Paul Burckhardt

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Paul Burckhardt as a young man (1894)
Semester stroll by the Concordia Basiliensis student association, March 28, 1893; front second from right: Paul Burckhardt

Paul Burckhardt (born January 9, 1873 in Basel ; † May 6, 1956 there , reformed , resident in Basel) was a Swiss historian and teacher .

life and work

Paul Burckhardt, son of Basler teacher and historian Theophil Burckhardt-Biedermann (1840-1914) and Clara Biedermann (1845-1903), studied after graduation history and classical philology in Basel (1891-1893 and 1894-1986) and Berlin ( 1893/1894). After his doctorate in Basel in 1896 on the subject of The City of Basel in the Peasants' War of 1525, he first worked as a vicar (teacher without a permanent position) in Basel.

In 1899 Paul Burckhardt was elected teacher of ancient languages, German and history at the higher city school in Glarus . He stayed in Glarus until 1904. In 1903, Paul Burckhardt received an offer from the teachers' seminar in Schiers to start teaching there, which he refused.

From 1904 until his retirement in 1938 he taught German, history and Latin at the Töchterschule Basel (girls ' high school from 1929), which he headed from 1927 to 1938 as rector. When the then rector of the girls' grammar school had to regularly join the Swiss army during World War II , Paul Burckhardt took over his deputy on an interim basis.

On April 5, 1907, he married Anna Lüscher (1882–1953), daughter of the banker Karl Lüscher, and had six children with her. His sons-in-law include the linguist Manfred Szadrowsky , the geologist Peter Bearth and the historian Erich Gruner .

In addition to his teaching activities, Paul Burckhardt was scientifically involved as a historian. His main topics were the history of Basel in modern times and the history of the Swiss Reformation. In 1919 he received an honorary doctorate from the theological faculty of the University of Zurich for his work on Huldrych Zwingli . His work, History of the City of Basel , published in 1942 . From the time of the Reformation to the present is considered a standard work on the history of Basel's city; it follows on from the monumental, 4-volume history of the city of Basel (1907–1924) by Rudolf Wackernagel , but is less detailed.

Paul Burckhardt, inspired by Leonhard Ragaz (1902–1908 pastor at Basel Minster ), was also involved in the church and, among other things, a. active in the association of independent church members . In 1918, Paul Burckhardt was elected by the parish of St. Leonhard of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Basel-Stadt as a member of the church council and the synod.

The Historical and Antiquarian Society of Basel accepted Paul Burckhardt as a full member in 1897. In 1914 he became a member of the General History Research Society of Switzerland . Paul Burckhardt u. a. to Benedikt Hartmann , Eduard Thurneysen and Albert Barth . Paul Burckhardt was a fellow student and friend of the theologian Paul Wernle .

Paul Burckhardt's estate came to the Basel University Library in 1956 , together with the estate of his father Theophil Burckhardt-Biedermann and other family members. The handover took place through the mediation of the son-in-law Erich Gruner . In 1991 the library received another part from Max Burckhardt .

Works (selection)

Title page of the history of the city of Basel. From the time of the Reformation to the present. Helbling & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1942.
  • The politics of the city of Basel in the Peasants' War of 1525 . Birkhäuser, Basel 1896 (dissertation).
  • The Basel Anabaptists. A contribution to the history of the Swiss Reformation . R. Reich, Basel 1898.
  • The history of the city of Basel from the separation of the canton to the new federal constitution: 1833–1848 , 3 parts. Helbling & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1912–1914 (New Year's Sheets of the Society for the Promotion of the Good and the Charitable (GGG) , volumes 90–92).
  • Kind regards Zwingli. A representation of his personality and his life's work . Rascher, Zurich 1918.
  • Basel at the time of the Schmalkaldic War . In: Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde 38 (1939), pp. 5–103 ( digitized version ).
  • History of the city of Basel. From the time of the Reformation to the present . Helbling & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1942 (2nd edition: Helbling and Lichtenhahn, Basel 1957).
  • (Editor) Johannes Gast: The Diary: A Contribution to the Swiss Reformation History. Schwabe, Basel 1945 ( Basler Chroniken , Volume 8).
  • Basel in the first years after the Reformation . Helbling and Lichtenhahn, Basel 1946 (New Year's Gazette of the GGG , Volume 124).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See catalog of the Basel-Stadt State Archives (accessed on March 19, 2007); Paul Burckhardt confirms his membership in the curriculum vitae that he wrote himself for his funeral speech: In memory of Paul Burckhardt-Lüscher, gew. Rector of the girls' high school, born January 9, 1873, died May 6, 1956 . [Basel 1956], p. 7.
  2. ^ Paul Burckhardt: The politics of the city of Basel in the peasant war of 1525. Birkhäuser, Basel 1896.
  3. ↑ Karin Marti-Weissenbach, Hans Laupper: Glarus (community) 3.4 .: Church, education and culture. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  4. ^ Website of the Gymnasium Leonhard, Basel (accessed on March 19, 2017).
  5. ↑ In memory of Paul Burckhardt-Lüscher, gew. Rector of the girls' high school, born January 9, 1873, died May 6, 1956 . [Basel 1956], p. 18.
  6. ^ Volkmar Trommsdorff : Bearth, Peter. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  7. ^ Report on the administration of the public library of the University of Basel in 1956, p. 8f. ( Digitized version ).
  8. ↑ Documented in the finding aid for the estate, appended to the inventory in the HAN catalog .
personal data
SURNAME Burckhardt, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss teacher and historian
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 1956
Place of death Basel