Claim: Anker was a member of the Grand Council of Bern (the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern consisting of 160 members elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office) from 1870 to 1874, after he was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon for Schlafendes Mädchen im Walde in 1866.
Evidence: The Grand Council (German: Grosser Rat, French: Grand conseil) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern. It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. Albrecht Samuel Anker (April 1, 1831 – July 16, 1910) was a Swiss painter and illustrator who has been called the "national painter" of Switzerland because of his enduringly popular depictions of 19th-century Swiss village life. In 1870–74 he was a member of the Grand Council of Bern, where he advocated the construction of the Kunstmuseum Bern. In 1866, he was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon for Schlafendes Mädchen im Walde (1865) und Schreibunterricht (1865); in 1878 he was made a knight of the Légion d'honneur.