Ernst Nägeli (writer, 1919)

Ernst Nägeli (born March 9, 1919 in Hasliberg-Hohfluh ; † August 12, 1996 ) was a Swiss writer and journalist .

Live and act

origin

Ernst Nägeli grew up as a mountain farmer's son on the Hasliberg . After the early death of his father Heinrich, he continued the farm together with his brother and mother. In 1946 he married Walpurga Ganz. The couple moved away from Hasliberg and ran a farm on the Hirzel (ZH). In 1954 Ernst Nägeli had to give up the farming profession for health reasons and returned to Hasliberg with his family (5 children) with the desire to live there as a freelance writer.

Peasant poet

The nature-loving boy began to write in his youth and published his first texts in various newspapers and folk calendars. Like his role model Alfred Huggenberger , he wanted to become a peasant poet. The 19-year-old's first collection of novels was published in 1938, followed by his first novel Das Mark im Bauernholz . The writer Gustav Renker was his most important patron. The young Nägeli was described as "one of the strongest hopes of down-to-earth Swiss literature" and soon became a popular writer. In 1952 he received a literary prize from the city of Bern.

After the great upheavals of World War II and the upheaval in the Swiss literary scene, the genre in which Nägeli had become known was soon considered to be out of date. The young writer was denied further public recognition and he turned more to journalism.

Editor and conservationist

Since 1961, Nägeli has been the responsible editor of the local newspaper Der Oberhasler . In his current political comments he showed himself to be a keen observer of current events. As a conservative of values, he campaigned for politically “progressive” issues early on, such as B. the promotion of organic farming and alternative medicine as well as for the fight against nuclear power plants. As a passionate mountaineer and as a member of the board of the Naturschutzbund Oberland, he fought for decades against the deterioration of the environment and for a nature-friendly and sustainable development of the mountain area.

Later years

From Nägeli's later work, the novel The Chain of Fate should be mentioned as his most mature work. In the 1970s he published two volumes of stories with humorous mountain experiences and later three volumes with contemplative brief considerations. With the homeland book Hasliberg , the mountain farmer's novel The day before yesterday encountered and with the volume of poems Vun geschter, hiit- und moren ... Haslitiitschi poem he painted a picture of life and customs on the Hasliberg.

journalism

Nägeli's strengths lie in the area of ​​the short story, the contemplative contemplation and the pointed short commentary with which he accompanied the political events for decades. This work, which is much larger in scope, has hardly been viewed so far.

Works

Publications in book form

• The call of the clod. Four stories. Loepthien Verlag Meiringen [1938] / 2nd edition 1947.
• The marrow in the peasant wood. Swiss farmer's novel. Loepthien Verlag Meiringen [1939].
• How they seek happiness. Six stories. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen [1942] / 2nd edition 1947.
• The Court of Destiny. Novel. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen [1943] / 2nd edition 1947.
• Field of life. Poems, Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen [1945].
• Earth and people. Contemporary novel. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen [1946].
• Homesick children. Six novellas. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen [1949].
• The women from the Moorhof. Novel. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen [1949]
• The road over the pass. Mountain and poaching stories. Loepthien Verlag Meiringen [1951]
• Crystal of two hearts. Novel. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen [1953].
• Balthasar Amweg and his daughters. Novel. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen / Stuttgart [1955].
• Tomorrow's crusade. Novel. Drei-Pass-Verlag, Meiringen 1956
• Ploughshare and wand . Novel about the magician Rico Peter. Drei Kreis Verlag, Villmergen [1958].
• Riot over Evelin. Novel. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen / Stuttgart 1959.
• Bravo Mutzli. Adventure of a lively shamrock on Balisalp. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen / Stuttgart [1961] / 2nd edition 1965.
• Life carters and other stories. Verlag Gute Schriften, Basel 1962
• The chain of fate. Novel. Loepthien Verlag, Meiringen / Stuttgart 1966
• Got to the dog over sunny peaks. From a mountain vagabond's logbook. Book publisher Tages-Nachrichten, Münsingen 1974.
• The mountains are still beckoning. From a mountain vagabond's logbook. Book publisher Tages-Nachrichten, Münsingen 1976.
• Hasliberg. Berner Heimatbücher Vol. 128, Paul Haupt Verlag, Bern 1982.
• Wait a minute ... reflections - observations - experiences. For Ernst Nägeli's 65th birthday. Hasliberg cultural group, 1984.
• Tracks. 52 Orientation aids throughout the year. Berchtold Haller Verlag, Bern 1985.
• Encountered the day before yesterday. Mountain farmer novel, Blaukreuz-Verlag, Bern 1987.
• Vun geschter, hiit - and moren ... Haslitiitschi poem. Verlag Schlaefli, Interlaken 1991.
• Viewed by the wayside. Encounters, contemplations, observations throughout the year. Schaefli publishing house, Interlaken 1994.

Posthumously:

• The song of the song thrush. Reflections, stories and poems from the estate. With a biographical sketch of the life and work of the Hasliberg writer by Markus Nägeli. Verlag Schlaefli, Interlaken 2000.

literature

• Markus Nägeli: Ernst Nägeli (1919–1996) - A biographical sketch. in: Ernst Nägeli, The song of the song thrush. Reflections, stories and poems from the estate. Verlag Schlaefli, Interlaken 2000, ISBN 3-85884-006-8 . Pp. 131-187.

Web links

• Literature by and about Ernst Nägeli in the catalog of the German National Library