Free votes in the Zurich district

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Free votes in the Zurich district

language German
Headquarters Zurich
First edition December 28, 1842
attitude December 26, 1855
Frequency of publication Weekly
Editor-in-chief Johann Jakob Treichler (1845) JU Elmiger (1848–1855)
editor Jakob Friedrich Hess (1846–1848) Association of Free Voices (1848–1855) Heinrich Mahler (1855)

The Free Voices in the Zurich District was a left-wing radical Zurich weekly newspaper that appeared between 1842 and 1855.

history

The Free Voices in the district of Zurich was the successor to the short-lived newspaper Intelligence and Entertainment Gazette of the municipality of Neumünster , which was published by the printer Jakob Friedrich Hess and edited by the poet Leonhard Widmer . After the "Neumünster-Blatt", which was conceived as a politically oriented news newspaper, did not produce the desired success despite a relaunch, the project was discontinued. On December 24, 1842, the pilot edition of the newspaper Free Voices appeared in the district of Zurich . For this purpose, a joint-stock company was specially founded to ensure the financing of the paper. For a long time, the newspaper kept a low profile about the editorial composition, which led to parts of the press trying to identify the authors themselves. From April 7, 1847, the publication appeared under the abbreviated name Free Voices .

Jakob Friedrich Hess, who financed the newspaper himself between 1846 and 1848 and acted as its publisher after the stock corporation fell out with Hess and his former companion Widmer, disappointed, turned away from the project, can be named as a key figure in the paper, especially in the early years . However, Hess's undoing was his polemical defamation of various Zurich politicians and members of the authorities, which together with his attitude, which was generally perceived as too extreme - even from the point of view of the Zurich radicals - ensured that he was removed from his position as publisher and editor .

Subsequently, the Association of Free Voices was founded and the editorial management was transferred to the doctor JU Elmiger, who worked in this capacity on a voluntary basis until shortly before the newspaper was closed in 1855. Under Elmiger's leadership, the newspaper succeeded in increasing the number of subscribers from 400 to 1,000 between 1848 and 1850. There was also a change in content: In the last three years of its existence, the weekly newspaper saw itself primarily as a social democratic publication. Financial difficulties and a political climate in Zurich that was significantly different from that of the 1840s led to the announcement on December 16, 1855 that the newspaper would be discontinued.

content

The first editions of the newspaper were limited to news from the surrounding communities of Zurich. In the beginning, the weekly newspaper mainly published business news, local news and agricultural articles, and trivia , which was considered interesting . In addition to puzzles and humorous articles, poems for which the poet Leonhard Widmer was responsible were also published for entertainment . In addition, the editors sought an exchange with the readership and printed out letters that were sent in regularly. Due to the relatively diverse content, the editorial team refrained from using clearly defined subject areas for a long time.

The newspaper obtained the information it needed for its editorial work from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the Swiss Republican, among others . Later in the first year, however, the paper increasingly took on a political stance. Issues related to the grievances of factory workers, craftsmen and farmers now moved more and more into the center of the reporting. A major concern of the editorial team was to improve the working conditions of the lowest class. Again and again in this context there was talk of communism , which the newspaper understood and propagated as a means of promoting social welfare and the general good based on the model of Christian charity.

"Communism! What is this? A common shift and rule in which poor, big and small, each in his own way, according to his strength, promotes the common good. I can't be frightened of that; I find this beautiful and good; I've wanted this for a long time; all charitable endeavors go there, only more or less clearly. [...] Should this be from evil? Oh certainly not! Charity that grants others what they want for themselves, that helps everyone in times of need, or rather does not allow honest people to come into need, that is our aim; who can speak against it? '"

- Excerpt from an editorial in the newspaper Freieimmen im Bezirke Zürich from January 31, 1844, p. 17.

In the early years, the socially committed silk manufacturer Salomon Rütschi was responsible for the political part of the newspaper , who had previously supported Widmer's poetic work and, in addition to his editorial work, was also financially involved in the newspaper. After the printer Jakob Friedrich Hess took over the content of the weekly paper, the tone of the newspaper tightened significantly. In several articles, some of which were polemical, Hess accused the liberal government of Zurich of indifference and complacency and thus pushed politicians, such as the leader of the Liberal Party and later Federal Councilor Jonas Furrer , who was defamed by Hess in an article published on March 22, 1848, before the Head.

Concrete proposals to protect the working class were now increasingly being communicated in the newspaper: Hess, for example, advocated the introduction of the progressive tax, advocated measures against the abuse of trade freedom and called for state supervision of the factories. In addition to improving the social conditions at the time, the newspaper also sought a more fundamental change in the political system. Popular sovereignty was named as the primary goal of this overthrow . In 1848 the newspaper's gaze shifted to other countries and to the February Revolution in France and the March Revolution in Germany, both of which from then on moved Hess to the center of political reporting. Hess, who interpreted the turmoil in neighboring countries as the beginning of the end of the capitalist system, hoped that a similar movement would arise in the newly formed Swiss federal state.

After Hess fell out of favor and had to give up his position as editor-in-chief and publisher, the newspaper developed into a social democratic paper under the direction of JU Elmiger. The editors then distanced themselves from communism and described it as "beautiful [...], but not practically feasible". The paper took up Wilhelm Weitling's thesis that Jesus was a socialist and that socialism must be viewed as a humanitarian duty of Christians. The newspaper then published several editorials dealing with socialism and its practical application.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Free votes from May 15, 1850, p. 81.