Jakob Senn

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Jakob Senn

Jakob Senn (born March 20, 1824 in Fischenthal , Canton of Zurich ; † March 2, 1879 in Zurich ) was a Swiss writer . His work is a source of social history and folklore in the Zurich Oberland .

Life

Senn was born as the third of six children in the hamlet of Ennetlenzen near Steg in the Fischenthal community. The parents Hans Jakob Senn (1792–1865) and Anna (1897–1837), née Diener, ran a small farm with home weaving . After five school years, Jakob worked in his parents' company, mainly as a weaver, but continued his self-didactic training, u. a. with works by Homer , Klopstock , Goethe , Gotthelf , Uhland ; he also learned Latin and French.

After his first attempts at poetry, in 1847 he joined the circle of friends of the folk poet Jakob Stutz . In the autobiographical novel Hans Grünauer , Senn described the relationship with his mentor and his development as a writer. His brother Heinrich Senn (1827–1915), who documented their close relationship in diaries , also belonged to the circle of friends .

In 1856, through the mediation of Fischenthal he pastor Johann Heinrich Müller, Senn became an assistant in Johann Jakob Siegfried's antiquarian bookshop in Zurich. In 1862 he left the antiquarian bookshop, worked as a freelance writer in Zurich and published the magazine Grüne Wälder . In the same year his son August Brandenberger, born from a relationship with Anna Brandenberger (* 1843), was born. In 1863 Senn wrote the novel Hans Grünauer, which appeared posthumously in 1888 under the title Ein Kind des Volkes . The title deliberately alluded to the Green Heinrich von Gottfried Keller , to whom he had sent a part for assessment. In 1864 he wrote his Chelläländer-Schtückli for the Swiss Idiotikon, founded the year before , so that it could be used as a source for the Oberland Zurich German .

In 1864 he married Anna Brandenberger. The couple moved to St. Gallen , where they took over the Zum Zeughaus inn . In 1868 Senn sold the inn and emigrated to Uruguay with his wife . He worked in Montevideo and the surrounding area in various professions, wrote and translated English, French and Spanish texts. In 1879 Senn returned to Switzerland alone, where he was to open an emigration office on behalf of the Uruguayan government. However, he did not receive the promised money, got into trouble and suffered increasing mental health problems. On March 2nd he left a friend's apartment; on March 5th, his body was recovered from the Limmat .

Works (selection)

  • Hans Grünauer, published under the title Ein Kind des Volkes. Rud. Jennis Buchhandlung, Bern 1888. New edition: Limmat Verlag , Zurich 2006. With an afterword by Matthias Peter.
  • Pictures and reports from Züri. I der Muetersprach gschilderet from the Zurich bidder. Siegfried, Zurich 1858.
  • Chelläländer-Schtückli from different types, cut and served by Häiri Häiche Häiche Häiggels Haier. Zurich 1864.
  • The most interesting crime stories from old and new times. Altwegg-Weber zur Treuburg's literary publishing office, St. Gallen 1865.
  • Mayor Hans Waldmann's life and outcome. Sonderegger, St. Gallen 1865.
  • From the silver stream. Poetic picture book. Zurich 1879.

literature

  • Zita Motschi: Jakob Senn. In: Helvetic profiles. Artemis Verlag, Zurich and Munich 1981.
  • Heinz Lippuner: Hans Grünauer - A child of the people? Jakob Senn's novel of life. Paul Haupt, Bern 1985.
  • Matthias Peter: The Fischingen Monastery in the writings of the Zurich Oberland folk writers Jakob and Heinrich Senn. In: Thurgauer Jahrbuch , Vol. 74, 1999, pp. 83-98 ( e-periodica.ch ).
  • Matthias Peter: Jakob and Heinrich Senn - images of Switzerland from the 19th century. Publishing house NZZ, Zurich 2004.

swell

  1. ^ Matthias Peter: The folk poet Jakob Senn (1824–1879) . In: Hans Grünauer. Limmat Verlag, Zurich 2004.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Senner, Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH Fischenthal
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1879
Place of death Zurich