Chit Chat
“The Woodcutter” in the political arena
The Woodcutter strikes for both left and right, for environmental protection, wealth tax and civil service, against Switzerland being cut off from Europe, against higher taxes or the European Economic Area.
The Woodcutter” at work
Since the creation of the motif around 1910, TheWoodcutter has been monopolised repeatedly for political purposes. He has turned up as a caricature on election posters, knocking down Swiss flags or well-laden apples trees. Or else his outline has been strewn in wood chippings on Münsterplatz in Basel.
The famous figure is recognised by a broad public and for this reason can be linked with all sorts of political themes, some of them conflicting. The motif is particularly popular when it comes to left-wing themes or environmental issues, whereby the figure is often interpreted negatively, as an aggressor who destroys something «valuable» like the forest, or media diversity. But it can also stand for dynamism and action. On a poster for the introduction of a wealth tax in 1977, for example, he is a means by which to literally «get at the roots of the millions».
More recently the metaphor of the clearance and the figure of The Woodcutter have been associated mainly with conservative forces, as in the campaign against the mass immigration initiative of the Swiss People’s Party SVP in 2014. One way or the other, the wrangling continues.