Rudolph Bolo Mäglin

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Rudolph Bolo Mäglin (also Rudolf and Maeglin ), (born December 26, 1898 in Basel , † April 28, 1973 in Binningen ) was a Swiss journalist , publicist , writer , poet and cabaret writer .

Bolo Mäglin with bundle of newspapers and writing case
A caricature by Bolo on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday (painted by Fritz Grogg). Published in the National-Zeitung in 1958 .
Bolo as a subject at the Basel Carnival (Bolo in front of a judge)

He worked as a writer and as a journalist for the National-Zeitung . Mäglin was mainly known through the novel Gilberte de Courgenay published in 1939 . His carnival novella Der Ruesser from 1957, which was later set to music with Ruedi Walter , was also awarded.

Life

Rudolph Mäglin was born on December 26, 1898, the fourth of six children at Herrengrabenweg 22 in Basel .

After an apprenticeship in a bank, he became an accountant at the age of 17½. However, his fantasy soon declared war on the rather monotonous office life as an accountant. He quit his job and became a newspaper reporter . The decisive step towards a promising future as a journalist , publicist , writer , poet and cabaret writer was thus taken.

At first he wrote sports reports, reviews of films, theater performances and guest performances by circuses and variétés for various daily and weekly newspapers. This was soon followed by his humorous and pointed reports, which are extremely popular with the readership, of the Bäumli in the Basler Woche about disputes in the Basel civil court on Bäumleingasse.

In 1926 he founded the special supplement Dr glai Nazi as a freelancer for the National-Zeitung (today Basler Zeitung ) . Up until the late 1960s, Bolo Mäglin was the godfather of this popular children's supplement and regularly published his poems in it.

There were times when he wrote under six pseudonyms to deny the claim that if you write lyric poetry, you couldn't possibly succeed in cultural essays, theater reviews, sports reports, satirical glosses and gripping stories for the youth. These included names such as “Prokurator” and “Bimbolo”. Since an Italian clown by the name of Bimbolo forbade him to use this name, “Martin Bim” and “Bolo” emerged. The latter was to remain his nickname forever.

In Binningen, where he had lived since 1947 with his wife Elsa “Elsy” Mäglin (* 1904; † 2006) and their two children Marie-Louise “Marly” (* 1938) and Urs Beat (* 1941), you could almost find him found daily with a bundle of newspapers and one of his writing cases under his arm. He liked to retire to a corner of the “Rebstock” or “Jägerstüblis” to write, but was occasionally also available for a sociable conversation over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Another well-known characteristic of Bolo, wearing white gloves, could be explained by his colophony allergy (an allergy to printer's ink). A portrait of fellow writer Heinrich Kuhn (editor of the National-Zeitung 1934–74) in the foreword to the second edition of the Ruesser also described Bolo's typical appearance as follows: «A narrow face with a sharp, slightly curved nose on top of one rather thin body. Always neatly dressed, neatly dressed, with a butterfly tie, gloves and cane, sometimes accompanied by a little fox terrier, a pencil case or envelope in his hand, that's how he appeared at the editorial office with a lively pace. "

Bolo had nothing to do with anything fake, wrong or staged pessimism. The Germanist and professor Louis Wiesmann from the State Literary Credit Commission Basel-Stadt wrote about him in 1963: “Bolo is not a carefree writer. He only gives out what is in front of his artistic conscience. Bolo never allowed himself to be restricted. He does what he is inwardly driven to, doesn’t mince his words and appears to be very close to the people. But behind his free, uncomplicated manner there is also an emotional person who knows how to touch his readership to the heart of his readership. His fresh, direct spelling made him popular and successful. " In a previous conversation with Wiesmann , Bolo had made the following programmatic confession: “Reality knows the dark and the tragic, but also the bright and the happy - otherwise life would have no meaning. As little as I can do with pink glasses and illusions, I just don't like black glasses. For me, poetry that does not affirm life misses its most beautiful task. ”His fellow writer Hans Räber once said of him:“ With Bolo, every sentence sparkles with an incorruptible honesty. ”

Bolo Mäglin's literary work is extraordinarily diverse. There are poems, short stories, novels, dramas, radio plays, musicals, festivals, operetta librettos, revues, cabaret programs, carnival games, schnitzel banks and “clique delicacies” from his pen . He alternated between standard German and dialect (especially Basel German ). Many of his works and works have been awarded prizes.

In the foreword to the second edition of the Ruesser, Heinrich Kuhn reports on Bolo's relation to Carnival: “Artists and cabaret artists, that was his world. But the Basel Carnival was his main specialty. From the window of the dispatch office, in the "Haus zum Gold", the former headquarters of the National-Zeitung on the market square, he hammered the entire report on the street carnival primavista into the typewriter. The fact that he not only knew the drum and piccolo marches, but also practiced the art of drumming and whistling, made him a competent reviewer u. a. of the Monster Drummeli in Küchlin. The cliques did not always accept his criticism without contradiction and so it could not be missing that one day he himself became a subject of the carnival ( Dr Bolo in front of a judge ). As a good carnival person, he reacted calmly and with humor to the masked intrigue. [...] In his enigmatic novella, Bolo tells of a Basel original obsessed with carnival. He himself was such an original, fused with his Basel, who knew about the secrets and peculiarities of the old Rhine city. Bolo knew how to express this knowledge in soot and in many dialect poems. "

His best-known work is the novel Gilberte de Courgenay . As a stage play - premiered on August 24, 1939 in the Schauspielhaus Zurich - Gilberte brought it to over 450 performances. The play is still very popular with professional and amateur theaters today.

In 1943 he was one of the founders of the Basel Writers' Association, as its vice-president he served for many years.

In 2005 a memorial showcase was inaugurated in the Binningen local museum as part of a vernissage, in which, in addition to a small selection of his wide range of works, numerous objects from his everyday life can be seen. Some of his poems, presented by Bolo personally, can be played at the push of a button. Since August 2014, around 40 years after Bolo's death, a path that leads from Binningen's Margarethenstrasse to Bruderholzrain has been named after him.

Works

  • Herlock Sholmes the «greyhound» . Narrative. J. Frehner, Basel 1924.
  • Gilberte de Courgenay. A play from the border occupation 1914 to 18th theater play / Singspiel. Over 450 performances. 1939.
  • Gilberte de Courgenay . A novel from the occupation of the border from 1914 to 1918. Eugen Rentsch Verlag, Erlenbach-Zürich 1939.
  • Pension Giggernillis . Carnival game. Basel 1940.
  • Tschinghiane . A gypsy story. Youth novel. A. Fehr, Zurich 1941.
  • Harz lady bleeds . Carnival game. Basel 1941.
  • In the Bebbi si family album . Carnival game. Basel 1942/44.
  • s atelier . Cabaret piece. Before 1943.
  • D'Resslirytti. Cabaret piece. Before 1943.
  • Cornichon . Cabaret piece. Before 1943.
  • Arlequin . Cabaret piece. Before 1943.
  • Dr Muulkorb . Cabaret piece. 1943.
  • Confederate d'Raaje gschlosse . Movie. 1944.
  • ... and fell among the robbers . Movie. 1944.
  • "John Kabis" the blacksmith and his luck . Musical. 1944.
  • A voice calls . Christmas musical. 6 performances. 1944.
  • The ringmaster . Play. 12 performances. 1944.
  • Tricolor over Alsace . Play. 12 performances. 1945.
  • Cagliostro . Play. 12 performances. 1950. Winner of the literary credit competition .
  • «Tschitsch», the ambitious one . Youth novel. Aare-Verlag, Bern 1950.
  • Hannibal's death . Listening sequences. 1955.
  • The soot . A carnival novella. National-Zeitung (today Basler Zeitung ), Basel 1957. Winner in the literary credit competition .
  • The Arab and his luck . Novella. 1957.
  • Process or comparison . Youth radio. 1957.
  • "King and pen" or "heads and tails" . Comedy. 1957.
  • Tell games in Hühnerhofen . Musical. 1957.
  • Cagliostro . Radio play. 1958.
  • Remembering Bolo . Dialect poems. National-Zeitung (today Basler Zeitung ), Basel 1975.
  • Rudolph Bolo Maeglin (Unforgotten Basel Poets) . Volume 3 from the series Unforgotten Basler Dichter . GS-Verlag, Basel 1991.
  • Rudolph (Bolo) Maeglin reads seven of his own poems . Poetry CD. Basel 2003.
  • Dr glai Nazi . Children's supplement to the National-Zeitung (today Basler Zeitung ).
  • Over 200 poems appeared a. a. in Schweizer Illustrierte, Sie und Er, Nebelspalter , some of them award-winning.

Songs (undated)

  • Vive le Général
  • E Liedli, e Gleesli, e Schmitzli derzue
  • Dr Ruech am Rhy
  • Muesch stop zyle
  • Dr Vogelgryff
  • The 4 Eff
  • Y waiss e glai Baizli
  • Spalemergruess
  • En half a liter (from Gilberte de Courgenay)
  • Zmitts in the Bärner Oberland (from Gilberte de Courgenay)
  • Schryb denn gly (from Gilberte de Courgenay)
  • Cannon Song (from Gilberte de Courgenay)
  • A dashing little rabbit (from Gilberte de Courgenay)
  • Is it important in the military (from Gilberte de Courgenay)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bolo-Mäglin-Weg

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mäglin, Rudolph Bolo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss journalist and cabaret writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1973
Place of death Basel