Helvetic hudibras
The Helvetic Hudibras was one of the first newspapers in the Swiss canton of Solothurn . It was published from 1797 by Franz Josef Gassmann in Solothurn as the successor to his Solothurn weekly newspaper, which was discontinued at the end of 1794 ; In the meantime Solothurn did not have its own newspaper. The first issue appeared on June 23, 1797. Like the “Wochenblatt”, the “Hudibras” appeared weekly on Saturdays. The comic epic Hudibras by Samuel Butler served as inspiration for the title, which treats people and views of English Puritanism in a satirical way. This gave Gassmann the nickname "Hudibras" in the Solothurn vernacular .
In contrast to the “Solothurnerisches Wochenblatt”, the “Hudibras” was also increasingly devoted to political issues. Gassmann addressed the terms "freedom" and "equality", albeit in a very cautious way initially, by defining equality as the equality of subjects and writing of "freedom" in connection with the fact that no one should be prevented from living virtuously . Rudolf Baumann suspects in his publication on the Solothurn printing and newspaper industry up to 1848 that Gassmann "only gave the words this cautious interpretation in order to be able to speak of freedom and equality at all." State censorship still made it impossible to freely express one's opinion.
After February 3, 1798, the «Helvetische Hudibras» ceased its publication temporarily. The French invasion had begun and Napoleon's troops advanced on Switzerland. When General Schauenburg approached Solothurn, the Solothurn authorities supported an uprising against "friends of the French". Forty "traitors" were thrown into prison on the pretext of protecting them from the anger of the people, including Gassmann. On March 2nd they were liberated by the French and Gassmann had the "Hudibras" appear again from March 10th. Now free of censorship, Gassmann praised the freedom that had been achieved "in full tones" and from April added "Freedom and Equality" to the title. He tried to bring his readers closer to the fact of the abolition of aristocratic special rights, explained the constitution of the Helvetic Republic and informed about laws and resolutions passed. The French troop movements in Switzerland were often discussed.
The «Helvetische Hudibras» suddenly stopped its publication with the number of August 11, 1798. In the last issue there was a post with a reference to “To be continued”. Gassmann later wrote in a letter that the paper had perished “in the storm of the times”.
literature
- Rudolf Baumann: A contribution to the history of the Solothurn book printing and the Solothurn newspapers up to the year 1848. Balsthal 1909.