Adolf Gasser

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Adolf Gasser (born November 25, 1903 in Burgdorf , † June 15, 1985 in Basel ) was a Swiss historian and theoretician of federalism .

Life

Adolf Gasser-Reimann (1903–1985) historian, high school teacher, professor, author a. a. “Community freedom to save Europe”, politicians, family grave in the Hörnli cemetery, Riehen, Basel-Stadt
Family grave in the Hörnli cemetery , Riehen, Basel-Stadt

Adolf Gasser grew up with two brothers in Winterthur . His father of the same name, Adolf Gasser-Reiniger (1877–1948), was a teacher at the technical center there and was also politically active. Both parents had studied at the University of Bern and met through Albert Einstein . From 1922 Gasser studied in Heidelberg and Zurich , where he received his doctorate in history and Latin in 1927. His professor, the historian Karl Meyer (1885–1950), was formative for his later work.

From 1928 to 1969 he taught at the humanistic grammar school in Basel. In 1936 he became a private lecturer, in 1942 a lecturer and in 1950 an associate professor for general constitutional history of the middle and more recent times at the University of Basel . After the Second World War he developed a lively lecture activity in the Federal Republic of Germany . From 1949 to 1955 he was a co-founder of the Council of European Municipalities .

From 1953 to 1968 he was a free-thinking Basel Grand Councilor and from 1960 to 1969 he was also a constitutional councilor for the reunification of the two Basels. From 1955 to 1960 he headed the FDP of the Canton of Basel. After his retirement he became President of the Basel Working Group for the Protection of Nature and the Environment (BASNU).

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Gasser's scientific and political work is characterized by a historically based community ethic , in which freedom of municipalities and federalism are the basis of a united Europe .

As a universal historian, he shed light on the state, legal, economic, social, military, church and intellectual constitution of all centuries. With his leading article in the Sunday edition of the Basler National-Zeitung he fought against the Hitler Empire and in doing so he sharpened his federalist view of history, which was based on the ethical collectivism of the small autonomous regions.

His federalist and liberal view of history is reflected in his books. As he wrote in the foreword to his work Community freedom as the salvation of Europe / Basics of an ethical conception of history , for him comprehensive municipal discretion is an indispensable prerequisite for any political, social, moral recovery in Europe . This book has made an important contribution to strengthening the institution of the church in Europe. The European Charter of Local Self-Government can be seen as the implementation of the principles contained in this work in international legal norms.

Another area of ​​Gasser's research was the war guilt question for the First World War . He has written three essays on this, which reflect the current state of research and are combined in a book, and has also given an active lecture in Germany. The main reason for this research was the fact that his mother was German.

Fonts (selection)

  • The territorial development of the Swiss Confederation 1291–1797. Sauerländer , Aarau 1932.
  • History of People's Freedom and Democracy. Sauerlander, Aarau 1939.
  • Community freedom as the salvation of Europe. Basics of an ethical conception of history. Book friends, Basel 1947.
  • Construction from below or compulsion from above. A contribution to the question of federalism. Dr. Riederer-Verlag, Stuttgart 1947.
  • For freedom and justice 1940–1945. Selected editorials from the Basler “Nationalzeitung”. Haupt , Bern 1948.
  • From the foundations of the state. Publishing house for science and practice, Stuttgart 1950.
  • Prussian military spirit and the unleashing of war in 1914. Three studies on the outbreak of the First World War. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel / Frankfurt am Main 1985.

literature

  • Fried Esterbauer, Helmut Kalkbrenner , Markus Mattmüller , Lutz Roemheld (eds.): From the free community to federal Europe. Festschrift for Adolf Gasser on his 80th birthday. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-428-05417-2 .
  • Adolf Gasser, Ulrich Mentz (ed.): Community freedom in Europe. The rocky road to more local self-government in Europe. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2004, ISBN 3-8329-0772-6 .

Web links



Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A. Gasser: Prussischer Militärgeist ... , see under writings
personal data
SURNAME Gasser, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss historian
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Burgdorf
DATE OF DEATH June 15, 1985
Place of death Basel