Johann Martin Usteri
Johann Martin Usteri (born February 14, 1763 in Zurich ; † July 29, 1827 in Rapperswil ) was a Swiss poet , painter and draftsman . He is best known as the author of poetry in Zurich dialect .
Life
Usteri was born in 1763 as the son of the Zurich civil servant Hans Martin Usteri (* 1738). Inspired by studying his father's graphic collection and visiting renowned Zurich artists ( Salomon Gessner , Johann Balthasar Bullinger ), he embarked on a career as an artist. His uncle Heinrich Usteri (1754–1802) and his brother Paulus Usteri also devoted themselves to the art of drawing in addition to the commercial profession. He was also interested in medieval manuscripts, especially the Codex Manesse , which is linked to Zurich , and heraldry . In 1786 he married Johanna Catharina Stockar. He was a member of the Zurich Guild of Waag and a respected member of Zurich's intellectual elite. In 1827 he died in the "Pfauen" inn in Rapperswil.
Artistic work
Johann Martin Usteri created poems, stories and idylls in Zurich dialect, of which The Vicari must be considered the most excellent . These works, created under the influence of Johann Peter Hebel's Alemannic poems , contributed significantly to the recognition of the poet. Usteri's dialect poetry influenced later dialect poets such as Jonas Breitenstein , August Corrodi and Meinrad Lienert . His High German poetry and his drawings, on the other hand, are not given any outstanding value. The text for the well-known melody Rejoice in life became a folk song. Usteri's poems are characterized by patriotic and idyllic folk tones. In his prose works he reveals a remarkable knowledge of medieval culture for his time.
His posthumous seals in verse and prose was David Hess (Berlin 1831, 3 volumes, 3rd ed., Leipzig 1877) out. Hess retrospectively gave their name to the two idylls, which are now considered the most famous works of the poet. From his estate, the novella Love adventures of a Zurich citizen from the lucky ship on the Freischiessen in Strasbourg (Halle 1877) was published. David Hess described the man from Zurich as a romantic .
A large number of drawings and copperplate engravings (historical pictures, idylls and humoresques), executed in delicate outlines like miniatures, have also been preserved.
Usteri's estate with letters, material on the work, agenda and notes is in the manuscript department of the Zurich Central Library .
Works
Poetry
Swiss German
- De Herr Heiri (urban idyll in Zurich dialect), idyll in verse
- De Vikari (rural idyll in Zurich dialect), idyll in verse
- Songs in Swiss dialect
- Twelve nursery rhymes
- Mountain member
- Sennelied
- De in love Rechemeister
- What I would like
- De Pfarrer and s'Breneli
- 's Gredelis Gheimnut
- 's Spinnermaidlis Chlag
- 's arm Elfeli uf de Ysefluh
Standard German
- Struth Winkelried, hero ballad
prose
- The painter, story
- Overnight God bestows narrative
- The erggel in the Steinhus
- Time brings roses
- Thomann zur Linden's adventure at the great shooting in Strasbourg in 1576
- Love adventure of a Zurich citizen from the lucky ship on the free shooting in Strasbourg, novella
- The treasure by the treasure. Biography of Hans Breidbach's Goldschmidt zu Fryburg from the XVI. century
Non-fiction
- Octave booklet with notes and sketches on the stained glass windows in Wettingen Monastery , Graphic Collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich (L 48)
literature
- Anna Katharina Bähler: Johann Martin Usteri. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Ulrich Conrad (ed.): Johann Martin Usteri: The painter. Book publishing house, Zurich 1989.
- Daniel Jacoby: Usteri, Johann Martin . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 39, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1895, pp. 390-396.
- Paul Suter: The Zurich dialect in J. M. Usteris dialect poems. Diss. Univ. Zurich. Zürcher & Furrer, Zurich 1901 (essays edited by the Society for the German Language in Zurich, 7).
- Johann Martin Usteri: Seals. Edited by David Hess. The second edition, second impression. Volume 1-2. Published by Friedrich Schultheß, Zurich 1866.
Web links
- Works by and about Johann Martin Usteri in the German Digital Library
- Works by Johann Martin Usteri in the catalog of the Zurich Central Library
- Estate in the Zurich Central Library
- Paola Wyss-Giacosa: Usteri, Johann Martin. In: Sikart
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Usteri, Johann Martin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss poet, painter and draftsman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 14, 1763 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 29, 1827 |
| Place of death | Rapperswil |