Johann Heinrich Waser (politician)

Johann Heinrich Waser portrait and engraving by Conrad Meyer

Johann Heinrich Waser 1668 medal front and back by Conrad Meyer

Johann Heinrich Waser (born March 25, 1600 in Zurich ; † February 10, 1669 ibid) was a Swiss politician, mayor of Zurich and governor of Kyburg .

Life

Johann Heinrich Waser at the head of the federal delegation at the court of Louis XIV, 1663

Johann Heinrich Waser was the son of the theologian and orientalist Kaspar Waser (* 1565, † 1625) and came from a prominent Zurich family; his brother was the Zurich Antistes Hans Caspar Waser . He could also count among his ancestors Huldrych Zwingli and other theologians and scholars. He owed his political career to this favorable starting position. He began his regimental career, which is typical of old Zurich , as a trainee in the town clerk's office. He then became a junior judge, substitute and representative of the forging guild in the Great Council (Zwölfer) and later city ​​clerk .

From 1646 to 1652 he was the governor of Kyburg . In this office he approved the request of Untervogt Hans Hofmann for the construction of his own church in lakes . The Seemers, who were previously part of the church in Oberwinterthur, then honored him with a memorial stone on the newly built Seen Church . Today the Landvogt-Waser-Strasse and the Quartier Waser are also named after him because of this .

In 1652 Waser was finally elected mayor of his hometown. Two years later he became a member and in 1657 chairman of the Schildner zum Schneggen Society .

His career fell during the Thirty Years' War . During his tenure as mayor, the most important political events were the Peasants' War of 1653 , the so-called Federal Project of 1655 , the first Villmerger War with the siege of Rapperswil in 1656, and the renewal of the controversial alliance between Zurich and Louis XIV of France in 1663.

Waser can be seen as a representative of the traditional politics of Zurich as the evangelical class of the old Confederation. He endeavored to bring about an evangelical alliance at the federal level against the Catholic places and to draw closer to England and the Netherlands in order to be able to work together against the Catholic places united in the Golden Covenant . The Zurich attempt to give up ties with France in favor of an alliance with the Protestant powers England and Holland failed because of economic and religious differences. The old dream of realizing a special union of the evangelical places of the Confederation also remained unfulfilled.

In addition to his political activities, Waser translated confessional treatises and specialist publications on the art of war, described and commented on the political events of his time, and wrote extensive and literarily demanding family history and autobiographical records. These represent a high point in the rich Zurich tradition of the history of the noble families and of one's own biography. In his unpublished autobiography De vita sua he reports on his educational trips to Geneva , Italy , Dordrecht , England and Bohemia and interweaves family and historical events .

various

• Conrad Ferdinand Meyer created a literary monument to Johann Heinrich Waser in his historical novel “ Jürg Jenatsch . A Graubünden story ».
• Johann Heinrich Waser's extensive estate is in the Zurich Central Library and the Zurich State Archives .
• The Wasertaler is a thaler named after Johann Heinrich Waser from 1660. The thaler aroused the indignation of the republican residents of Zurich.

literature

• Norbert Domeisen: Mayor Johann Heinrich Waser (1600–1669) as a politician. A contribution to Swiss history in the 17th century (Spirit and Work of the Times 42) . Lang, Zurich 1975 ( Archived ( Memento of March 31, 2016 on WebCite )).
• Sundar Henny: "The biography as a sign of honor: Johann Heinrich Waser (1600–1669)". In: ders .: Written by the body. The microcosm of Zurich and its self-testimonies in the 17th century , Böhlau, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-412-50289-8 , pp. 157–220.
• Gerold Meyer von Knonau :  Waser, Johann Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 214-220.
• Rudolf Rey: Mayor Johann Heinrich Waser 1600–1669. His career up to entering the civil service . Winterthur 1962.
• Barbara Schmid: A bailiff as a writer: Johann Heinrich Waser (1600–1669) and his books . In: Heimatspiegel: Illustrated supplement to the Zürcher Oberländer, 9 . Zurich 2008.
• Barbara Schmid: The house book as a literary genre. The records of Johann Heinrich Waser (1600–1669) and the Zurich house book tradition . In: Daphnis . tape 34 , no. 3/4 . Rodopi, 2005, ISSN  0300-693X , p. 603-656 ( openurl.ingenta.com ).
• Walter Schmid: Mayor Johann Heinrich Waser and France. A literary and source-critical investigation . In: Zürcher Taschenbuch . Zurich 1947.
• Walter Utzinger: Mayor Johann Heinrich Waser's federal work 1652/1669. A contribution to the history of the second half of the 17th century. With a portrait . Schulthess, Zurich 1903.
• Paul Diebolder: Mayor Johann Heinrich Waser of Zurich and the federal renewal project of 1655 . In: Zuger Neujahrsblatt, ed. from the non-profit association of the Canton of Zug . Zug 1908, p. 3-23 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Norbert Domeisen: life data of Johann Heinrich Waser: * March 25, 1600; † February 10, 1669. ( Memento from June 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Meinrad Suter: Waser, Johann Heinrich. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz , accessed on August 7, 2016 . (born March 25, 1600 Zurich, died February 10, 1669 Zurich)
3. ↑ The bailiff house lakes Rössligasse 11 in Winterthur glossary.
4. ^ Norbert Domeisen: Mayor Johann Heinrich Waser (1600–1669) as a politician. P. 97. ( Memento from March 31, 2016 on WebCite )
5. ↑ Helmut Kahnt: Das große Münzlexikon von A to Z , (2005), p. 518

predecessor	Office	successor
Hans Rudolf Rahn	Mayor of Zurich 1652–1669	Johann Heinrich Rahn