Franz von Sonnenfeld

Franz von Sonnenfeld 1846

Franz von Sonnenfeld (born January 30, 1821 in Witterswil , † March 5, 1888 in Stuttgart ; actually Johann Gihr ) was a Swiss writer .

Life

Johann Gihr was born in Witterswil in 1821 as the son of the farmer of the same name, Johann Gihr (* 1773) and Anna Maria, née Gerber. The father died in 1832 and the mother remarried afterwards. Gihr received private lessons from Pastor Johann von Arx (1795–1881), who represented enlightenment views and conveyed these to his pupils. Gihr then attended the cantonal school in Solothurn , which was followed by a degree in philosophy at universities in Germany , which Gihr graduated with a doctorate from the University of Jena .

He returned to Switzerland and settled in Dornach (Dornachbrugg district). The application for a teaching position for philosophy at the canton school in Solothurn was unsuccessful. In 1849 Gihr received the license to teach philosophy at the University of Basel , but it was withdrawn from him in November 1850. Reasons for this are said to have been that Gihr, who was heavily involved in politics, waited too long to start his lectures and his political activities at the university aroused displeasure.

In addition to political pamphlets, Gihr wrote several literary works under the name Franz von Sonnenfeld . It was these works that ensured Gihr a certain fame even in the 20th century. In them he describes the folk life, secular and ecclesiastical customs of his closer homeland, the country of the black boys . Ernst Baumann writes in his essay on Gihr's life that it is "downright tragic to see the passion with which Gihr fights certain institutions and customs of the church as outdated and superstitious and with what warmth, detail and clarity he describes these customs."

Johann Gihr politically represented the line of enlightened liberal radicalism in opposition to conservative and church circles. He championed this attitude, among other things, as editor-in-chief of two short-lived weeklies ( Vaterländische Zeitung and Basellandschaftliches Wochenblatt ; in 1850 also editor of the Basellandschaftliche Volksblatt for several months ). Gihr lost most of his fortune in the bankruptcy of a friend he had vouched for. In 1855 his mother, who had supported him, also died. Gihr then tried to find a livelihood as a freelance writer in Stuttgart . There he edited the Süddeutsche Sonntagsblatt for educated people of all denominations and the Deutsche Blätter for art, literature and science . In 1888 he died completely impoverished in Stuttgart.

Works

• Jesus Christ. According to Dr. Ludwig Noak, in the sense of modern philosophy. Schabelitz, Basel 1849.
• Folk tales from the Black Boy Country. Schweighauser'sche Verlags-Buchhandlung, Basel 1858.
• From the Swiss mountains. New stories. Flemming, Glogau 1861.
• Uhland's life. A memorial book for the German people. Kröner, Stuttgart 1864.
• Between brown and black frocks. Novel from contemporary history . Schober, Stuttgart 1863.
  • Reprint: AEV, Liestal 2001.
• Sunday hours. Uplifting and instructive things from the Süddeutscher Sonntagsblatt. For the educated of all confessions. Süddeutsches Sonntagsblatt, Stuttgart 1873.
• The Roman Catholic Church since the Restoration and its state of being the modern state and education. A brief reference to indisputable facts. Publishing magazine, Zurich 1876.

Selection volume:

• Pictures from popular life. Publishing house "Für die Heimat", Laufen 1944.

literature

• Ernst Baumann: Franz von Sonnenfeld. In: Poets and writers from the black boy country. Edited by the Dornach Museum Commission. Dornach 1956 (publications by the local museum Schwarzbubenland Dorneck-Thierstein), pp. 16-19.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Baumann, p. 18