Johann Heinrich Waser (statistician)

Johann Heinrich Waser the statistician, from JR Holzhalb to Brunschweiler

Johann Heinrich Waser also Heinrich Waser (born April 1, 1742 in Zurich ; † executed May 27, 1780 there ) was a Swiss pastor , statistician , economist and enlightener .

His execution by the Zurich authorities for the publication of allegedly secret statistics was viewed as a judicial scandal in Europe . Waser's writings are now among the foundations of statistics . They also contain valuable research material on the socioculture of old Switzerland.

Life

Johann Heinrich Waser was born on April 1, 1742 as the son of a wealthy Zurich baker family. Already in school he showed particular inclinations towards mathematics , physics and history . He has been described as being quick-tempered and having a tendency to tease and sneer.

Despite temporary doubts, Waser decided to study theology . He received ordination on November 9, 1764 . On April 5, 1770 he was elected pastor of the branch to the cross, which included the quarters of Hottingen , Hirslanden and Riesbach .

During the hunger period of 1770/71 Waser stood up for impoverished parishioners and used considerable sums of his own fortune to do so. Waser got into a dispute with the superiors and the bailiffs because of the denunciation of financial irregularities of the parishioners, which led to a process. Waser could not prove the alleged embezzlement in the process and was suspended from parish service on February 14, 1774. An application to emigrate to Austria was rejected.

Waser was already busy working out and compiling statistics at the Kreuz branch office during his tenure. This activity, and in particular publications, such as the population statistics of Bern or the currency in circulation, were not welcomed by the Zurich authorities. Waser was considered a number juggler with a petty, aggressive and opinionated character. Another weakness was his propensity for “scholar theft,” which is understood to be book theft.

Trial and Execution

In 1780 Waser was arrested because he had passed on figures and a documentation with the title “Swiss blood and Franz money, politically weighed against each other” to Göttingen . A house search found a document from the state archive and stolen books from Zurich libraries, some of which Waser had torn out pages and sections.

This was followed by charges of a committed and a presumably intended press offense , the theft, appropriation and destruction of documents. The clumsy defense made things more difficult, as did Waser's statement that he saw no obligation to the authorities and the fatherland. Attempts were also made to convict him of the so-called communion poisoning on Prayer Day in 1776, but this did not succeed. With a majority of twelve to eight, Waser was condemned to the scaffold for the proven betrayal of secrets . He was executed on May 27, 1780. Johann Kaspar Lavater preached the day after the execution on the subject of scientific arrogance .

Waser's execution was controversial in Zurich. In the enlightened Europe surrounding Switzerland this so-called water trade was noted with horror. Publications on this judicial scandal continued well into the following century.

Fonts

• Treatise on the size of the whole Lobl. Eydgenossenschaft in general and the Canton of Zurich in particular. Without a printer and without a place, 1775
• Considerations about the Zurich houses, primarily with the intention of the fire coffers and citizen protocol. Without printer and place, 1778
• Treatise on Money. Orell, Gessner, Fuesslin and Compagnie, Zurich 1778
• Historically diplomatic year book. Orell, Gessner, Fuesslin and Compagnie, Zurich 1779

literature

• Johann Konrad Werdmüller-Ott: Brief description of the peculiarities of the eighteenth century in our fatherland . Caspar Näf, Zurich 1802, p. 259–267 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
• Abraham Urner: Some additions to the history of the pastor Johann Heinrich Waser of Zurich . In: Archive for Swiss History 9 (1853), pp. 261–275 ( doi : 10.5169 / seals-10645 )
• Emil Anderegg: Johann Heinrich Waser - his life and work. A contribution to the history of the economy of the city of Zurich in the second half of the 18th century . Gutzwiller, Zurich 1932.
• Arthur Vogt: Heinrich Waser as an economist, statistician and pioneer of the insurance industry on his 250th birthday . In: Swiss Journal for Economics and Statistics 128 (1992), No. 1, pp. [69] -81
• Reto Weiss: Waser, Johann Heinrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Gerold Meyer von Knonau :  Waser, Johann Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 220-227.
• Werner G. Zimmermann:  Heinrich Waser in an article about Christof Heinrich Müller. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , p. 350 f. ( Digitized version ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rolf Graber: The Waser trade. Analysis of a socio-political conflict in the Old Confederation. In: Swiss Journal for History 30 (1980), pp. 321–356 ( digitized version ).