Welcome to Hotel Helvetia! Friedrich Wüthrich’s Illicit Mercenary Trade Network for the Dutch East Indies, 1858-1890

Abstract

Because of limited human resources at home, the Dutch colonial army recruited up to forty percent of its soldiers outside of the Netherlands. This demand for mercenaries opened up a number of opportunities and challenges for non-Dutch European actors in a transnational military labour market. Among those who took advantage of these opportunities was the Swiss Friedrich Wüthrich. Born into a poor family, he first pursued a military career in the Dutch colonial army. Subsequently, he ran the Hotel Helvetia in the Dutch city of Harderwijk where the recruitment centre of the colonial army was also domiciled. From his hotel, Wüthrich set up an illicit recruitment network and lured young Swiss into the Dutch colonial army. By looking at his life, I examine the opportunities that the violence-infused colonial expansion offered to non-Dutch Europeans, and the repercussions that spread into Europe’s hinterland. https://www.bmgn-lchr.nl/articles/10740/