Niklaus von Flüe

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The oldest picture of Brother Klaus (detail), life-size painting from 1492 on an altar wing of the old parish church of Sachseln, today in the Brother Klaus Museum

Niklaus von Flüe , Nikolaus von der Flühe or Brother Klaus (* 1417 in Flüeli , Obwalden ; † March 21, 1487 in Ranft ibid) was an influential Swiss mountain farmer , soldier , hermit , ascetic and mystic . He is considered the patron saint of Switzerland and was canonized in 1947 .

Life

Birthplace of Niklaus von Flüe
The house of Niklaus von Flüe

Niklaus von Flüe was born into a farming family in Obwalden . His father was Heinrich von Flüe, his mother's name was Hemma Ruobert. From 1440 to 1444 Niklaus von Flüe took part in the Old Zurich War as an officer . After the war he married Dorothea Wyss , with whom he had ten children. He lived as a wealthy farmer for the time, was councilor of the canton and judge of his community.

In October 1467 - the youngest child was not yet a year old, the eldest son Hans was already twenty, so that he could support the family as a farmer - Niklaus left his family with the consent of his wife to become a hermit . He first made a pilgrimage towards the Upper Rhine . After experiencing a vision on his hike in the Windental above Liestal , he turned around and settled down as a hermit in the Ranft Gorge , just a few minutes from his house. That is why he is represented by the fine arts as a gaunt, bearded man (see illustration) with a stick and a bat , a prayer cord with 50 pearls (the rosary did not exist at that time).

In his cell he was the brother Klaus an intense prayer life. The focus of his reflections was the immersion in the suffering of Christ . He claims to have been haunted again and again by intense visions, the first supposed to have already taken place in the womb. Allegedly, in the last 19 years of his life, he did not eat anything except Holy Communion and only drank water. The responsible bishop confirmed this after an investigation. According to other sources, Niklaus von Flüe answered questions as to whether he had actually not consumed anything, or not confirmed this.

Some of his descendants held high offices and gained political influence. His grandson Konrad Scheuber (1481–1559) is particularly well-known, and went down in Swiss history as a governor and judge, but also as a clever mind and God-fearing hermit.

On March 21, 1487, Brother Klaus died on the floor of his cell after a hard agony. At the consecration of the upper Ranft chapel, which is attached to the hermit cell in Ranft, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Weldner of Konstanz (titular bishop of Agathopolis ) had decreed on April 27, 1469, “that Brother Klaus von Flüe should be buried in his parish church after his death shall be". This was absolutely unusual for a layman in rural areas. He was therefore buried in the old parish church of Sachseln . On August 28, 1679, the oak coffin with the bones of Brother Klaus was transferred to the new parish and pilgrimage church.

prayer

Upper Ranft chapel, on the left the attached hermitage of Brother Klaus

According to tradition, Niklaus von Flüe is said to have prayed these verses daily:

My lord and my god,
take everything from me
what prevents me to you.
My lord and my god,
give everything to me
what leads me to you
My lord and my god,
take me
and give me completely to your own.

Political influence

Pastor Heimo asks von Flüe to mediate ( Stans verdict )

Niklaus von Flüe became widely known as a pastor and spiritual advisor not only for the rural population, but also as an advisor for foreign heads of state in 15th century Europe. A special envoy from the Duchy of Milan wrote a letter to Ludovico Sforza about visits to the hermit, where he discussed political issues, and the duke thanked him for his kind greetings.

As a mystic, Niklaus von Flüe was also interested in worldly things. He observed political events and was asked for advice on such matters.

According to the Historical Lexicon of Switzerland , his mediating influence on the Stans Declaration is now considered to be proven: In 1481, the daily statute in Stans led to a serious conflict between urban and rural locations : the cities of Lucerne, Zurich and Bern, which belonged to a «castle law», on the one hand, and the towns of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Glarus and Zug, which are linked in a "land law", on the other. The Confederation was threatened with collapse . On the night of December 22nd, the pastor of Stans, Heimo Amgrund, went to Niklaus von Flüe and came back with advice that is still unknown today. The pastor made the councilors meet again and conveyed the hermit's secret message to them. The councilors came to a solution after only two hours. There was a renewed federal agreement with the admission of the cantons of Friborg and Solothurn to the Confederation.

The Marxist historian Konrad Farner provided a critical view of his role in connection with the Stans Declaration : it was "the sanctioning of bondage and rule" by agreeing on the joint action of the rulers against the dispossessed revolters. "No divine miracle [...] that [...] Niklaus von Flüe becomes the holy father of the country."

The advice «Don't make the fence too far!» and the maxim of neutrality policy: "Do not get mixed up in foreign dealings!" were attributed to him years after his death.

reception

Beatification, Canonization and Remembrance Day

Brother Klaus after an engraving by Martinus Martini from 1592, original in the Einsiedeln monastery archive

Niklaus von Flüe's grave in the parish church of Sachseln soon after his death became one of the most important places of pilgrimage in Switzerland. In 1649, Pope Innocent X gave permission for liturgical veneration, which corresponds to an "equivalent" beatification (beatificatio aequipollens) . His successor Clement IX. confirmed on March 8, 1669 the permission for the liturgical veneration of Brother Klaus as Blessed, restricted to the parish church of Sachseln, and expressly ordered that previous bans by the bishops of Constance should be lifted. By Clement X this permission was extended on 26 September 1671, all federal cities and areas in the diocese of Constance in the ecclesiastical province of Mainz . On May 15, 1947, he was canonized . Although the anniversary of his death was March 21st, the canonization of Pope Pius XII. set September 25 as an official day of remembrance. The reason was that on March 21st Benedict of Nursia (Patron of Europe) will be celebrated. The day of remembrance in the Evangelical Name Calendar is March 21st ; Benedict of Nursia is remembered there on July 11th .

Patron saint

Brother Klaus is the patron saint of the Canton of Obwalden and Switzerland as well as the Catholic rural youth movement (KLJB) , the Catholic rural people movement (KLB), the Swiss Student Association and the Pontifical Swiss Guard .

The "miracle of Waldenburg"

On May 13, 1940, Switzerland feared a German attack. A large, brightly shining hand appeared in the sky above the town of Waldenburg . People thought of the protective hand of the patron saint, Brother Klaus, and they spoke of the “miracle of Waldenburg”. Switzerland was spared the war.

Brother Klaus churches and institutions

Brother Klaus Church St. Gallen-Winkeln

Niklaus von Flüe is the namesake and patron saint of many Catholic parishes, and many church buildings bear his patronage . A list of these churches can be found in the article Brother Klaus Church . The Catholic Academy Klausenhof in Dingden , Westmünsterland , is a further education institution named after him.

Psychologists on Niklaus von Flüe's mysticism

Terrifying God's face, printed version in the complete edition of the Opuscula of Charles de Bouelles (Carolus Bovillus), Paris 1510
Meditation picture by Brother Klaus

Carl Gustav Jung considered Niklaus von Flüe to be the prototype of a mystic across religious-denominational divisions. Brother Klaus is "the only outstanding Swiss mystic, by the grace of God, who had unorthodox original visions and was allowed to gaze steadfastly into the depths of that divine soul, which still contains all the denominations of humanity separated by dogmatics in a symbolic archetype." Jung said: "'God' is a primal human experience, and humanity has made inconceivable efforts since time immemorial to represent this incomprehensible experience, to assimilate it, through interpretation, through speculation and through dogma, or to deny it."

CG Jung's main source for his Brother Klaus reception was the edition of the visions by Father Alban Stöckli. Jung quoted from it a description of the vision from a Lucerne manuscript attributed to the 15th century: according to which a male figure dressed in white first appeared to brother Klaus who had thanked the visionary for the help of his son - and then a female figure dressed in white, described with the same words, appeared Gestalt and also thanked the visionary for his help for her son. Jung understood this as a vision of God the Father and Mother of God and their Son, and interpreted them: «The palace [in the vision] is the heaven where God the Father lives, where God the Mother also lives. In pagan form they are unmistakably God and Goddess, as their absolute parallelism shows. The masculine femininity of the God-Urgrund is characteristic of the mystical experience. "

The Swiss psychologist Marie-Louise von Franz wrote a controversial book about The Visions of Niklaus von Flüe , in which she interpreted nine visions in detail from a depth psychological perspective. She wrote about Brother Klaus that he "not only depicts the type of Christian saint, but that he also embodies the old archetype of the primitive medicine man, the Nordic shaman and the prophet." Nikolaus' life and visions would aim at repeating primitive patterns of human becoming whole (individuation) "on a higher level", "in order to reconcile with the spiritual development of Christianity and at the same time expand the latter into a new dimension of nature."

From Franz interpreted a. a. Niklaus' vision of the "terrifying face of God", to which a picture refers with 6 rays (or wheel spokes) around a face in the center (see illustration). She shared CG Jung's assessment that this so-called wheel picture was an attempt by Brother Klaus to “bring his original experience into a form that he could understand”. On the "soil of dogma" he was able to assimilate his experience and transform "the terrible living into the beautiful vividness of the Trinity".

But the connection between wheel image and vision is controversial. There were also no reliable sources to prove an abstract wheel sketch by Brother Klaus, nor were there any for the assumption of a terrible vision of God. The hermit received the painted meditation cloth ( Sachsler meditation cloth) as a gift and did not have a sketch of what the cloth should have been made from. There was no heresy to be found in this meditation cloth.

Statue of Brother Klaus in Flüeli-Ranft
Brother Klaus, tempera painting, mid-16th century

Artistic adaptations

The life and work of Nikolaus von Flüe served as a template for numerous artistic adaptations. Only a small selection is listed here.

Fiction

music

  • Benno Ammann : Missa Defensor Pacis / in honorem Sancti Nicolai Helvetii Eremitae / ad 6–12 voces inaequales. World premiere: St. Peter's Basilica , Rome, May 15, 1947, on the occasion of the canonization ceremony.
  • Johann Baptist Hilber : Mass in honor of St. Niklaus von Flüe , for two solos, mixed choir and organ, 1947.
  • Josef Garovi : Missa festiva in honorem S. Nicolai de Flüe / ad quattuor voces inaequales cum Organo , 1947.
  • Walter Gremminger: Missa in honorem beati Nicolai de Flue, for three male voices and organ, 1941; arranged for four-part mixed choir and organ by Bernd H. Becher, 2001.
  • Arthur Honegger : Nicolas de Flue , scenic oratorio , 1940.
  • Albert Jenny : The miracle , instrumental movements for the spiritual play on the occasion of the canonization of St. Brother Klaus of Silja Walter , 1947.
  • Georg Wilhelm Rauchenecker : Niklaus von der Flüe , Swiss Peace Cantata, for soloists, male choir and orchestra, 1874, text by Robert Weber .
  • Carl Rütti : Visions of Niklaus von Flüe , symphony for solo soprano, concert organ, string orchestra and percussion; First performance 2014.
  • Josef Gallus Scheel : Brother Clause Prayer , for solo, choir and organ, undated, and Missa Gratia: Brother Klaus Mass , Op. 80.
  • Singing from Taizé : Give me my own , Kehrgesang, composed on the occasion of the international youth meeting 2017/2018 in Basel .

Film documentaries

literature

  • Rupert Amschwand: Brother Klaus. Supplementary volume to the source work by R. Durrer. Sarnen 1987.
  • Iso Baumer : Niklaus von Flüe, the desert father on the mountain stream . Verlag Kanisius, Freiburg / Switzerland, 1998, ISBN 978-3-85764-485-6 .
  • Robert Durrer : Brother Klaus. The oldest sources about Blessed Nikolaus von Flüe, his life and influence. 2 vol., Sarnen 1917–1921 (reprinted 1981).
  • Marie-Luise von Franz: The visions of Nikolas von Flüe. 2nd, expanded edition of the original version, which was published by Rascher-Verlag in 1959; Daimon-Verlag, Zurich 1980; ISBN 3-85630-001-5 .
  • Roland Gröbli : The longing for the "unified being". Life and teaching of brother Klaus von Flüe. NZN-Buchverlag, Zurich 1992. New edition: Rex-Verlag, Lucerne 2006, ISBN 978-3-7252-0829-6 .
    Excerpt from the dissertation of the same name at the University of Zurich 1989/1990, additional text parts of the dissertation (pp. 1–90, appendix; PDF)
  • Roland Gröbli, Heidi Kronenberg, Markus Ries , Thomas Wallimann-Sasaki (eds.): Mystic - Mediator - Human. 600 years of Niklaus von Flüe. Theological Publishing House, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-290-20138-8 .
  • Johannes Hemleben : Nikolaus von der Flüe. The saint of Switzerland. Huber, Frauenfeld 1977, ISBN 3-7193-0550-3 .
  • Werner T. Huber: Brother Klaus. Niklaus von Flüe in the testimonies of his contemporaries . Benziger, Zurich and Düsseldorf 1996; ISBN 3-545-20122-8 (modern language sources up to 1501 with comments).
  • CG Jung : Brother Klaus . In: Neue Schweizer Rundschau . Neue Serie I / 4, Zurich 1933, pp. 223–229 (most recently in CG Jung: On the psychology of western and eastern religion. Walther / Patmos-Verlag, ISBN 3-530-40087-4 ).
  • Pirmin Meier : I brother Klaus von Flüe. A story from inner Switzerland. Ammann Verlag, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-250-10309-8 .
  • Heinrich Wölflin : The oldest biography about brother Klaus (1501). LE Kaiser, Malters 2005, ISBN 3-033-00390-7 .

Web links

Commons : Niklaus von Flüe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Sieber: The father dead, the house burned. The Old Zurich War from the perspective of the victims in the city and countryside of Zurich. In: Peter Niederhäuser, Christian Sieber (eds.): A “fratricidal war” makes history. New additions to the Old Zurich War (= communications from the Antiquarian Society in Zurich. Vol. 73, New Year's Gazette 170). Chronos, Zurich 2006, pp. 65–88. (The excursus of this article, pp. 79–82, deals with Nikolaus von Flüe and his experiences during the Old Zurich War.)
  2. ^ Cf. Robert Durrer : Brother Klaus. The oldest sources about the blessed Nikolaus von Flüe. his life and influence. 2 vols. Sarnen 1917–1921 (reprint 1981), vol. I, p. 64 (to Hans von Waldheim ): "God knows" and I, 347 (to Trithemius ): "Ego nunquam dixi, nec dico me nihil comedere" and I, 512 ( Koelhoffische Chronik ): «[...] whether he received and eat bodily food, to which he replied: it were in allit zoweder».
  3. ^ Sources Brother Klaus and Dorothea: On the history of the prayer of Brother Klaus, No. 67 . Today's New High German version of the Prayer of St. Brother Klaus (PDF) on nvf.ch, accessed on February 11, 2017, is quoted here
  4. ^ Sources Brother Klaus and Dorothea: Bernardino Imperiali, Special Ambassador of Milan, No. 33 .
  5. ↑ … imaginatively present, Das Stanser Verkommnis in a contemporary historical context .
  6. ^ Konrad Farner: History of Zurich. Chronicle of a coat democracy . Publishing Cooperative, Zurich 1971, p. 18-19 .
  7. ↑ Niklaus von Flüe in the ecumenical dictionary of saints .
  8. ↑ A shining hand in the sky! ( Memento from August 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Media release by the Brother Klaus Society on the Brother Klaus Memorial Day on May 13, 2010.
  9. ^ Fresco in the Melchtal pilgrimage church .
  10. ^ CG Jung: Brother Klaus. In: Neue Schweizer Rundschau , New Series I / 4 (1933), quoted from: On the Psychology of Eastern and Western Religion , Collected Works 11, § 487.
  11. ^ CG Jung: Brother Klaus. Quoted from: Gesammelte Werke, 11, § 480.
  12. ↑ P. Alban Stöckli OMCap .: The visions of the blessed brother Klaus. With ecclesiastical printing permission from the Bishop of Chur. Benzinger Verlag, Einsiedeln u. a. O. 1933.
  13. ↑ P. Alban Stöckli OMCap: The visions of the blessed brother Klaus. Benziger, Einsiedeln u. a. O. 1933, p. 20 f.
  14. ^ CG Jung: Brother Klaus , quoted from: Gesammelte Werke 11, § 485.
  15. ^ Marie-Louise von Franz: The visions of Nikolas von Flüe. Einsiedeln 1991 (1st edition 1980), ISBN 3-85630-001-5 .
  16. ^ Marie-Louise von Franz: The visions of Nikolas von Flüe. Einsiedeln 1991, p. 130.
  17. ^ Marie-Louise von Franz: The visions of Nikolas von Flüe. Einsiedeln 1991, p. 118, cited here CG Jung (1954): From the roots of consciousness. Collected works, 9/1: § 12 ("Primal Experience") and § 17 ("Dogma" and "Trinity Idea").
  18. ^ F. Blanke: Brother Klaus von Flüe. Zwinglibücherei 55, Zurich 1948, p. 95 f.
  19. ↑ The Sachsler meditation cloth, confusion with the three wheel sketches. Information page of Werner T. Huber's website, see also web links.
  20. ^ "Heimatroman under the sign of spiritual national defense" (Regula Wyss: Dutli [-Rutishauser], Maria. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz .).
  21. ^ Andreas Schenker: Benno Ammann, 1904–1986: Werkverzeichnis = liste des oeuvres. Swiss Music Archive = archives musicales suisses, Zurich 2015, ISBN 978-3-7965-3501-7 .
  22. ^ Angelo Garovi: Festive mass for the canonization of Niklaus von Flüe . In: Musik & Liturgie, 1 // 17, Gossau 2017, pp. 7–9.
  23. ↑ Urs Mattenberger: Great solo for brother Klaus. In: Neue Luzerner Zeitung , February 10, 2014, p. 23.
  24. ^ Josef Scheel estate directory (1879–1946), Mus NL 6, p. 24, p. 28 (PDF), Zurich Central Library, accessed on February 26, 2018.
  25. ↑ Brother Klaus makes the jump to Taizé
personal data
SURNAME Niklaus von Flüe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brother Klaus (religious name); Nikolaus von der Flühe (alternative spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss mountain farmer, soldier, hermit, ascetic and mystic.
DATE OF BIRTH 1417
PLACE OF BIRTH Flüeli-Ranft
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1487
Place of death Flüeli-Ranft