I then worked as a lorry driver for a while. It was during this time that I met my second wife. Our first daughter was born in 1970 and the second in 1973. Having a family was hard to reconcile with the frequent absences that came with the job.

A winding road to my own business

After a brief stint as a door-frame fitter, I began selling floor coverings, continued my education through various courses, and eventually obtained the VSTF specialist adviser diploma. In 1985 I founded my own business, which I ran successfully until a few years ago.