Theodor Gsell Fels

Johann Theodor Gsell Fels (born March 14, 1818 in St. Gallen ; † October 12, 1898 in Munich ) was a Swiss non-fiction author , art historian and physician .

Life

Gsell, son of the businessman and lithographer Jakob Laurenz Gsell, originally wanted to be a pastor. He therefore initially studied Evangelical Reformed theology and philology at the University of Basel for two and a half years . In a philosophical prize assignment, he won first prize there. He then continued his studies at the University of Berlin with Friedrich Strauss and Franz Theremin , where he also attended the philosophy lectures of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling with particular interest . He then gave up his plan to become a pastor and studied art history in Berlin under Franz Kugler and Heinrich Gustav Hotho . To complement this course of study, he then went on extensive educational trips across Italy on foot .

From 1845 to 1848 he studied science at Paris University . After he returned to St. Gallen in 1848, he accepted a position in the State Archives. Then studied in Würzburg , Vienna and Berlin medicine . After becoming a Dr. med. After receiving his doctorate, he practiced as a doctor in Nice , Rome , Paris and Zurich . In 1780 Gsell settled in Basel . He worked at the university there as a lecturer in Italian art history and was a member of the Grand Council. In 1880 he moved to Munich. He wrote numerous travel and art guides, including about Italy and Switzerland, which were mostly published several times, in revised form even a quarter of a century after his death. Some of his guides have been translated into English.

In 1850 Gsell married Louise Carolina Fels, the daughter of the St. Gallen politician Christian Friedrich Fels . In 1883 he officially changed his family name to Gsell Fels by a resolution of the St. Gallen government council .

Theodor Gsell Fels brother, Gaspard Gsell , made a name for himself in France as a glass painter.

Works (selection)

• Roman excavations in the last decade , 1870.
• Upper Italy , 1872. 1189 pages (6th edition: 1898).
• Switzerland , 2 volumes, 1875–1877 (2nd edition: 1881/82). Digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf
  • 1. From Lake Geneva via the St. Gotthard and Lake Lucerne to the Bernese Oberland. 1875
  • 2. From Bern via Basel to the east, Romansh Switzerland and Zurich. 1876
• Lower Italy and Sicily , 1877.
• Styria . Munich 1894. 288 pages.
• Venice - With pictures and drawings by Th. Coulant, Fr. Eibner, E. Kirchner, L. Passini and Ferd. Wagner . Munich 1900. 72 pages.
• Rome and the Campagna , 1901. 1255 pages.
• Lake Constance - a practical travel guide with a special focus on scientific research and historical events . 7th edition, Konstanz 1925. 164 pages.

literature

• German biographical encyclopedia , 2nd edition (Rudolf Vierhaus, ed.), Volume 4, Saur, Munich 2006, p. 230.
• Ludwig Julius Fränkel:  Gsell Fels, Theodor . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 49, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, pp. 612-615.
• Marcel Mayer: Gsell [Gsell Fels], Theodor. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Web links

• Overview of the lectures of Theodor Gsell Fels at the University of Zurich (winter semester 1863 to summer semester 1870)