Hans Danuser (Author)

Hans "Hannes" Danuser (born March 3, 1924 in Flims ; † August 21, 2017 in Landquart ) was a Swiss chronicler , onomastic and book author who was awarded the 2012 Creative Age Prize by Hans Vontobel .

Life

Hans Danuser spent most of his youth in Flims, which at the time was mostly Romansh-speaking , where he grew up with five siblings and attended school. During the summer holidays he spent 22 weeks in the Walser village of Sapün in Schanfigg to help out as a farmhand on his uncle's farm. After attending the Graubünden teachers' seminar and further training, he was elected to teach at the Arosa secondary school in 1950 , where he worked for almost 40 years and acquired extensive historical knowledge of the region.

In addition to his teaching activities in natural science subjects, the versatile Danuser initially devoted himself to sport. As an orienteer , he won various cantonal championship titles. His real passion was alpine skiing , in which he stood out as a promoter of young talent and played a key role in shaping the careers of Roger Staub , Werner Mattle and Engelhard Pargätzi . Three of his five own children also made it into the Swiss-Ski squad . Under the leadership of Danuser, the Arosa Ski Club , which he also formally headed as President from 1965 to 1967 , experienced its most successful sporting period to date. In addition, he was a long-time trainer of the Bündner Ski Association and was an advocate of international ski races in the region, which led to the organization of the three-peaks races at Weisshorn , Hörnli , Brüggerhorn and Schafrügg in the 1960s, and to the event in the 1970s and 1980s World Cup races Arosa led. From 1965 he also supported Fritz Tschannen in the creation of a ski jumping center at the Plessurschanze , on whose landing slope he also had a slalom slope prepared.

Regardless of his passion for groomed racing pistes, Danuser increasingly campaigned against excessive, mechanized ski tourism and building land speculation. In 1979/1980, after initial enthusiasm, he fought against the candidacy of Chur Graubünden to host the 1988 Winter Olympics in Arosa, Chur , Laax and Lenzerheide . As a founding member of the association For a liveable Arosa , he also opposed the oversized expansion of the Tschuggen Ost ski lift and the associated widening of the forest aisle there. The increasing leveling of the ski slope underground at high altitudes - for example on the Weisshorn - worried him because of the impairment of the barren flora. These sometimes very passionate commitments to nature and landscape protection were occasionally noticed in the international press, such as Spiegel .

Hans Danuser started his journalistic activity in 1988 when, at the age of 64 , he published his first book, Arosa und das Schanfigg , together with the photographer Rudolf Homberger . The richly illustrated work of over 180 pages was the first comprehensive historical, social and economic presentation of this geographical area in over half a century. It is still considered a standard work today. At around the same time, Danuser began, under his nickname Hannes, with the regular publication of important local historical events under the heading "How was it then?" in the Aroser newspaper . These thematically not self-contained articles formed the basis for the seven-volume historical compilation of Arosa, as it was back then, which was published by the company between 1997 and 2004 . On almost 1700 pages, Danuser summarized the development of Arosa from a mountain farming village to a world health resort and holiday resort, mainly according to chronological criteria.

After completing this main work, Danuser shifted his main focus to Walser and Rhaeto-Romanic name research , in particular the lexicographical recording of place and field names in Arosa, Langwies and Mittelschanfigg, whereby he was able to fall back on extensive preparatory work for the Arosa field name map from 1993. For his book Aroser Orts- und Flurnamen, published in 2011 , with the inclusion of the Welschtobel and some border areas of neighboring municipalities , Hans Danuser was awarded the international award of the Creative Age Foundation, which has been awarded every two years since 1990, in the Kongresshaus Zurich on October 30, 2012 .

Hans Danuser was widowed and lived in Arosa and Ascona . He recently suffered from advanced dementia and spent his old age in a home for the elderly in Landquart .

Awards

• 2012: Prize of the Creative Age Foundation

Works (selection)

• Hans Danuser: Arosa place and field names including the Welschtobel and some areas near the border in neighboring communities, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 2011, ISBN 3-905342-49-9 .
• Hans Danuser / Arosa municipality (ed.): Arosa in a nutshell , 4th edition, self-published by the municipality, Arosa 2005.
• Hans Danuser: Arosa - as it was then (1850–2003) , Vol. 1–7, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 1997–2004.
• Hans Danuser / SC Arosa (ed.): 100 Years of Arosa Ski Club 1903–2003 , self-published by SC Arosa, Arosa 2003.
• Hans Danuser, Walser Association Graubünden (ed.): Old ways in Schanfigg. Publishing house Walser Association Graubünden, Splügen 1997.
• Hans Danuser, Jakob Jäger, Bündner Skiverband (Eds.): 75 years of the Bündner Skiverband BSV, Arosa 1994.
• Hans Danuser, Jürg Schmid: Arosa field name map, Arosa 1993.
• Hans Danuser: ski racer David Zogg . In: Bündner Jahrbuch. Volume 31, Chur 1989, pp. 69-75.
• Hans Danuser, Ruedi Homberger: Arosa and the Schanfigg , self-published by Danuser / Homberger, Arosa 1988.

swell

• Southeastern Switzerland of September 9, 2012, p. 5.
• Hans Danuser, Ruedi Homberger: Arosa und das Schanfigg , self-published by Danuser / Homberger, Arosa 1988, p. 4 (short biography).

Web links

• Website of the Creative Age Foundation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans Danuser / SC Arosa (ed.): 100 Years of Arosa Ski Club 1903–2003. Self-published by SC Arosa, Arosa 2003.
2. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of February 15, 2013, p. 9.
3. ^ Arosa Bergbahnen AG (Ed.): Bergfahrt - 75 years of mountain railways in Arosa. Weber, Thun-Gwatt 2005, ISBN 3-909532-30-6 , pp. 35, 44 f.
4. ^ Protest in Heidi-Land. Spiegel, May 7, 1984, accessed November 3, 2012.
5. ↑ ': Die Südostschweiz, September 9, 2012, p. 5.
6. ↑ Award ceremony of the Creative Age Foundation 2012 ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ ': Aroser Zeitung of November 30, 2012, p. 13.