Heinrich Federer (6 October 1866 – 29 April 1928) was a Swiss writer and Catholic priest.

Biography

Federer was born on 6 October 1866 in the Bernese village of

Brienz Brienz ( , , ) is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, at the foot of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain, and in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Besides the village of Brienz, th ...

. His father, Johann Paul Federer, was a wood carver and school teacher whose

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

came from Berneck, St. Gallen. He attended grammar school in

Sarnen Sarnen is a small List of towns in Switzerland, historic town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the northern shores of Lake Sarnen () in Switzerland. It has a population of just ov ...

from 1881 until 1887, when he went to study at a college in

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

. After studying Catholic theology in

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, he was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1893 and assigned as the chaplain in

Jonschwil Jonschwil is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Jonschwil was first mentioned in 796 as ''Johannisvilare''. In 1282 it was mentioned as ''Jonswiler''. The village of Sc ...

. He retired from the priesthood in 1899 after suffering from ill health. After an

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

diagnosis in 1900, he was transferred to a women's home in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

to recover. While there, he worked as the editor-in-chief of the '' Neue Zürcher Nachrichten'', a Catholic newspaper. Federer had requested residence at

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey () is a Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The Abbey of Einsiedeln is one of the most important baroque monastic sites and the largest place of pilgrimage in Swit ...

but was denied admission due to rumors of inappropriate sexual behavior. On 24 September 1902, Federer was accused of eliciting an abusive sexual relationship with a twelve year old pupil, Emil Brunner. Federer wrote as a novelist, poet, and memoirist. Many of his books had religious themes, and countered the nationalistic Heimatkunst movement in Switzerland. In the 20th-century he was a best-selling author and awarded multiple literary accolades, including the

Gottfried-Keller-Preis The Gottfried-Keller-Preis, prix Gottfried-Keller, or premio Gottfried Keller is one of the oldest literary awards of Switzerland. The prize was created by Martin Bodmer and is named after the Swiss author Gottfried Keller. It is awarded every two ...

in 1925.

Federer died on 29 April 1928 and is buried in the Rehalp cemetery in Zürich. His literary works are preserved in the

Swiss Literary Archives The Swiss Literary Archives (SLA – ''Schweizerische Literaturarchiv'') in Bern collects literary estates in all four national languages of Switzerland (German, French, Italian and Romansh language). It is part of the Swiss National Library op ...

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 ...

. In 1966 Federer was honored with a Swiss federal stamp.

Bibliography

*''Berge und Menschen'', Roman, 1911 *''Lachweiler Geschichten'', stories, 1911 *''Pilatus'', narration, 1912 *''Sisto e Sesto'', narration, 1913 *''Jungfer Therese'', Roman, 1913 *''Das letzte Stündlein des Papstes'', Narration, 1914 *''Das Mätteliseppi'', Roman, 1916 *''Unser Herrgott und der Schweizer. Ein stolzbescheidenes Geschichtlein'', 1916 *''Patria'', narration, 1916 *''Eine Nacht in den Abruzzen. Mein Tarcisius-Geschichtlein'', 1917 *''Gebt mir meine Wildnis wieder'', narrative, 1918 *''Der Fürchtemacher'', Narration, 1919 *''Das Wunder in Holzschuhen'', stories, 1919 *''Spitzbube über Spitzbube'', narrative, 1921 *''Papst und Kaiser im Dorf'', narration, 1924 *''Wander- und Wundergeschichten aus dem Süden'', stories, 1924 *''Regina Lob'', Roman, 1925 *''Unter südlichen Sonnen und Menschen'', six short stories, 1926 *''Am Fenster'', autobiography, 1927 *''Aus jungen Tagen'', autobiography, 1928 *''Von Heiligen, Räubern und von der Gerechtigkeit'', 1929 *''Ich lösche das Licht'', poems, 1930

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federer, Heinrich 1866 births 1928 deaths 19th-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Swiss journalists 20th-century Swiss novelists 20th-century Swiss poets Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Switzerland Heinrich People from Brienz Swiss male novelists Swiss male poets Swiss male short story writers Swiss newspaper editors Swiss poets in German Swiss Roman Catholic writers Swiss writers in German