Jonas Breitenstein

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Jonas Breitenstein

Jonas Breitenstein (born August 22, 1828 in Ziefen , † May 23, 1877 in Basel ) was a Swiss pastor , poor worker and writer . He is the pioneer of Baselbiet dialect literature, but also published short stories in Standard German and is one of the most important Swiss representatives of poetic realism .

Life

Jonas Breitenstein (1828–1877) pastor, poor worker, poet, writer. Grave in the Sankt Margarethen cemetery (north) in Binningen
Grave in the Sankt Margarethen (North) cemetery in Binningen

Jonas Breitenstein attended primary school in Ziefen with his father Hans Heinrich Breitenstein, who also worked as a wood turner , and then the district school in Liestal . In 1846 he transferred to the « Pädagogium » in Basel, where two years later he passed the Matura as «Primus omnium» (best of his year). From 1848 to 1852 he studied theology with his friend Martin Grieder in Basel (among others with Karl Rudolf Hagenbach ) and in Göttingen with Friedrich Lücke . In 1852 he was admitted to the parish office.

From 1852 to 1870 he worked as a pastor in the parish of Binningen - Bottmingen at the St. Margarethenkirche . During this time he founded the local women's association and a toddler school . In addition, he was involved in the poor education association and its institution in Augst and worked as an inspector of the district schools in the canton of Basel-Landschaft . From 1870 until his death in 1877 he was a full-time secretary of the newly created Voluntary Poor Care in Basel, a privately organized forerunner of state welfare. In addition to this new role as a “friend and father of the poor” (border post), he also worked as a religion teacher at the grammar school and as an assistant preacher. In 1872/73 he became a member of the academic guild and honorary member of the church council of Basel-Stadt.

Jonas Breitenstein was married to Theresia Tschopp from Ziefen. The couple had eight children, including the painter Ernst Breitenstein (1857–1929). He was buried in the Kannenfeld cemetery in Basel; after its abolition, his bones were transferred to Binningen.

Literary work

Jonas Breitenstein already wrote poems in High German and dialect as a district school student and - encouraged by his teacher Wilhelm Wackernagel - as a high school student. In addition to the poems by Wackernagel, the works of Johann Peter Hebel were particularly exemplary . This can also be seen in the fact that Breitenstein, based on Lever's Allemannische Gedichte, headed a booklet with poems from the years 1846–1854 with "Jurassic blossoms or an attempt at new allemannic poems". At the same time, when choosing the title, Breitenstein was referring to the volume of poems 'Alpenblüthen', which the lawyer Jakob Peter Gameter from the Emmental had published in Bern in 1823.

In 1860 he published stories and pictures from the Basel area under the pseudonym B. T. Jonas (formed from the first name and the first letter of the alliance name) . The impetus for this debut was the story Hans Jakob und Heiri, the two silk weavers by Jeremias Gotthelf , published in 1851 , which played in the Basel area , but, to the displeasure of Breitenstein, was interspersed with Bernese dialect and customs. The title, too, unmistakably refers to Gotthelf, namely to his five-volume anthology Stories and Pictures from Popular Life in Switzerland, which was published between 1850 and 1855 . The next book publications followed the dialect idylls Der Her Ehrli. An idyll from Basel and the Basel area in the allemannish dialect (1863) and 'S Vreneli us der Bluemmatt. An idyll from the Basel area in the allemannish dialect (1864), the first two independent publications in the Baselbiet dialect at all. In both works, Breitenstein uses freely handled hexameters in succession to Klopstock ; those in the narrative passages are written in Oberbaselbieter dialect, while in the dialogues Stadtbasler and Landschäftler dialect alternate virtuously. The models were the idylls of Hebels, to whom Breitenstein again pays tribute with the subtitle "in allemannischer dialect", but also those of the once much-read Zurich Johann Martin Usteri (De Herr Heiri. Urban idyll in Zurich dialect) and August Corrodi ( De Herr Professer . Idyll from the Züribiet , De Herr Vikari. Winteridyll usem Züripiet [both 1858] and De Herr Dokter. Herbstidyll usem Züripiet [1860]). In 1868, Breitenstein published his last publication, the High German story Jakob, der Glücksschmied . "If the general character of this story is reminiscent of Gotthelf, the style again has a lot of lever and Wackernagel" ( Adolf Socin ). More stories by Breitenstein appeared in the magazine he published from 1860 to 1866 for women's clubs, for which he also wrote factual articles, and from 1860 in the youth library edited by Johannes Kettiger . The annual reports of the Voluntary Poor Care and some of his funeral sermons that he wrote are also available in printed form. Breitenstein's activity reports as pastor of Binningen between 1852 and 1856 were only published posthumously .

Jonas Breitenstein is the pioneer of the Basel bidders and one of the most important representatives of Swiss dialect literature of the 19th century. «Of all the dialect poets we know, not only because of the language, but also because of the cozy character of his creations, there is no lever as close as Breitenstein, without being called an imitator for it» (Socin) his works form a rich treasure trove for Gustav Adolf Seiler's basic work Die Basler Mundart (1879) and the Swiss Idioticon . His High German stories, too, which, like Gotthelf's work, are educational and interspersed with vernacular expressions, are among the most important things that Swiss literature produced in the era of realism. Because of his realistic portrayal of smallholder and trimmers' life, Breitenstein was also known as the “Baselbieter Gotthelf”. Breitenstein's stories are not "mere imitations" of those by Gotthelf; "They offer completely independent and excellent realistic storytelling". His authorial narrative style , however, is less powerful than that of the more famous pastor poet from the Emmental, but compared to Gotthelf, Breitenstein is characterized by greater suppleness, partly reminiscent of Gottfried Keller , and by a consistently Christian-humane attitude. This is expressed not least in the fact that - unlike Gotthelf - he does not defame any of his characters. Breitenstein never approved of Gotthelf's coarseness; he believed he could describe the people even without them "(Socin). He also differs from Gotthelf in that his stories and idylls deal with the rural as well as the urban world, more precisely life in the then rapidly growing city of Basel and its suburbs, but always from the perspective of visitors or immigrants from the country. A theme that permeates Breitenstein's work like hardly any other poetic realist writer is poverty , which is presented in an extremely differentiated manner in terms of its various causes.

Honors

In 1870 Jonas Breitenstein received a trophy as a farewell present from the parish of Binningen-Bottmingen after 18 years as a pastor (today in the Binningen local museum ). In 1872 the city of Basel granted him and his family honorary citizenship. A street in Binningen is named after him. There is also a memorial plaque by the St. Margarethenkirche. On September 2, 2016, a memorial plaque was also attached to the house where he was born in Ziefen.

Works

First editions

  • Stories and pictures from the Basel area, published under the pseudonym B. T. Jonas, Schweighauser'sche Assortments-Buchhandlung, Basel 1860 ( digitized version of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek ).
  • The Herr Ehrli. An idyll from Basel and the Basel region in an all-mannish dialect, published by H. Georg, Basel 1863 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • 'S Vreneli us the flower matt. An idyll from the Basel area in an all-mannish dialect, H. Georg's Verlag, Basel 1864 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  • Jakob, the luck smith. A picture of life, H. Georg, Basel 1868.

Posthumous editions

  • 'S Vreneli us the flower matt. An idyll from the Basel area in the Alemannic dialect, in: Helvetia 4 (1880/81), 5th issue.
  • The autumn market in Liestal. A picture from the Basel area, Birkhäuser, Basel 1891 (published by the Association for the Dissemination of Good Writings, Section Basel, in an edition of approx. 3000 copies, sold for 10 cents)
  • The Herr Ehrli. An idyll from Basel and the Basel area in the allemannish dialect, A. Brodbeck, Liestal 1894.
  • The Herr Ehrli. An idyll from Basel and the Basel area in the German dialect, Birmann Foundation, Liestal, 1982 (facsimile of the 1894 edition).
  • Two poems by Jonas Breitenstein, from the handwritten estate communicated by Ernst Jenny, in: Basler Jahrbuch 1935, pp. 138–152.
  • Jonas Breitenstein, selection and introduction by Rudolf Suter, GS Verlag, Basel 1992 (= Unforgotten Basler Dichter, 4), ISBN 3-7185-0120-1 .

In addition, poems by Jonas Breitenstein have appeared in various anthologies, for example in Basilea poetica (1874 and 1897), Gottwilche (1879, edited by Gustav Adolf Seiler ), The Alemannic Poetry since Johann Peter Hebel (1881), Haltla: Basel and his authors ( 1978), Mer wei luege (1982) and Verwöhnntder mi no? (2003), in school reading books and in daily newspapers.

Work edition

  • Jonas Breitenstein: Stories and Seals, ed. from the local museum Binningen and the poet and city museum Liestal , 3 volumes, Binningen 2013–2015.
    • Vol. 1 (2013): 'S Vreneli us der Bluemmatt, Die Baselfahrt (from stories and pictures from the Basel area ), poems, ISBN 978-3-033-04272-8 .
    • Vol. 2 (2014): Der Her Ehrli, Der Herbstmäret in Liestal, Der Vetter Hansheri im Mätteli (both from stories and pictures from the Basel area ), A made man, The story of Vikterli and his wife (both from the monthly paper for women's clubs, 1861), poems, ISBN 978-3-033-04647-4 .
    • Vol. 3 (2015): Jakob der Glücksschmied, a picture of life, The story of Storzefried and Häfelibäbi (from stories and pictures from the Basel area ), Poor Annegreteli and his child (from the monthly newspaper for women's clubs, 1860), Gottfried the orphan (from Johannes Kettiger's youth library), Jörgli, Der Heilig Obe, Die Rittersfrau (all from the estate), poems, ISBN 978-3-033-05238-3 .

Document collection

  • Jonas Breitenstein. A life in letters and documents: letters 1846–1885, literary items from the estate. Binningen: Verlag Ortsmuseum Binningen / Liestal: Poet and City Museum Liestal 2018.

swell

  • Part of the written estate in the Liestal Poet and City Museum
  • Documents on the activity as secretary of the Voluntary Poor Care Basel in the State Archives Basel-Stadt (signature: PA 470 D 2.14)
  • Activity report on the first years as pastor in Binningen in the Basel-Landschaft State Archives ( Acta Ecclesiae Margarethanae, or Strange Incidents of the Churches in St. Margarethen, signature: PA 6810,2)

literature

  • Basilea reformata 2002. The parishes and special parish offices of the Evangelical Reformed Churches Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, their pastors from the Reformation to the present. Basel / Liestal 2002, pp. 65, 139.
  • Kaspar Birkhäuser : The personal dictionary of the canton of Basel-Landschaft. Verlag des Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal 1997 ( online ).
  • Martin Birmann : Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. 1. Basel 1894, pp. 475–487.
  • Robert Develey : Letters from Swiss Students at German Universities in the 19th Century. Develey, Oberwil 2010, DNB 1007563907 .
  • Karl Gauss et al .: History of the Basel landscape and the canton of Basel landscape, vol. 2, Liestal 1932, p. 564 f.
  • O [tto] G [ass]: Breitenstein, Jonas. In: Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HBLS), Volume 2, 1924, p. 346.
  • Karl Gauss : Basilea reformata. The parishes of the Church of Basel Stadt und Land and their pastors from the Reformation to the present day, [vol. 1]. Basel 1930, p. 52.
  • Otto von Greyerz : The dialect poetry of German Switzerland, historically represented. Huber, Frauenfeld / Leipzig 1924, p. 27 ( Switzerland in German intellectual life , vol. 33).
  • Fritz Grieder: Glory and decline of the Baselbieter trimmings in the 19th and 20th centuries. A contribution to the economic, social, cultural and political history of Baselland. Liestal 1989, pp. 149f.
  • Christoph Hänggi: About poverty discourses and individual poverty reduction. Poverty policy in the 19th century using the example of Binningen pastor Jonas Breitenstein. In: Baselbieter Heimatblätter 82 (2017), No. 1, pp. 1–24.
  • Barbara Helbling: One Switzerland for School: National Identity and Cultural Diversity in Swiss Reading Books since 1900. Chronos, Zurich, p. 96 f., ISBN 3-905311-38-0 .
  • K [arl] E [mil] Hoffmann: Basel poets. Benno Schwabe, Basel 1934.
  • Ernst Jenny: Basel Poetry and Basel Art in the 19th Century. Edited by the Society for the Promotion of the Good and the Charitable. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1927 (= 105th Neujahrsblatt), pp. 39–41.
  • Gotthold Oderbolz: The public welfare for the poor in Basel . In: Basler Jahrbuch 1950, pp. 142–161.
  • Michael Raith : Breitenstein, Jonas. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • René Salathé: Bells in the Basel area. History and stories about sacred and profane bells and bells. Verlag des Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal 2011 (=  sources and research on the history and regional studies of the Canton of Baselland, vol. 91), ISBN 978-3-85673-284-4 .
  • Maja Samimi, Stefan Hess : Jonas Breitenstein estate - An overview. In: Baselbieter Heimatblätter 82 (2017), No. 1, pp. 29–31.
  • Maja Samimi, Stefan Hess: Founder of Baselbiet dialect literature. For the 190th birthday of the rediscovered poet Jonas Breitenstein . In: Volksstimme, No. 90, August 21, 2018, p. 4.
  • Adolf Socin: Basel dialect and Basel poet. New Year's Gazette of the GGG , Basel 1896, p. 35 ff.
  • Eduard Strübin: Jonas Breitenstein. In: Hans Bühler: Heimatkunde Binningen. Liestal 1978, p. 238 f.
  • Rudolf Suter : Jonas Breitenstein. In: Committed to the Reformation. Creators and designers in the city and landscape of Basel from five centuries. 450 years of the Reformation. Published by the Church Council of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Basel-Stadt. Editing: Rudolf Suter, René Teuteberg . Christoph Merian, Basel 1979, ISBN 3-85616-005-7 , pp. 125-130.
  • Rudolf Suter: Pastor, poor friend, poet: Jonas Breitenstein . In: Jonas Breitenstein, selection and introduction by Rudolf Suter, GS-Verlag, Basel 1992 (=  Unforgotten Basler Dichter, 4), ISBN 3-7185-0120-1 , pp. 7-19.
  • Robert Weber : Jonas Breitenstein, a poet from the Baselland landscape . In: Helvetia. Monthly for Literature, Art & Life 1 (1878), pp. 97 f., 171–173.
  • Hans Werthmüller: A thousand years of literature in Basel. Birkhäuser, Basel / Boston / Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 3-7643-1173-8 , p. 251 f.
  • Eduard Wirz: Jonas Breitenstein. On his hundredth birthday, on August 22, 1928. In: Celebration hours. Sunday paper of the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, No. 33, August 18, 1928.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Stories and Poems, Vol. 3, p. 351.
  2. ↑ Information on voluntary poor relief on the website of the Basel-Stadt State Archives.
  3. ↑ Today the booklet is in the Poet and City Museum Liestal.
  4. ↑ Stefan Hess: Harvesting flowers in the wake of Johann Peter Hebels , in: Liestal aktuell, March 2020, p. 11 ( digitized version ).
  5. ↑ See Fritz Klaus: Jeremias Gotthelf and the Basel area. In: Baselbieter Heimatbuch, Vol. 6, Liestal 1954, pp. 140–149.
  6. ↑ The reviewer of Her Ehrli im Landschäftler referred to Breitenstein as "Baselbieter Usteri" (quoted from stories and poems, vol. 2, p. 297).
  7. ^ Adolf Socin: Basler Mundart and Basler Dichter. Quoted from stories and poems, vol. 3, p. 346.
  8. ^ Stories and Poems, Vol. 3, pp. 328–345. The report on the cholera epidemic of 1855 is printed in: Liestal aktuell , May 7, 2020, p. 10 ( digitized version )
  9. ^ Adolf Socin: Basler Mundart and Basler Dichter. Quoted from stories and poems, vol. 1, p. 8.
  10. ^ Texts from the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft , www.idiotikon.ch
  11. ↑ Close, far away. History of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, Vol. 6, Liestal 2001, p. 113 ( online ).
  12. ^ Rudolf Suter in: Jonas Breitenstein (= Unforgotten Basler Dichter. Vol. 4), Basel 1992, p. 16.
  13. ↑ Quotation from stories and poems, vol. 1, p. 11.
  14. ↑ Commemorative plaque dedicated to Jonas Breitenstein. In: Volksstimme, September 5, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Breitenstein, Jonas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Breitenstein-Tschopp, Jonas; Jonas, BT (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss writer and pastor
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Ziefen
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1877
Place of death Basel