August Naef

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August Naef (1832)

August Naef (later spelling: August Näf; born June 2, 1806 in St. Gallen ; † September 26, 1887 ibid) was a Swiss administrative officer and historical researcher.

Live and act

August Naef came from an old St. Gallen family. His father, Georg Naef (1769–1828), was a doctor of medicine there , a member of the Cantonal Sanitary Council and, in 1819, a co-founder of the St. Gall Natural Science Society . August Naef began studying law in Munich, which he broke off in 1826 to take up a position in the government chancellery of the canton of St. Gallen. From 1832 on he worked in the office of the local citizens' community of St. Gallen, where he was responsible for the administration of the citizens' hospital, the city library, the citizens' school and the forests, and since 1843 also the city archive, initially as an adjunct, from 1836 as council clerk from 1860 until 1882 as Chairman of the Board of Directors. As a representative of the liberal party, he was a member of the Grand Council from 1861 to 1864, and of the cantonal Protestant synod from 1863 to 1866.

August Naef's extra-professional interest was history, starting with his own family history. The well-known collector and Germanist Joseph von Laßberg encouraged Naef to collect documents and news about the castles and palaces in the canton of St. Gallen, the so-called "Burgenwerk" (full title: "Archive for the history of St. Gallic castles, Castles and noble residences, their owners and associated localities, in the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell and Thurgau, consisting of five volumes of regesta and two volumes of document copies, with attached genealogical and heraldic evidence, images and descriptions. Collected and compiled by August Naef, member of the General History Research Society of Switzerland, the antiquarian society in Zurich honorary member and of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings, caretaker for the St. Gallen Section ”). The five-volume manuscript is accessible through a printed table of contents. His second major work is the "Chronicle or Memories of the City and Landscape of St. Gallen", which appeared in print from 1850 to 1867. Further articles grew out of lectures, especially at the general meetings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , for which Naef ran the business in St. Gallen from 1872 to 1887. From 1875 to 1886 he represented Switzerland on the board of the Lake Constance History Association; when he resigned from this office, he was made the first honorary member.

Fonts (selection)

  • Historical overview of Rorschach and its surroundings. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings. Volume 9, 1878, pp. 26-48 ( digitized version ).
  • The alliances of the city of St. Gallen with the German imperial cities, namely with those in Swabia and on Lake Constance . In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings. Volume 4. 1873, pp. 32-55 ( digitized version ).
  • Chronicle or memorabilia of the city and landscape of St. Gallen. With the epitome of the related Appenzell events. From the oldest times up to the year 1848. Schultheß, Zurich; Scheitlins Assortment Store, St. Gallen 1850–1867 ( digital copy ).

literature

  • Ernst Ehrenzeller: August Näf of St. Gallen (1806–1887). With a list of his correspondents. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings. Volume 96, 1978, pp. 187-202 ( digitized version )
  • Gustav Reinwald : The pre-attendants of our association. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings. Volume 22. 1893, pp. 8-10, here: pp. 9 f. ( Digitized version )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ table of contents. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings. Volume 4, 1873, pp. 99-122 ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Harald Derschka : The association for the history of Lake Constance and its surroundings. A look back at one hundred and fifty years of club history 1868–2018. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings. Volume 136, 2018, ISBN 978-3-7995-1725-6 , pp. 1–302, here: pp. 20, 74, 228.
personal data
SURNAME Naef, August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Näf, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss administrative officer and historical researcher
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Gallen
DATE OF DEATH September 26, 1887
Place of death St. Gallen