Hans Messerli

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Vennerhaus in Oberwil im Simmental (1757)

Hans Messerli senior (* December 1718 in Därstetten ; † April 21, 1806 in Nidfluh , Canton Bern ) was a Lower Simmental carpenter whose houses are among the most important monuments in the Canton of Bern. Individual Messerli stores appear in the Swiss inventory of cultural assets of national and regional importance .

Young years

Messerli was born as the eldest child and only son of Benedikt Messerli (1792–1746) and Anna Messerli née. Ziörjen (1679–1737) born. The father as well as the grandfather - Hans Messerli senior (1658–1710) - can also be proven as master carpenters by means of building inscriptions in Lower Simmental. The great-grandfather Peter Messerli (* 1615), who was still born in his old hometown of Oberwil in the Simmental , settled in the community of Därstetten after his marriage to Magdalena Ueltschi in 1644. Her six daughters and two sons were born there.

The house rebuilt in 1739 in the Bäuert Nidfluh by Michael Teuscher (1703–1784) bears the inscription: " Zimmer Meister were Bendicht Messerli and his son [Hans]". A year later, the client became the brother-in-law of the famous Lower Simmental master carpenter, who, following family tradition, later made the house of his apprenticeship his residence.

The young carpenter Hans Messerli married Anna Elisabeth Teuscher (1708–1775), ten years older than him, on March 8, 1740 in Zweisimmen . They became parents of two children: Hans Messerli junior (1742–1814), unmarried, and Anna Messerli (1750–1750).

Masterpieces

Knutti House (1756)

The "Knuttihaus" z'Moos in the Bäuert Zwischenbach in Därstetten

Between 1739 (when Messerli and his father were mentioned by name) and 1756 no evidence of master carpenter Hans Messerli is known. The so-called “Knuttihaus” z'Moos , not far from the Därstetten church, bears Messerli's inscription. The "prestige object" was built in 1756 on behalf of Johannes Knutti (1695–1781) and Anna Barbara Knutti, née. Kübli (1707–1791) and their son Christian Knutti (1726–1796) and daughter-in-law Anna Knutti geb. Ueltschi (1732-1768). Together with the magnificent building and the unique painting done in 1760 by Anton Schwaller in the so-called “Sunday room”, the “Knuttihaus” is one of the most important architectural monuments in the canton of Bern.

Venner House (1757)

The "Vennerhaus" on the Bühl in the Bäuert Bunschen in Oberwil in the Simmental

" Carpenter Hans Messerli " figured in 1757 among the builders who built the so-called "Vennerhaus" on the Bühl in the Bäuert Bunschen in the municipality of Oberwil iS on behalf of the national foreman Jakob Joneli (1718–1761) and Margaretha Joneli nee. Regez (1724–1760) and their daughter Anna Joneli [married Eschler] (1751–1817) built. One of the journeyman carpenter who also helped at the "Vennerhaus" was Johannes Bühler junior (1726–1798), since 1754 husband of Magdalena Bühler, nee. Messerli (1720–1789), a younger sister of Messerli.

Inscription " a cunning head " on the "Vennerhaus"

The “cunning head” mentioned in the “Vennerhaus” inscription on the stock threshold ( Rähm ) does not refer to master carpenter Hans Messerli. “Unique for the whole [Bernese] Oberland” is the fact that two Mahlers are immortalized at the “Vennerhaus” with the following “satirizing” slogan: “ Mahler Allenbach as a poor man, Master Amrein as a cunning head was helpful with grinding and rubbing the color so that he will finally have the mastery ”. Affolter names Stefan Allenbach as the painter involved in the Oberwil “Vennerhaus”. Unfortunately, the master painter Amrein has not yet been identified.

Am Argel (1759)

The house on the Argel in the Bäuert Zwischenbach in Därstetten

In 1759, two unmarried sisters - Magdalena Mani (1724–1803) and Salome Mani (1726–1790) - gave master carpenter Messerli the order to build their new house “ am Argel ” in the Bäuert Zwischenbach in the community of Därstetten. This Messerli masterpiece is also one of the most valuable architectural monuments in the canton of Bern.

Linden tree (1766)

When on the night of April 23rd to 24th, 1765 " in the middle of the schoolhouse that stood in the village of Erlenbach and was inhabited by evolved households, ignorant of how the fire [...]" broke out, 14 houses and 9 barns burned down, 26 families lost their homes. When the village was rebuilt in 1766, Messerli was among the many craftsmen.

The "Linde" in Erlenbach im Simmental, 1766 by Hans Messerli sen. built.

Only the building inscription of the newly built inn "Linde" bears the inscription with the name Messerlis. In comparison with earlier Messerli buildings, however, at least three of the new houses in the village of Erlenbach can be assigned to the master carpenter. The following houses are attributed to Messerli:

  • the dendrodated (1766) today's "Valley Museum Agensteinhaus", whose builder Jakob Walthard (1711–1792) with his wife Barbara Walthard geb. Karlen used Regez (1718–1802) and her daughter Magdalena Regez [m. Tschabold] (1748–1819)
  • the big house with Ründidach, the captain Johann Rudolf Grünenwald II. (1714–1791) and his wife, Barbara Grünenwald geb. Mani (1721–1781), and only had their family coat of arms and year of birth (but not the name of the builder) provided
  • the building that was built as a schoolhouse in 1777 and is now the post office. The imposing house of long-time Erlenbach chairman Johann Rudolf Grünenwald-Mani is known as the so-called "Vépyhaus" because it was owned by this Hungarian noble family for decades.

Zumstein draws attention to the fact that Hans Messerli junior (1742–1814) was probably there in his father's workshop during the reconstruction in Erlenbach and later, even if his activity as a carpenter has not yet been proven.

Later life and other buildings

In 1757 Anna Elisabeth Messerli, born Teuscher became seriously ill, because when she died on January 18, 1775 in Nidfluh, the pastor Niklaus Eggemann noted that she was "[...] 18 years contract [paralyzed] darniderleger [en]". On March 31, 1775, 56-year-old Hans Messerli married 21-year-old Susanna Klossner (1753–1838) in Därstetten. National venner Jakob Reber I (1747–1824) was one of the godparents of David Messerli I (1777–1777), the carpenter's first child and his second wife, in 1777.

Zumstein calls Landesvenner Jakob Reber the trailblazer Messerli in the Diemtigtal. The new family seat of Jakob Reber and his wife Susanna Reber, born 1774, was dated dendrochronologically. Stucki (1746–1830) - the " Trogmatte " in the village of Diemtigen - attributed to the carpenter Messerli. However, Messerli's first house in the Diemtigtal, verifiably built in writing, remains the " Schürmatte " from 1778 in the Bäuert Schwenden.

The commissioned by the married couple Jakob Reber-Stucki and Margaretha Stucki geb. Mani (1716–1791) “ Trogmattenscheune ” built in 1779 bears the inscription “ Hans Messerli, Zimmer Meister ”.

At the ancestral home of Lieutenant Peter Joneli II. (1735–1813) and his wife Magdalena Joneli born. Ueltschi (c. 1730–1799) is the building inscription from 1780: “ Initially Jacob Gobeli M [eister] w [a] r Hans Messerli even improved ”. In the last quarter of the 18th century, the large one, in Nidfluh above Därstetten for Martin Lehnherr (c. 1692–1770) and Magdalena Lehnherr, nee. Ueltschi (1680–1749) built house. The extension is attributed to master carpenter Hans Messerli.

The house “ am Underberg ” in the Bäuert Entschwil, 1791 on behalf of Jakob Stucki (1734–1806) and Anna Maria Stucki geb. Hiltbrand (1730-1820) built, also bears the inscription Messerli.

In 1797 Johannes Regez senior (1764–1822) and Susanna Katharina Regez born. Ueltschi (1766–1818) built a stately barn in the " Haslematte " in the Bäuert Berg, Reichenbach and Hasle in Därstetten. The Fraktur inscription on it reads: “ L [assen] B [auen] Joh [annes] Regez v [= u (nd)] S [usanna] C [atharina] Ü [ltschi] 1797 / Z [always] M [eister] H [ans] M [esserli] was 77 years old Jitz is the one, / 285. First I build up. "

Master carpenter Hans Messerli senior died on April 21, 1806 in Nidfluh at the age of 87. Widow Susanna Messerli b. In later years Klossner lived with her youngest son, David Messerli II (1782-1858), and his family " in the Stigimaad " near Weissenburgberg , where she died on September 4, 1838 at the age of 84.

literature

  • Heinrich Christoph Affolter: The farmhouses of the canton of Bern. Volume I: The Bernese Oberland. Basel, 1990.
  • Doris Amacher: The Sunday parlor of the “Argel” farmhouse near Därstetten. Inventory and interpretation of an extraordinary decorative painting. [Licentiate thesis]. Bern, 1996.
  • Preservation of monuments in the canton of Bern, farmhouse research: building inventories Därstetten (2006), Erlenbach im Simmental (2003), Oberwil im Simmental (2007).
  • Alfred von Känel: Carpentry and house painting in the Simmental and Saanenland. Bern, 1976.
  • Hermann Rennefahrt: The legal sources of the canton of Bern , first part: City rights , sixth volume, second half: The city rights of Bern VI: State and Church , Collection of Swiss Legal Sources, Section II (Aarau: Sauerländer, 1961), 841, 875.
  • Christian Rubi: The Simmental farmhouse. Bern, 1980.
  • Verena Stähli-Lüthi. The church of Erlenbach iS: its history and its wall paintings. Bern, 1979.
  • Agensteinhaus Foundation and Valley Museum, with the support of the Monument Preservation of the Canton of Bern, publisher Text: Adeline Zumstein. Hans Messerli (1718–1806) and Simmental carpentry in the 18th century. Wimmis, 2012.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Since he was baptized on January 1, 1719 in the Reformed Church of Därstetten, it can be assumed that he was born in the second half of December 1718 (State Archives Bern [StAB], Tauf-, Ehe- und Totenrodel Därstetten, K Därstetten 2, Bd. B, p. 126). New church regulations in the old republic of Bern required that a child born in the city had to be baptized within eight days and a child born in the rural regions had to be baptized within 14 days (Rennefahrt, 841, 875). The church junk from Därstetten has existed since 1591 (see Rubi, 66).
  2. ↑ StAB, Totenrodel Därstetten, K Därstetten 9, Vol. C, p. 51.
  3. ^ A objects BE 2018 . Swiss inventory of cultural assets of national importance. In: babs.admin.ch / kulturgueterschutz.ch. Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP - Department of Cultural Property Protection, January 1, 2018, accessed on December 26, 2017 (PDF; 212 kB, 47 pages, updated annually, the changes for 2018 are marked in blue).
  4. ↑ Grandfather Hans Messerli, along with Stephan Mettler, Niklaus Frey, Anton Abbühl and Michael Bähler, was mentioned in 1693 as builders in the Antiqua inscription of the house built by the builder Jakob Ueltschi in the Bäuert Balzenberg.
  5. ↑ Foundation and Talmuseum Agensteinhaus, with support from the monuments of the Canton of Bern, Ed .: Hans Messerli (1718-1806) and the Simmental Zimmermann art in the 18th century, Text: Adeline Zumstein [Agensteinhaus / Zumstein], Wimmis, 2012, 6-7 .
  6. ↑ SCC, marriage toboggan Zweisimmen, Zweisimmen K 5, Vol. V, p 313. At the same time, have Matthias Durian and Barbara Ziörjen both married for the Bäuert Mannried in Zweisimmen. Anna Elisabeth Messerli b. Teuscher was the youngest child of the seven daughters and four sons of the schoolmaster Johannes Teuscher and Anna Teuscher nee. Jutzeler († 1746).
  7. ↑ The alleged baptism of a second son in 1752 cannot be proven (cf. Rubi, 66).
  8. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 12.
  9. ↑ Anna Joneli is mistakenly referred to as the “only child” of the national venner (Rubi, 69). Her three siblings died in childhood: Margaretha Joneli (1745–1752), Jakob Joneli jun. (1748–1750) and Elsbeth Joneli (1755–1757).
  10. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 14.
  11. ^ Affolter, Heinrich Christoph: The farmhouses of the canton of Bern. Volume I: Das Berner Oberland [Affolter] (Basel, 1990), 391, and 587, note 576.
  12. ↑ The text of the inscription copied here corresponds exactly to the saying as it can be read on the threshold of the floor (probably since the Restoration in 1971) (in contrast to the two different copies in Affolter, 512 and 587, note 576; a different version in the building inventory of the municipality of Oberwil im Simmental, Büel, No. 201, which was apparently taken over from the municipality's website; and another version from Rubi, 83).
  13. ↑ Affolter: 391, 515. As early as 1737, Stefan Allenbach signed the room painting in Bodenhaus No. 1429 in Adelboden (Affolter, 452-453). Despite the uniqueness that the inscription of the participation of two painters in the large Messerli building in Oberwil iS is documented, only the name of Stefan Allenbach is mentioned on the board of the Simmentaler Hausweg, which is attached to the “Vennerhaus”. There is no evidence of a painter named Christoph Allenbach (see Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 14).
  14. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 17-18. In 1760 - the same year the room painting was carried out in the new " Argel " house - Salome Mani married Dragoons Johannes Rebmann (1730–1784) from Schwenden in the Diemtigtal . He comes from one of the most important cattle breeding dynasties in the Bernese Oberland . They have known each other since childhood, as his grandmother was a sister of the father of the Argel sisters. Already in 1752 Johannes Rebmann belongs together with his brother and sister-in-law - Jakob Rebmann senior (1728–1783) and Margaretha Rebmann geb. Regez (* 1726) - to the owner of the farmhouse (and later inn) " Thiermatti " in Schwenden. Jakob Rebmann-Regez is the godchild of Anna Barbara Knutti born. Kübli (1707–1791), one of the founders of the magnificent "Knuttihaus" z'Moos .
  15. ^ Rubi, 66f.
  16. ↑ Stähli-Lüthi, Verena: The Church of Erlenbach iS: Your story and its wall paintings. Published by the Historical Association of the Canton of Bern and the Parish Erlenbach im Simmental (Bern, 1979), 74.
  17. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 19-20. The new "Linde" was built by Magdalena Schneider geb. Massard (1716–1789), widow of Jakob Schneider III. (1719–1756), “[…] and their 4 children ”, i. e., Magdalena Schneider (1740–1806), Susanna Schneider [m. Eschler] (1743–1799), Anna Schneider [m. Reber] (1752–1824) and Jakob Schneider V. (1753–1820), as well as the “master builder” couple, Jakob Walthard (1724–1784) with his wife Susanna Walthard geb. Im Obersteg (1733-1818).
  18. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 21-23.
  19. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 19, 35 37-41, 46.
  20. ↑ rod dead Rodel därstetten, K därstetten 9, Vol. C, pp 17, no. 1,.
  21. ↑ StAB, Eherodel Därstetten, K Därstetten 7, Vol. C, p. 9, No. 3.
  22. ↑ Messerli's second wife was the eldest child and first daughter of David Klossner I (1719–1779) and Margaretha Klossner nee. von Allmen (1714–1808) born in Nidfluh. It comes from a branch of the Diemtiger family that has been living in the Bäuert Bächlen in the Diemtigtal since 1692. It is not known whether Susanna Klossner took care of Messerli's first wife.
  23. ↑ SCC, Taufrodel Därstetten, K Därstetten 3, Vol. C, p. 67, No. 14 David Messerli II. (1782 to 1858) was her second son (Rubi, 66).
  24. ↑ Agensteinaus / Zumstein, 24.
  25. ↑ The builder of the double house in the " Schürmatte " was Peter Heimann (1699–1781) and Barbara Heimann nee. Schläppi (* 1717) and her daughter, Margaretha Regez geb. Heimann (1748–1829), and son-in-law, Johannes Regez (1754–1818).
  26. ↑ Reber's mother-in-law, Margaretha Stucki, born. Mani (1716–1791), daughter of Christian Mani I (1686–1759), who lived in Schwenden in the Diemtigtal, and Margaretha Mani born. Werren was the widow of Johannes Stucki (1703-1770) from Entschwil in the Diemtigtal.
  27. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 26.
  28. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 33.
  29. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 34.
  30. ↑ Agensteinhaus / Zumstein, 30.
  31. ↑ Zumstein states: “The fact that Hans Messerli was mathematically 79 and not only 77 years old in 1797 (born at the end of December 1718, baptized January 1, 1719) can be explained by the possible time difference between the notches the inscription in the prepared tied wood and explain the effective erection of the construction. Hans Messerli's motivation to leave the information in a remote barn of all places also remains uncertain ”. (Agensteinhus / Zumstein, 36.)
  32. ^ StAB, Därstetten Totenregister, K Därstetten 9, Vol. C, p. 51. Messerli was buried in Därstetten on April 24, 1806.
  33. ^ StAB, Därstetten death register, K Därstetten 9, vol. C, p. 85, no. 14.

Web links

Commons : Works by Hans Messerli  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Messerli, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss builder
DATE OF BIRTH December 1718
PLACE OF BIRTH Därstetten
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 1806
Place of death Nidfluh BE