Rudolf von Tavel Otto Friedrich Rudolf von Tavel (21 December 1866 – 18 October 1934 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 ...

) was a Swiss journalist and writer. Many of his novels were written in Bernese rather than Standard German, and he is one of the best-known authors in that language.

Life

Adèle and Rudolf von Tavel-Stettler. Portrait by Wilhelm Balmer (1909) Rudolf von Tavel was the youngest of six children of an old Bernese patrician family. He spent his youth in conservative circles of the city. He studied jurisprudence and

cameralism Cameralism ( German: ''Kameralismus'') was a German school of public finance, administration and economic management in the 18th and early 19th centuries that aimed at strong management of a centralized economy for the benefit mainly of the ...

in Lausanne, Leipzig, Berlin, and received his doctorate in Heidelberg in 1891. He then worked for the ''Berner Tagblatt'' (a forerunner of the '' Berner Zeitung'') until 1916, and from 1896 to 1905 served as director of the Swiss Mobiliar insurance company. On 10 May 1894 he married Adele Stettler (1874-1966); the marriage was childless. In the Swiss army, von Tavel obtained the rank of battalion commander. During the First World War he worked closely with

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

in the care of prisoners of war. From 1902 to 1912 he was a member of the Bern city council (''Stadtrat'') for the Conservative-Democratic Party. He was a member of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and several non-profit organizations. From 1920 he lived as a freelance writer on his estate on the outskirts of Bern. He died of a stroke in 1934. His grave is in the Schosshalden cemetery. In 2003, the Rudolf von Tavel Foundation was established in Bern.

Publications

First editions of Von Tavel's novels Von Tavel wrote predominantly in

Bernese German Bernese German (Standard German: ''Berndeutsch'', ) is the dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Swiss plateau (Mittelland) part of the canton of Bern and in some neighbouring regions. A form of Bernese German is spoken by the Swiss A ...

, a dialect of the Alemannic language. His novels are still among the most widely read works in Swiss German. His collection is maintained in the Burgerbibliothek of Bern.

Novels and novellas

*''«Jä gäll, so geit’s»: E luschtigi Gschicht uus truuriger Zyt'', 1901 *''Der Houpme Lombach'', 1903 *''Götti und Gotteli'', 1906 *''Der Stärn vo Buebebärg: E Gschicht us de trüebschte Tage vom alte Bärn'', 1907 *''D’Frou Kätheli und ihri Buebe'', 1910 *''Gueti Gschpane'', 1913 *''Der Donnergueg: E Liebesgschicht us stille Zyte'', 1916 *''Die heilige Flamme: Eine Erzählung aus dem Bernerland'', 1917 (hochdeutsch) *''Heinz Tillmann'', 1919 (Standard German) *''D’Haselmuus: E Gschicht us em Undergang vom alte Bärn'', 1922 *''Unspunne: Wie’s der Haselmuus wyter ergangen isch'', 1924 *''Ds verlorne Lied'', 1926 *''Veteranezyt'', 1927 *''Der Frondeur: Berndeutscher Roman aus dem 17. Jahrhundert'', 1929 *''Ring i der Chetti: E Läbesgschicht'', 1931 *''Meischter und Ritter'', 1933

Short stories

*''D' Glogge vo Nüechterswyl: E Gschicht usem Bärnbiet'', 1917 *''Bernbiet: Alte und neue Erzählungen'', 1918 (Standard German) *''Simeon und Eisi'', 1922 *''Am Kaminfüür: Bärndütschi Gschichte'', 1928 *''Amors Rache'', 1930 *''Schweizer daheim und draussen: Novellen'', 1932 *''Uf d Liebi chunnt's alleini a: Mit Rudolf von Tavel in das 18. Jahrhundert'', 2007 (story collection, with glossary)

Plays

*''Di gfreutischti Frou: E Komedi i 3 Akte'', 1923 *''Zwöierlei Schatzig: Bauernkomödie in 2 Aufzügen'', 1926

Non-fiction

*''Die wichtigsten Änderungen in der Lebenshaltung der schweizerischen Hochgebirgsbewohner im Laufe des XIX. Jahrhunderts. Eine wirtschaftspolitische Abhandlung'', dissertation, Heidelberg 1891 *''Theodorich von Lerber: Ein Lebensbild'', 1911 *''Bern, seinen Besuchern geschildert'', 1914 *''Von grosser Arbeit: Kraftwerk und Stausee von Mühleberg in ihrer Entstehung'', 1921 *''Kraft und Herrlichkeit: Festschrift auf die Feier des neunzigjährigen Bestehens des Diakonissenhauses Bern-Bad Ems und "Jerusalem" Hamburg'', 1934 *''Vom Wert der Tradition'', 1935

References

External links

Rudolf von Tavel
at the Hathi Trust Digital Library
Rudolf von Tavel in the German Wikisource
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavel, Rudolf von Swiss journalists 1866 births 1934 deaths Swiss literature Swiss writers Alemannic German language Writers from Bern