Abel Burckhardt

Abel Burckhardt (born March 31, 1805 in Basel ; † July 25, 1882 there ) was a Swiss pastor and composer . He became known for his Basel German Christmas and children's songs.

Burckhardt grew up as the second oldest of six children in Basel. During his studies in Basel and Berlin, he became friends with the Aarau composer Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich and the Germanist Wilhelm Wackernagel , who later taught in Basel , as evidenced by several letters. In 1830 he married Juliana Veronika Miville (1810–1870); together they had nine children. The eldest son Theophil became a historian, his son-in-law Rudolf Löw and his grandson Rudolf junior followed in his musical footsteps and became composers and organists.

In 1829 Burckhardt became vicar in Lohn SH , in 1830 a community helper in Basel. In 1839 he took over the pastor's position in Gelterkinden before returning to Basel to the Münster community in 1854. Until his retirement in 1875, he worked as a senior helper (2nd pastor) at the Basel Minster . His numerous sideline activities included publications on the history of the city in the New Year's newspapers of the Society for the Good and the Community in Basel, as well as the composition of church hymns and children's songs, of which the Children's Songs (1845), a collection of Christmas carols in dialect, were widely used in the region.

literature

Edgar Refardt : From letters from Theodor Fröhlich to Abel Burckhardt and Wilhelm Wackernagel. In: Basler Jahrbuch . 1945, pp. 112-147 ( online ).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Burckhardt, Abel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Burckhardt-Miville, Abel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss pastor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	March 31, 1805
PLACE OF BIRTH	Basel
DATE OF DEATH	July 25, 1882
Place of death	Basel