Background
Son of Rudolf Minger, a farmer and mayor of Mülchi, and Anna Marie Moser.
Son of Rudolf Minger, a farmer and mayor of Mülchi, and Anna Marie Moser.
After attending a secondary school in Fraubrunnen from 1884 till 1897 Minger graduated from Amtsschreiberei in La Neuveville as volunteer in 1898.
He worked at the parent farmstead till 1907, where he continued his self-training during a long illness. Then he was given a huge estate in Schüpfen, which was inherited by his wife.
At the beginning of his political career Minger specialized in agriculture. The ideas of cooperatives were created by him. In 1918 he founded the Party of Farmers and Citizens of Bern, which he led from 1919 till 1929 as its first president. In 1921 the party was renamed into the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents. The name change was connected with his point of view on a medium-oriented economic conservative party attitude. In 1919 with great success he organized the campaign for the first national elections by the system of proportional representation. Minger was elected to the National Assembly, in which he remained until 1929. He held a post of its president from 1927 till 1928. He took part in numerous committees in the areas of agriculture and army. From 1922 till 1929 he also held a post in the Federal Council of Bern.
In 1929 he was elected into the Federal Council. It was the first time when a person who came from peasantry held a post in the state government. From 1935 till 1936 he was a president of Federal State. He earned respect in discussion with the Left and the Right about army development as a perfect war instrument and supplementation of the military will of the people. The increase of military credits, the Defence Bill of 1935 with the reorganization of the military training, the new order of force structuring of 1936 and the defense bonds from the same year founded a guarantee of national defense on the eve of the 2nd World War. He was on deep friendly terms with General Henri Guisan, even after his retirement from the Federal Council at the end of 1940. After his retirement he devoted himself to the farmstead. Then he managed main questions of land policy in the postwar time, mainly in the area of economic and social policy, particularly for the Economic and the Old-Age and Survivors’ Insurance Acts of 1947 and the Agricultural Act of 1951.
From 1911 he was a member of the Board, later President of the United Agricultural Association of Cooperatives. Then from 1919 till 1948 he was President of Economic and Charitable Society of the Canton of Bern, Board Member and Vice-President of Switzerland. He was in Agricultural Association, also Minger was a member of the executive committee of Switzerland. He held a post in Farmers Federation, Commercial Court and in the board of the National Bank.