de  |  fr  |  it  |  en   Home Ceremony of Awards 2010 May 23, 2000 - Rescuers Day Andrew Carnegie The Carnegie Rescuers Foundation in Switzerland The Awards Awards: statistics The Grants The Acts of Rescue The rescuers and their stories The Foundation Board Report Form Contact Address Documentation Order Form		The Carnegie Rescuers Foundation in Switzerland The letter to the Federal Council... Motivated by the success of his foundations in the US and in other Western European countries, in a letter dated March 22, 1911 Andrew Carnegie approached the then Swiss Federal President, Marc Emil Ruchet, "We live in a heroic age. Industrialization molds the heroes of peacetime. Hardly a day passes that a courageous deed is not communicated to one or another existing Hero Trust Funds..." ... is followed by a generous gift At the same time, he offered the Federal Council the sum of 130,000 dollars - worth 650,000 francs at that time - to establish the Carnegie Rescuers Foundation. The Carnegie Rescuers Foundation The Federal Council agreed to accept the gift and in its formal resolution of April 28, 1911 declared that the necessary steps to establish the Carnegie Rescuers Foundation would be taken after the adoption of the Swiss Civil Code on January 1, 1912. Statutory bodies of the Foundation The governing body of the Foundation is the Administrative Board (Articles 3 and 4 of the Foundation Charter). In accordance with the intentions of Andrew Carnegie, this is composed of the following members: Members ex officio: • the Head of the Federal Department of the Interior    (EDI), as President • the Ambassador of the United States of America in    Switzerland • the Lieutenant Colonel of the Swiss Army Medical Corps • one member each of the Lower and Upper Houses of    Parliament • the President of the Swiss Public Welfare Association    (SGG) Other members: • three freely elected private individuals appointed for life The Administrative Board elects an Auditing Committee and designates the Executive Director. The supervision of the Foundation is incumbent upon the Federal Council. "Funds for Heroes" Carnegie Hero Trust Funds have been established in the following countries:     founded original capital contribution     USA 1904 USD 5,00 million     Great Britain 1908 USD 1,25 million     France 1909 USD 1,00 million     Germany 1910 USD 1,50 million     Norway 1911 USD 125 000     Netherlands 1911 USD 200 000     Sweden 1911 USD 230 000     Denmark 1911 USD 125 000     Belgium 1911 USD 230 000     Italy 1911 USD 750 000     Switzerland 1911 USD 130 000               From today's vantage point it is difficult to interpret the reason behind the allotment of different endowment sums. One possible explanation can be found in Carnegie's notes where he expresses the belief that it is safer to live in France, for example, than in England owing to the large number of coal mines in that country.