Max Ruh

Max Ruh (born June 27, 1938 in Biel ; † December 4, 2013 in Schaffhausen ) was a Swiss historian and collector .

Live and act

Born as the son of engineers Walter Ruh and Alice Ruh-Hall, Ruh completed his school days at the Schaffhausen Cantonal School . After high school he attended the teacher training college and began researching libraries and archives. He found his first job as a primary school teacher in Ramsen . He also studied history , Romance studies and English studies at the University of Zurich and then taught for 38 years at the secondary school Gelbhausgarten ("Gega") in his hometown.

Ruh first became journalistic as a member of the Hegau History Association and began, among other things, researching the early press in Schaffhausen and collecting historical newspapers, including an edition of the Paris weekly Gazette de France from 1639. In addition, Ruh did research on the history of the Müller playing card factory in Neuhausen and began with a collection of old playing cards, of which he owned around 500 sheets.

From 1971 to 1975 he went to the German-speaking school in Santiago de Chile as a teacher . Here he taught during the regime change from Salvador Allende to Augusto Pinochet . He later organized a school exchange between Switzerland and Chile for years and was there every two years.

Ruh had been a member of the Karl May Society since 1971 and wrote a story of May's reception in Switzerland for Gert Ueding's Karl May Handbook , which was included in the second edition of 2001.

In 2001 he worked with Othmar Schoeck's opera score Am Silbersee after Karl May, which he had worked on in his early youth , with whom Ruh brought in Paul Haug as a specialist in musical matters. The arrangement for cello and piano was recorded (premiered in 2001 at Greifensee Palace ) and another musical and scenic arrangement by Dieter Stalder, which was performed in Plauen and five other cities in Germany and Switzerland in 2003 . Ruh also stood up for the Biedermeier composers Samuel Gottlob Auberlen and Conradin Kreutzer , who worked in Schaffhausen, among others .

As a freelancer for Schaffhauser Nachrichten, Ruh published on historical topics. He was one of the curators at a number of exhibitions on playing cards (for example in the Museum zu Allerheiligen ). In the Reformed Church of St. Johann , Ruh was president of the parish and the parish for twelve years.

He is buried in a community grave in the Schaffhausen Forest Cemetery, which has a sculpture by Hans Josephsohn .

Publications (selection)

• with Karl Hotz and Martin Schweizer: One hundred and fifty years of Schaffhauser Nachrichten. 150 year anniversary. Meier Buchverlag, Schaffhausen 2010, ISBN 978-3-85801-195-4 .
• with Daniel Grütter and Walter Haas : The tarot game in Switzerland. Tarocks of the 18th and 19th centuries in the Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen. Published on the occasion of the exhibition at the Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen from September 17, 2004 to March 27, 2005. Schaffhausen 2004, ISBN 3-907066-54-5 .
• Swiss playing cards. Schaffhausen. All Saints' Day Museum, 1998.
• Passion for gaming and playing card production in Schaffhausen in the 18th century. Augustin, Thayngen 1979.

Web links

• Max Ruh in the Worldcat
• List of publications in the Hegau History Association
• Elmar Elbs: Max Ruh - Attempt at an appreciation.
• Memorial stone by Hans Josephsohn
• "Schöös Sächsilüüte" 2009 - Schaffhauser on the Zurich train of the guilds Max Ruh and Robin Blanck
• Max Ruh at CSS (Friends of the Swiss School Santiago des Chile)
• Karl Hotz, Martin Schweizer and Max Ruh (left) at the presentation of the anniversary volume "Schaffhauser Nachrichten"

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Scheck: Historian, collector and philanthropist. In memory of Max Ruh . Obituary in the Schaffhauser Nachrichten. December 14, 2013.