Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis

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Portrait of Johann Gaudenz Freiherr von Salis-Seewis

Johann Gaudenz Freiherr von Salis-Seewis (born December 26, 1762 at Bothmar Castle near Malans , † January 29, 1834 there ) was a Swiss poet .

Life

Salis-Seewis came from the noble family of those von Salis . His parents were Landammann Johann Ulrich Freiherr von Salis-Seewis (1740-1815) and Freiin Jakobea (1741-1791, née Bothmar). Between 1779 and 1789 he, who was one of Marie Antoinette's favorites , served as an officer in the Swiss Guard of the French king in Paris until the French Revolution led him to leave. In the next year he went on a trip through the Netherlands and Germany (including Weimar ), on which he met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Johann Gottfried Herder , Friedrich von Schiller , Christoph Martin Wieland and Friedrich von Matthisson . He was particularly close friends with the latter. The poet colleagues from Sturm und Drang and Senssamkeit called him the “Bündner Nachtigall”.

In 1791 his mother passed away. In 1793 he returned to Switzerland, married the 22-year-old Ursina Pestalozzi and joined the local council of his home town of Malans. In the next few years he was actively involved in the political changes in his home country, and in 1798 he firmly advocated the annexation of the Three Leagues to the new Helvetic Republic proclaimed by France . After the area was occupied by Austria in the following year, Johann Gaudenz and his family had to flee to Zurich. Here he was appointed inspector general of the Swiss troops. This activity earned him the ambiguous name "Dichtergeneral", because as a Helvetian inspector general he was not lucky enough. So some time later he went to Bern and got a job at the Court of Cassation. The mediation act of 1803 enabled him to return to the newly founded canton of Graubünden . There he held several state offices until 1817 and then resigned as a federal colonel. His father had died two years earlier. He lived secluded in Malans until his death in 1834.

Monuments

In Seewis in Prättigau , a memorial stone with the words "Singer of the homeland, servant of the people" has been commemorating him since 1962 . There was the castle of his ancestors. However, the family had moved to Malans in the castle he had inherited from his mother before he was born.

In Chur there is a monument in honor of Johann Gaudenz von Salis in the city ​​garden .

Artistic creation

Bust of Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis

His poetic work is reminiscent of that of his friend Matthisson in many ways. Both have a tendency to melancholy and primarily depict events from the areas of nature and home. However, according to critics, Salis-Seewis' poems are characterized by more masculinity, freshness, folklore, and deeper and truer yearning, and his elegies always have a firm and decisive basis. Impressed by the ideas of the French Revolution, he was a progressive advocate of human rights and broke away from the conservative, oligarchic tradition of his family, which had ruled the Three Leagues unchallenged for decades.

Franz Schubert set many poems by Salis-Seewis such as Farewell to the Harp , Das Grab or Zum Rundtanz . The autumn song, written in 1782, also by Schubert and also by Johann Friedrich Reichardt in 1799, is now a folk song and is the most famous work of the poet under the title “ Colorful are the forests ” .

literature

  • Rémy Charbon:  Salis-Seewis, Johann Gaudenz Gubert Graf von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 375 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Christian Erni: “From Paris to Weimar. Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis in the French Revolution on vacation trip to Weimar 1789 - 1790 ”. In: Yearbook of the Historical Society of Graubünden. 1995.
  • Adolf FreySalis-Seewis, Johann Gaudenz Graf von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 30, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 245-248.
  • Rose Friedmann: The changes in the poems of Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis , Zurich 1917 (also Univ. Diss., Zurich).
  • Hans Peter Gansner: The poet-general. A dramatic biography of J. G. von Salis-Seewis. With an essay by the author on J. G. von Salis-Seewis and Ferdinand Freiligrath as well as some follow-up remarks. Calven, Chur 2003, ISBN 3-905261-27-8 .
  • Felix Humm (ed.): Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis and Johann Heinrich Füßli in their letters . Huber, Bern a. a. 1976.
  • Emil Jenal: Johann Gaudenz v. Salis-Seewis and the federal rebirth . Schuler, Chur 1924.
  • Alfred Rufer: Johann Gaudenz v. Salis – Seewis as Bündner Patriot and Helvetic General Staff . Bischofberger, Chur 1938.
  • Johann Ulrich Schlegel: The relationship between Johann Gaudenz von Salis and Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenberg . Juris, Zurich 1976, ISBN 3-260-04126-5 .
  • Walter Zindel-Kuoni: Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis. Landscape of his songs and history of his time . Desertina, Chur 2006, ISBN 978-3-85637-328-3 .
  • Bündner Kalender 2010, pp. 141–143.
  • Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis: The Autumn Night (April 1816) . In: Andrea Wüstner (Ed.): The clouds. Poems . Reclam, Ditzingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-15-019190-3 .
  • Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis: The church in early spring . In: Hans Peter Buohler (Ed.): It already smells of violets. Poems for early spring. Reclam, Ditzingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-15-010978-6 .

Web links

Commons : Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis  - Collection of images, videos and audio files