The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, so named since 1979, is one of the seven Departments of the Swiss government federal administration of Switzerland, and corresponds in its range of tasks to the ministry of foreign affairs in other countries. The department is always headed by one of the members of the Swiss Federal Council. Since 1 November 2017, the department is headed by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis.

Friedrich Emil Welti known as Emil Welti was a Swiss politician, lawyer and judge. From 1856 to 1866, he was a member of the government of the canton of Aargau and, beginning in 1857, the Council of States. In 1867, Welti was elected to the Bundesrat as a representative of the liberal-radical faction.