Jakob Sarasin

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Franz Feierabend (1755–1800): “The blind pepper of Colmar” and “Judge Jacob Sarasin of Basel”

Jakob Sarasin-Battier (born January 26, 1742 in Basel ; † September 10, 1802 there ) was a silk ribbon manufacturer who appeared as patrons and writers during the Enlightenment . The White House in Basel, which he built and lived in, was a cultural meeting place.

Life

Handwritten poem by Sarasin on the funeral of his granddaughter Gritly, 1801

Jakob Sarasin was the son of the silk ribbon manufacturer Hans Franz Sarasin (1695–1746) and Susanna Katharina Fracht, sister of the Basel entrepreneur Lukas Fracht . From 1752 he was trained as a merchant in Mulhouse, Neuchâtel and Augsburg, and as early as 1754 he was a partner in the silk ribbon factory, which was continued after the death of his brother Lukas Sarasin . In 1761 he went on an educational trip to Italy, in 1770 he married the merchant's daughter Gertrud Battier. From 1762–1769 he had Samuel Werenfels build the White House (formerly Wendelstörferhof ), which is still an architectural landmark of Basel today.

For decades, Sarasin maintained acquaintances and friendships with numerous representatives of the Enlightenment and the Sturm und Drang , who visited him frequently or corresponded intensively with him: Wilhelm Heinse , Isaak Iselin , Johann Georg Jacobi , Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling , Christoph Kaufmann , Friedrich Maximilian Klinger , Sophie von La Roche , Johann Caspar Lavater , Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz , Franz Christian Lerse (Franz Lersé; 1749–1800), Johann Heinrich Merck , Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel , Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi , Johann Konrad Pfenninger , Heinrich von Prussia , Johann Georg Schlosser . Sarasin, who for a short time had been brought up according to Moravian principles, had a broad religious interest. He was a member of the consistory of the French Church, took part in Lavater's theological work and wrote an eulogy for Mahomet, his paradise and his Koran . Sarasin supported the alchemist Alessandro Cagliostro , who had cared for his wife in 1781 during an illness. The closeness to Cagliostro and the spiritualistic interests were expressed in the opening of an “Egyptian Lodge” in the White House . Sarasin appeared with literary works as well as with economic, educational and other treatises and speeches. Together with Lavater and Klinger, in July 1780 he wrote the first chapter of Plimplamplasko , a satire on Kaufmann and the cult of the original genius .

Sarasin took part in public life and was and socially active. He joined the Helvetic Society in 1774 (elected president in 1794), and together with Isaak Iselin, he founded the Society for the Good and Charitable Basel in 1777 (elected president in 1786). In addition to his work as an appeal judge, he was a member of the Grand Council from 1788 and, as a result of his enlightenment commitment at the beginning of the Helvetic Republic in 1798, represented the rural cantons in the revolutionary Basel National Assembly .

Works

Jakob Sarasin's written testimonies (letters, literary works, treatises) are largely unpublished. They are located as part of Sarasin's private archive in the Basel-Stadt State Archive (signature PA 212a F )

literature

Web links

Commons : Jakob Sarasin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Historical Family Lexicon of Switzerland - Persons. Retrieved December 3, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Sarasin, Jakob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sarasin-Battier, Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Basel silk ribbon manufacturer and representative of the Enlightenment
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1742
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1802
Place of death Basel