Jakob Stutz

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Jakob Stutz
Jakob Stutz's birthplace in Isikon

Jakob Stutz (born November 27, 1801 in Isikon near Hittnau , canton Zurich ; † May 14, 1877 in Bettswil near Bäretswil , canton Zurich) was a Swiss writer and “folk poet”. His work is the first source of social history and folklore in the Zurich Oberland .

Life

Stutz came from a wealthy family. His father was a farmer and textile entrepreneur. After the death of his parents (1813) and the loss of his property, he was forced to earn his living as a shepherd , servant and weaver .

In 1827 he managed to get a job as a teacher at the school for the blind in Zurich . There he developed a new teaching method that led the students from “automatic memorization” to reading and memorizing it, with which he was able to increase the learning efficiency of his students several times. He had to give up this position in 1836, "because his homosexual tendencies got him into trouble". He then worked as a teacher at a private school in Schwellbrunn ( Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden ). In 1841, however, he was sentenced to three months in prison for his homosexuality and then expelled from the canton. He then withdrew to a hermitage near Sternenberg (Canton Zurich).

In the following fifteen years, Stutz devoted himself to writing. His extensive work gives an authentic impression of the living conditions and the language of the Zurich rural population in his time. He was the publisher of a monthly magazine ( Ernste und cheery pictures from the life of our people , 1850–52) and was committed to popular education by founding reading clubs and building a lending library.

In 1856, Stutz was again convicted of homosexual offenses in Pfäffikon and sentenced to three years expulsion from the canton. He then went on a ten-year wandering, during which he hired himself as a day laborer and occasional poet of folk plays for amateur stages. In 1867 a niece granted him accommodation in Bettswil. He lived there until his death in 1877.

Jakob Stutz's estate with material on the work, memoirs, lectures and diaries is in the manuscript department of the Zurich Central Library .

Works (selection)

  • Paintings from folk life, taken from nature and faithfully depicted in rhyming conversations in the Zurich dialect . Six volumes. Schulthess, Zurich 1831–53.
  • Letters and songs from popular life . St. Gallen 1839.
  • To perform patriotic plays in celebration of folk and youth festivals for children and adults in the open air. From the author of the folk paintings . St. Gallen 1842.
  • Liese and Salome, the two weaver girls. A story from folk life . Meyer and Zeller, Zurich 1847.
  • Poor Jacob and rich Anna or "What God has put together, man should not part". Tale from popular life . J. H. Locher, Zurich (around 1848).
  • Seven times seven years from my life. As a contribution to a closer knowledge of the people . Five volumes. Zwingli, Pfäffikon 1853–55.
    • last new edition: Huber, Frauenfeld 1983; 2nd edition 2001 with a foreword, ISBN 3-7193-1264-X .
  • The lost son or the robbers in the Black Forest . Play in four acts. Glarus 1861.
  • How stepchildren get rid of their wicked stepmother. Based on a true story . Comedy in four acts in Zurich dialect. Glarus 1865.

literature

  • Franz Brümmer :  Stutz, Jakob . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 37, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, p. 80 f.
  • Otto Schaufelberger : The sun is finally rising. Wonderful, happy and sad youthful experiences of the folk poet Jakob Stutz based on his autobiography "Seven times seven years from my life" . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1962.
  • Jakob Zollinger: In the footsteps of Jakob Stutz . Wetzikon 1977.
  • Ursula Brunold-Bigler: Jakob Stutz 'autobiography "Seven times seven years from my life" as a source of popular reading material in the 19th century. In: Swiss Archives for Folklore, Vol. 75 (1979), pp. 28–42.
  • Jakob Stutz (1801–1877). Zurich Oberland folk poet and contemporary witness . Contributions and appreciations, ed. from the Antiquarian Society Pfäffikon. Wetzikon 2001.
  • Dirk Strohmann: Jakob Stutz . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 3, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1773 f.
  • Walter Haas : Stutz, Jakob. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . (2013).

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Jakob Stutz, in: Bibliomedia Swiss Authors (accessed on September 12, 2019).
personal data
SURNAME Stutz, Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Isikon near Hittnau
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1877
Place of death Bettswil near Bäretswil