Benedikt Gletting was a 16th-century

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

poet. Little is known about his life, but his ballads were popular in

early modern Switzerland The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy ('' Eidgenossenschaft'', also known as the "Swiss Republic" or ''Republica Helvetiorum'') and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) ...

and were repeatedly edited during the 17th century. A native of

Bütschwil Bütschwil is a former municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Toggenburg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Bütschwil and Ganterschwil merged to form the new municipality of ...

, he lived in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

from at least 1540, and later in various places in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

before again taking residence in Berne in 1561. He has composed a number of songs praising individual sites in the Bernese Oberland, including

Frutigen Frutigen is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bernese Oberland area of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is the capital of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental (administrative district), Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. His ...

, Mülenen, Aeschi and Reichenbach, as well as songs about

and

Murten Murten (German language, German, ) or Morat (French language, French, ; ) is a bilingual Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and a city in the See (district of Fribourg), See district of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (can ...

. He is also the author of religious ballads, including a long song about the biblical

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

. A song beginning ''O usserwölte Eydgnoschafft'' called for unity at a time of confessional division in the wake of the

Swiss Reformation The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...

. This song was edited by Hanns In der Gand in a shortened version (shortened from 26 to 4 verses) in 1934 under the title ''Vermahnlied an die Eidgenossenschaft'' ("song of warning for the Confederacy") and in this form was reprinted in various Swiss songbooks during the 20th century.Rudolf Schwarzenbach, "'... wol uff den hohen alpen fruch'? : ein Lied Benedikt Glettings als Quelle des 'Vermahnlieds an die Eidgenossenschaft' von Hans In der Gand", ''Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde'' 74, 1978, 1-19.

Editions

*''Der geystlich Joseph'
1685
*''Zwey geystliche newe Lieder'', Marburg 1565, Basel 1592 *''Das geystlich Vogel gsang'', Berne 1574. *ed. Theodor Odinga 1891, ''Benedikt Gletting: Ein Berner Volksdichter des 16. Jh.''

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gletting, Benedikt Swiss male poets 16th-century Swiss writers Writers from Bern