|
Ulrich Bräker (1735–1798) was a Swiss autodidact, writer and diarist, known for his autobiography, published in 1789, widely received at the time as the voice of an unspoiled "natural man" of the lower classes, based on the title of which Bräker became known as "The Poor Man of Toggenburg" (''Der arme Mann im Toggenburg''). Bräker was born as the oldest of eight siblings in Scheftenau, Wattwil, Toggenburg (at the time a territory owned by the Abbey of St. Gall). After the estate name of his birth house he was also known as ''Näppis-Ueli'' (''Näbisuli''). He was the son of Johannes Bräker (''Näbishans'', 1708–1762).〔Voellmy (1955). His paternal grandparents were Michel Bräker (1669–1730) and Anna Klauser (1674–1711), but Johannes Bräker had been adopted by his father's cousin. The given name of his mother (d. 1783) is not known, but she was the daughter of Ulrich Zuber (1677–1746) and Elsbeth Wäspi (1685–1755).〕 During 1741–54, the family worked the remote estate of ''Dreyschlatt''.〔, elevation 930 m. ch. 13: "Dreyschlatt ist ein wildes einödes Ort, zuhinderst an den Alpen Schwämle, Creutzegg und Aueralp; vorzeiten war's eine Sennwaid. Hier giebt's immer kurzen Sommer und langen Winter () In den kürzsten Tagen hatten wir die Sonn nur 5. Viertelstunden. Dort entsteht unser Rotenbach, der dem Fäsi in seiner Erdbeschreibung, und dem Walser in seiner Kart entwischte" ("''Dreischlatt'' is a wild, deserted place, hindermost (the ''Rotenbach'' valley ), towards the alps of ''Schwämmli'', ''Kreuzegg'' and ''Aueralp''; it was formerly used as a summer pasture. Here, summers are always short and winters are long () on the shortest days, we would have only five quarters of an hour of sunlight. There raises the ''Rotenbach'', which escaped the attention of (Konrad ) Fäsi in his ''Geography'' (1768 ), and that of () Walser (–1776 ) in his map."〕 Ulrich was educated in literacy and basic arithmetics during ten weeks each winter, working as a goatherd during the rest of the year. In 1754, the family moved to Wattwil, where Ulrich worked various jobs, in 1755 entering the service of a Prussian recruiting officer. Against his will, he was pressed into military service in the 13th infantry regiment of the Prussian Army in 1756, but managed to escape later in the same year, at the Battle of Lobositz.〔Willy Pfister, "(Aargauer in fremden Kriegsdiensten, )" in: ''Beiträge zur Aargauergeschichte'' 1980; siehe auch: (Martin Küster: ''Ein Toggenburger in Berlin'' )〕 Returning to his native Toggenburg, he married Salome Ambühl of Wattwil (1735–1822) in 1761 and had several children. He built a house ''auf der Hochsteig'' outside of Wattwil and traded in cotton for the local home industry. He began writing a diary, and his writing talent was discovered by local writer and intellectual Johann Ludwig Ambühl. Bräker published some texts in Ambühl's journal ''Brieftasche aus den Alpen''. His writing is based on a pietistic outlook and reflects intimate familiarity with the Bible (based on a close reading of the eight volumes of the Berleburg Bible) as well as a keen observation of nature, besides an enthusiastic interest in the works of William Shakespeare (which became available in German translation at the time〔German translations of individual plays had been available since the 17th century. The first German translation of Shakespeare's complete plays were begun by Christoph Martin Wieland (22 plays by 1766) and completed by Johann Joachim Eschenburg in 1777.〕). Bräker wrote a commentary on each of the 36 plays by Shakespeare, published in 1780. In the judgement of Voellmy (1955), Bräker's diary is a "touching human document" containing "pearls of true pragmatic wisdom" besides representing an important historical document of Bräker's time from the point of view of a man of the lower classes. His account of his half-year's service contributed significantly to the public image of the Prussian Army and its recruitment practices during the Seven Years' War.〔Jürgen Kloosterhuis: "Donner, Blitz und Bräker – der Soldatendienst des ‚armen Mannes im Tockenburg‘ aus der Sicht des preußischen Militärsystems." In: Alfred Messerli, Adolf Muschg (eds.): ''Schreibsucht – autobiografische Schriften des Pietisten Ulrich Bräker (1725–1798).'' Göttingen 2004, 129–187.〕 In 1776, Bräker became a member of the ''Toggenburgische Moralische Gesellschaft'', which was otherwise reserved to the educated classes. Publication of his diary began in 1788, and an edition of his collected writings was compiled printed in 1792. Bräker was not successful as a businessman. He was in debt, and in 1797, a year before his death, he was forced to sell his house in Wattwil. Three out of seven children born to his wife died before reaching maturity. Bräker lived to see, and was perturbed by, the French invasion of Switzerland in the spring of 1798, but he died in September of the same year. ==Publications== * ''Ein wort der vermahnung, An mich und die Meinigen Dass nichts besers sey den Gott förchten zu allezeiten,'' 1768–1771. * ''Raissonierendes Baurengespräch über das Bücherlesen,'' 1777. * ''Vermischte Lieder vor den Land-Mann,'' 1779. * ''Etwas über William Shakespeares Schauspiele, von einem armen, ungelehrten Weltbürger, der das Glück genoß, ihn zu lesen,'' 1780. * ''Die Gerichtsnacht oder Was ihr wollt'' (play, "The night of judgement, or 'As You Like It'") 1780. * ''Jauss, der Libens Ritter'' (fragments of a novel, contained in the diaries of 1789/90) *Bräker's autobiography was first published in 1788 to 1789 in ''Schweitzersches Museum'' in (13 parts ), edited in with Hans Heinrich Füssli in Zürich under the full title of ''Lebensgeschichte und natürliche Abentheuer eines armen Mannes von Tockenburg'' in two volumes in 1789,〔(Deutsches Textarchiv ); review in '' Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek'' 92 (1790), (p. 270 ). reprint Stuttgart, 1993, ISBN 3-15-002601-6. 〕 A collection of works was edited by H. H. Füssli in 1792, as ''Sämtliche Schriften des Armen Mannes im Tockenburg''.〔( google books )〕 A modern edition of Bräker's works was published with C.H.Beck (1998–2010) in four volumes.〔 Andreas Bürgi, Christian Holliger, Claudia Holliger-Wiesmann, Heinz Graber, Alfred Messerli, Alois Stadler (eds.), ''Ulrich Bräker. Sämtliche Schriften'', 4 vols., C.H.Beck, Munich, 1998–2010, ISBN 3-406-43535-1, ISBN 978-3-406-43536-2, ISBN 978-3-406-43537-9, ISBN 978-3-406-43538-6, vol. 5: commentary and index.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ulrich Bräker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|