Federal news

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The Eidgenössische Nachrichten was a weekly newspaper published in Bern from 1798 to 1799 .

In view of a critical situation for Bern due to the French threat, the city ​​government commissioned the bookseller and journalist Johann Georg Heinzmann to publish a weekly newspaper as an official body of the Bern government with the aim of promoting loyalty to the state, patriotic sentiments and the inflaming of a fighting spirit. The newspaper was subsidized and could be obtained postage free. The first issue appeared on January 6, 1798. The newspaper carried news of the preparations for war in the diocese of Basel , of the intended constitutional amendment after the state committees were convened on February 3, 1798, and reported on the negotiations with France, all in a tone that was devoted to the government.

On March 5, 1798, the Bernese were defeated in the Battle of Grauholz , French troops marched into the city, and the Helvetic Republic was established. In the following issue of March 17th, the Federal News , which now appeared with the catchphrases "Freedom", "Equality" and "Righteousness" (instead of "Fraternity") in the title, then showed a completely different attitude. Bern's war efforts were described as presumptuous and the French were apostrophized as an instrument in the hands of the Most High.

Despite the tendency towards the French and the revolutionary, the newspaper did not have a great future. With the edition of June 5, 1798, it changed its name to Neue Berner Zeitung and on October 3 to Berner Zeitung . The last edition appeared on March 30, 1799. Heinzmann then published the editions under the title Republican World Observer in book form.

expenditure

  • Federal news or strange events at the strange time of the revolution. 20 numbers. Typographische Societät, Bern 1798, ZDB -ID 1246857-5 .
  • from June 1798: Neue Berner Zeitung .
  • from October 1798: Berner Zeitung , discontinued on March 30, 1799.
  • as a book: Republican World Observer: Neue Berner-Zeitung: 5th fallow month 1798 - March 30, 1799.

literature

  • Fritz Blaser: Bibliography of the Swiss Press. Birkhäuser, Basel 1956–1958, p. 700.
  • Ernst Bollinger: Federal News. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Rudolf Ischer: Johann Georg Heinzmann. In: Collection of Bernese biographies. Published by the Historical Association of the Canton of Bern. Vol. 3. Bern 1898, pp. 376-409.
  • Ernst Rietmann : The book of the Swiss newspaper publishers. Publishing house of the Swiss Newspaper Publishers Association, Zurich 1925, p. 586.
  • Paul Schaffroth: Sturm und Drang. From the past of the Stadtbernischen press (1500–1900). Benteli, Bern 1991, ISBN 3-7165-0784-9 , pp. 102-110.