Hans Mühlestein

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Hans Mühlestein (born March 15, 1887 in Biel , † May 25, 1969 in Zurich ) was a Swiss cultural historian and writer . He worked as a history and art history researcher with a focus on etruscology , as well as a translator and book author. His best-known works include the novel Aurora , the historical treatise The Great Swiss Peasants' War 1653 and a Hodler monograph developed with the art historian Georg Schmidt.

Life

Hans Mühlestein was born the son of a watchmaker and a farmer's daughter. After attending grammar school in Biel, he first learned the profession of primary school teacher in Hofwil and Bern . In 1906 he published his first volume of poetry, which was enthusiastically reviewed by Joseph Victor Widmann and which was awarded the prize of the Swiss Schiller Foundation. During this time he also worked as a journalist. In 1907 he began to study history and philosophy at the University of Zurich , which he continued in Jena , Berlin , Göttingen and Frankfurt am Main . Infected by the spirit of the times in the run-up to the First World War and in its early days, he first pleaded for a German racist imperialism , for example in Germany's broadcast and an "attempt to interpret" Ferdinand Hodler .

After the impressions of the First World War, under the influence of the philosopher Leonard Nelson , the founder of the International Socialist Combat League , he increasingly developed into a socialist pacifist . Mühlestein was a member of Leonhard Nelson's "anti-war movement" and became a personal friend of Ferdinand Hodler, Thomas Mann and Romain Rolland . In Göttingen he was deputy from Göttingen in the Congress of Workers 'and Soldiers' Councils in Berlin during the November Revolution in 1918/19 . In 1919, Hans Mühlestein, expelled by the Prussians , had to flee from the Noske troops to Switzerland.

In 1928 he did his doctorate in Zurich on Etruscan art and published the non-fiction book The Birth of the West , which was successful with critics and readers .

In 1929 Hans Mühlestein was appointed lecturer for the prehistory of human culture at the University of Frankfurt and during this time he deepened his scientific studies on the Etruscans . In 1929 he published his first major work on this subject, Die Kunst der Etrusker ; This was later followed by On the Origin of the Etruscans (1929), The Veiled Gods (1957) and The Etruscans in the Mirror of Their Art (1969). In July 1932 - after Franz von Papen came to power - Hans Mühlestein had to return to Switzerland for the second time.

From 1932 he lived and worked in Celerina , where he worked as a translator, researcher and poet. He gave his books there partly in self-publishing out. He has translated works by Dante Alighieri , Vittoria Colonna , Ilja Ehrenburg , Michelangelo and Shakespeare, as well as poems by French poets.

In 1933 he was awarded the Welti Prize for his piece People Without God .

In 1935, Hans Mühlestein published in the Swiss book guild Gutenberg Aurora , a political novel that combines a spectacular authentic Madrid judicial case with the 1934 uprising of the Asturian miners against the republican government. The title heroine of the novel is Aurora Rodríguez , who in 1933 killed her 18-year-old daughter and communist agitator Hildegart Rodríguez - allegedly with her consent - to help the movement become a martyr. The novel was criticized for the diverse intertwined storylines.

As an actor, he appeared in his own plays as “ Stalin ” ( People Without God ) and “ Jürg Jenatsch ” ( The Dictator and Death ). In addition, he developed an extensive political activity. He was involved in setting up the Swiss Aid Organization for German Scholars and the Emergency Association of German Scholars abroad . In 1936 he led the solidarity campaign for Republican Spain until the Federal Council ban in August 1936. For this activity he was sentenced to one month in prison. In 1938 he joined the Swiss Communist Party and was a lively lecturer in workers' education organizations .

His academic achievements after 1945 attracted more attention in the GDR and the communist states of Eastern Europe, while he remained isolated in Switzerland. Of his literary work, however, his second Hodler biography , developed with the Basel art historian Georg Schmidt , found widespread recognition outside of left-wing circles. The extensive study on the Swiss Peasant War published in 1942 was also received positively by the majority .

Hans Mühlestein died in Zurich in 1969 at the age of 82.

Works (selection)

Literary works

  • A book of poems , 1906.
  • The confederates. A retreat from world history . Drama in one act. Georg Müller, Munich 1914.
  • Cosmic love . Poems. Georg Müller, Munich 1914.
  • The dictator and death. The tragedy of Jürg Jenatsch . Stage poetry in 4 acts. Self-published, Celerina 1933.
  • People without god . Drama in three acts. Oprecht, Zurich 1934.
  • Aurora. The face of things to come. Novel from the west . Gutenberg Book Guild, Zurich 1935.

Scientific and political works

  • Germany's mission. A new Central European League of Nations . Gustav Kiepenheuer , Weimar 1914.
  • Ferdinand Hodler. An attempt at interpretation . Gustav Kiepenheuer, Weimar 1914.
  • European Reformation. Philosophical reflections on the moral origin of the political crisis in Europe . The Neue Geist-Verlag, Leipzig 1918.
  • Russia and the psychomachy of Europe. Attempt on the connection between the religious and the political world crisis . Beck, Munich 1925.
  • The birth of the West. A contribution to the change of meaning in history . Orell Füssli , Zurich 1928.
  • The art of the Etruscans. The origins . Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, Berlin 1929.
  • About the origin of the Etruscans . Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, Berlin 1929.
  • The great Swiss Peasants' War in 1653 . Self-published, Celerina 1942; Unionsverlag , Zurich 1977, ISBN 3-293-00003-7 .
  • (with Georg Schmidt ) Ferdinand Hodler 1853–1918. His life and his work . Rentsch, Erlenbach 1942; Unionsverlag, Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-293-00020-7 .
  • Mind and politics. Romain Rolland's political mission . Memorial speech. Culture and People, Zurich 1945.
  • The veiled gods. New Genesis of the Italian Renaissance . Desch , Munich 1957; Andres, Biel 1981, ISBN 3-85518-012-1 .
  • The Etruscans in the mirror of their art . German Science Publishing House, Berlin 1969.

literature

  • Reto Caluori: Hans Mühlestein . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 2, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1285.
  • Stefan Hess : universal scholar and public horror. For the 125th birthday of the Swiss left-wing intellectual Hans Mühlestein (1887–1969) . In: Basler Zeitung , March 14, 2012, p. 35.
  • Gustav Huonker : Zurich literary scene. People, Stories and Pictures 1914 to 1945, Zurich 1985.
  • Ursula Käser-Leisibach, Martin Stern (ed.): No united people. Five Swiss time pieces 1933–1945 Bern 1993.
  • Robert Kuster: Hans Mühlestein. Contributions to his biography and the novel "Aurora" . Limmat , Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-85791-080-1 .
  • Erwin Marti : Hans Mühlestein . In: Departure. Socialist and Workers' Literature in Switzerland , Zurich 1977.
  • Helmut Meyer: Hans Mühlestein (1887–1969). The life and work of an outsider. Chronos-Verlag, Bern 2017 ISBN 978-3-0340-1395-6 .
  • Matthias Möckli: “People's Tribune” and “Marxist Nonconformist”. The political commitment of the Swiss left-wing intellectual Hans Mühlestein between 1936 and 1943 . Licentiate thesis University of Bern 2009.
  • Brigitte Studer:  Mühlestein, Hans. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , p. 288 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • in Turkish: Logos Yayınları: Proleter Ütopya ve Marksist Hümanizm Hans Mühlestein, Mayıs 1990.

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Mühlestein, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss cultural historian and writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 15, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Biel / Bienne
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1969
Place of death Zurich