Alberich Zwyssig

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Alberich Zwyssig or Alberik Zwyssig SOCist , baptized Johann Josef Maria Zwyssig (born November 17, 1808 in Bauen ; † November 18, 1854 in Mehrerau ), was a Swiss Cistercian monk , composer and conductor . In 1841 he composed the Swiss Psalm , today's Swiss national anthem, for male choir .

Monument to Alberich Zwyssig under construction. Portrait bust created by Hugo Siegwart
Monument to Alberich Zwyssig under construction. Portrait bust created by Hugo Siegwart

Life

From 1821 to 1841 he was first a student and a choirboy and then a father in the Wettingen monastery . He worked there as priest , teacher and secretary to the abbot and as collegiate bandmaster .

After the abolition of the monastery by the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau on January 13, 1841, the monks wandered around for a few years. After the Sonderbund War , Zwyssig was a guest at Wurmsbach Abbey ( Jona on Lake Zurich ) for over six years . There he directed the music lessons at the newly founded daughter institute and created numerous sacred and secular compositions. In 1854 the monks finally settled in Vorarlberg : on June 8, 1854, the Benedictine monastery of Mehrerau in Bregenz , which was secularized by the Bavarian state in 1806, was revived as a Cistercian convent by Abbot Leopold Hoechle from Wettingen with seven priests and three brothers. This abbey has since been called the Wettingen-Mehrerau Territorial Abbey .

Zwyssig took part in the re-establishment as a cantor , but died after a few months from the consequences of pneumonia. He was buried in the crypt of the monastery.

Return to Switzerland

On July 21, 1941, men from the Innsbruck Gestapo and SS men stormed the monastery. A district reprimand was issued against the last remaining monks. They had to leave the German Reich . They were accused of having resisted the "Anschluss" of Austria to Nazi Germany. The Zug lawyer Paul Aschwanden heard about it and wrote a letter to the Catholic Federal Councilor Philipp Etter on August 12, 1941 . In it, he made the state government aware of a unique opportunity to bring the remains of the famous composer back to his homeland. After some diplomatic correspondence, Berlin finally agreed to the repatriation. On Friday, August 14, 1942, Zwyssig was exhumed at 4 p.m. and transferred to Switzerland. On November 18, 1943, the 89th anniversary of Zwyssig's death, the solemn act of the second burial of the composer of the Swiss Psalm took place in his place of birth, Bauen.

Works

  • Catalogus operum omnium musicorum RP Alberici Zwyssig. Mehrerau, after 1900.

literature

  • Robert Baumkirchner: Father Alberich Zwyssig. One way from Wettingen to Mehrerau. In: Mehrerauer Grüße, NF 68 (1992), pp. 1-6.
  • Gabriella Hanke Knaus: Zwyssig, Alberik. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Hans Koch: P. Alberik Zwyssig: Commemorative sheets for the centenary of the Swiss Psalm. Zug [around 1941].
  • Josef Helbling: "Non mergor" (I won't go under): P. Alberik Zwyssig, the composer of the Swiss Psalm . [O. O. 1956] (see Urner Wochenblatt; 1955/56).
  • Kassian Lauterer: P. Alberich Zwyssig on his 200th birthday. In: Mehrerauer Grüße, NF 90 (July 2011), pp. 9-14.
  • Heinrich Meng: Zwyssig, P. Alberich. In: Biographisches Lexikon des Aargau 1803–1957. Sauerländer, Aarau 1958 ( Argovia 68/69), p. 926 f.
  • Heinrich Meng, Egon Schwarb, Kassian Lauterer : Father Alberich Zwyssig: composer of the Swiss Psalm. Baden [around 1982].
  • Josef Rennhard: Mass with the Swiss Psalm. A work in honor of P. Alberik Zwyssig (1808-1854) , in: Cistercienser-Chronik 112 (2005), pp. 59–62.
  • Bernhard Widmann: P. Alberich Zwyssig as a composer. A memorial sheet for the 50th anniversary of his death. Bregenz 1905.
  • Jörg Schneider:  Zwyssig, Alberich. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 36, Bautz, Nordhausen 2015, ISBN 978-3-88309-920-0 , Sp. 1588–1600.

Web links

Commons : Alberich Zwyssig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erich Aschwanden: The Nazis and the bones of the Swiss psalm composer In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of July 30, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Zwyssig, Alberich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zwyssig, Alberik; Zwyssig, Johann Josef Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Cistercian monk, composer and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH November 17, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH To build
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1854
Place of death More rough