Friedrich Eduard Traffelet, popularly Fritz Traffelet (1897–1954) was a Berne

Berne

The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...

se painter and illustrator.

After studies in Zürich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

 and Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, he married Alice Rondi in 1921. In the 1930s, Traffelet gained renown as a military painter and served in the Swiss Army during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 from 1939 to 1945. Done in a 19th century style, his paintings and illustrations of soldierly life have become defining images of Switzerland in World War II

Switzerland during the World Wars

During both World War I and World War II, Switzerland managed to keep a stance of armed neutrality, and was not involved militarily. However, precisely because of its neutral status, Switzerland was of considerable interest to all parties involved, as the scene for diplomacy, espionage, commerce,...

.

In the 1940s and 50s, Traffelet also executed a wide range of portraits, landscape paintings and facade paintings. They most often depict historic or traditional genre scenes, reflecting his generally conservative outlook.

External links

• Artnet entry for Friedrich Traffelet