{{Short description|Ceremonial offices in France and Switzerland}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2009}} [[File:Huissier Senat 050917 164950.jpg|thumb|upright|The chain of a ''huissier'' in the French Senate. Note also the formal collar and morning suit.]] [[File:Secretary Pompeo Holds Press Availability with Swiss Foreign Minister Cassis (47991315853).jpg|thumb|Swiss Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis speaks in 2019 accompanied by a ''Bundesweibel'']] [[File:Restauration-autorités.jpg|thumb|The cantonal government of Geneva with three ''Standesweibel'' at an official function commemorating the Restoration (2006 photograph) ]] The French word '''''huissier''''' ("doorman", from ''huis'', an archaic term for a door) designates ceremonial offices in France and Switzerland.
==France== In French government ministries and Parliament, a ''huissier'' is an employee who provides general service to the minister or assembly (transmitting messages, handling ballot boxes, etc.). Traditionally, they wear a chain around the neck, because their original function was to lock and unlock doors.
Before the Revolution, the title could be a court office in the household of royalty, as a type of valet de chambre.
==Switzerland== In Switzerland, ''huissier'' is the French equivalent of German ''Weibel'' (also ''Amtsweibel''), the term for a ceremonial office in Swiss cantonal and federal governments, parliaments, and courts of law. At the federal level, the office is known as ''Bundesweibel'', at the cantonal level as ''Standesweibel'' for governments, ''Ratsweibel'' for parliaments and ''Gerichtsweibel'' for courts of law. Some cities also have office at the communal level (''Stadtweibel'').
Swiss ''huissiers'' in their official capacities wear ceremonial robes with the heraldic colours of the entity they represent, ''Bundesweibel'' in red and white, cantonal Weibel in cantonal colours (''Standesfarben'').
==See also== *Aegis *Huissier de justice *Necklet *Chain of office *Doorman *Footman *Usher *Hospitality *Protocol (diplomacy) *Meet and Greet
==References== * {{HLS|10088|Weibel|author=André Holenstein}}
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Category:Law of France Category:Culture of Switzerland