Background
Muller was born in Dresden. In 1849 the family moved to Switzerland and settled down in Bern.
Muller was born in Dresden. In 1849 the family moved to Switzerland and settled down in Bern.
In 1864 Muller started to study theology in Geneva. Three years later he, however, changed his academic subject and enrolled in the University of Bern to study law from then on. There he joined the student league Helvetia. Muller also studied in Leipzig, Heidelberg and Paris.
In 1872 he finished his advocacy and got the job of a trainee in one of the offices of the Council of States. In 1874 he was appointed mayor of Bern by the Council of States. In 1880 he left this position and opened his own law office. Along with that he was the editor of the newspaper Bern News. In 1885 Muller became the extraordinary federal prosecutor and was in charge of the state investigation of the case of anarchists. During his work on this case he proposed a number of innovations and rather successfully. One of them was the resumption of work of Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
Muller also made a military career. In 1872 he was promoted to captain, in 1885 he was already a general. In 1888 he exercised the functions of the Commander-In-Chief of three divisions.
In 1882 Muller headed the Liberal Party. The same year he was elected to the Council of States which he headed in 1885-1886. He dealt mainly with the reorganization of the judicial system and the development of the new constitution of his canton Bern.
Four weeks after the death of Karl Schenk, the Federal Assembly chose Muller to replace him in the Federal council on August 16, 1895. His candidacy was beyond controversy. He received 136 votes out of 164 only on the first round. He headed three departments: Department of Justice and Police, Military Department, Political Department. He was elected President of Swiss Confederation three times in 1899, 1907 and 1913. Muller decided to resign by the end of 1919. However, he passed away less than two months before his 71th birthday.