What an Old Driver's License Can Reveal
It hangs somewhat hidden in the stairwell of the Pantheon in Muttenz: a photograph of Bertha Diener-Rüegg's driver's license—she is from Fischenthal-Neuhaus, ZH—along with a photo showing her on a motorcycle. It is just a small, almost inconspicuous document, yet it has a lot to tell. It is living contemporary history.
One hundred years ago, on April 22, 1926, midwife Bertha Diener-Rüegg passed the exam in Zurich for motorcycles without a passenger. She was 30 years old at the time. Although Anna Zbinden-Grossenbacher had become the first woman in the canton of Bern to obtain a driver's license as early as 1915, the license remained an expensive—and thus exclusive—affair for a long time. For a midwife who had to attend the home births that were common at the time, however, having a motorcycle must have been a great help. The woman in the photograph appears resolute and was likely one of those women who had gained a new sense of self-confidence through her profession—and who could afford a driver's license with the money she earned herself.
The motorcycle cannot be identified with certainty. It appears heavily worn; she may not have been able to buy the bike new. Models from Motosacoche and Condor were popular at the time. The midwife could carry quite a few instruments in the pannier(s) at the rear. A license plate is mounted on the front, featuring an unidentifiable coat of arms, a number, and a letter. This was the system in place in 1904; the current format, featuring cantonal coats of arms, did not take effect until 1933, when more and more vehicles were being registered and license plates were needed.
