Johannes Merz (poet)

John Merz (* 25. October 1776 in Herisau ; † 16th February 1840 ibid ; heimatberechtigt in Herisau) was a Swiss dialect poet from the canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes .

Life

Johannes Merz was a son of Daniel Merz, bleacher owner and councilor, and Anna Barbara Zuberbühler. In 1801 he married Anna Maria Tanner, daughter of Samuel Tanner, master. In addition to his job as a model engraver , Merz, inspired by Johann Peter Hebel , became the founder of the Appenzell dialect - poetry . In 1826, he published all of Des poetic Appenzeller's poems in his national language . The poems Merz in Herisauer dialect describe Appenzell and city Santa Gallic subjects, partly in hexameter . This work was published in 1836 in the third, greatly expanded edition with illustrations. Merz's lyrical work received widespread attention, not least in Germanist circles, who first became familiar with the Appenzell dialect through his work. Merz is also the author of a list of houses in Herisau, published in 1822, and a local dictionary of the canton of Appenzell, which was published in 1829.

literature

• Stefan Sonderegger: The Appenzell dialect in the past and present. In: Appenzellische Jahrbücher, Volume 114/1986 (1987), pp. 3-69, especially pp. 14-25. Web access via e-periodica.ch.

Web links

• Thomas Fuchs: Johannes Merz. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . October 31, 2008 , accessed June 25, 2020 .

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