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Der Gotthard
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
260 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2009
5 people want to read
About the author
Carl Spitteler
87 books25 followersCarl Friedrich Georg Spitteler (24 April 1845 – 29 December 1924) was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring". His work includes both pessimistic and heroic poems.
Spitteler was born in Liestal. His father was an official of the government, being Federal Secretary of the Treasury from 1849–56. Young Spitteler attended the gymnasium at Basel, having among his teachers philologist Wilhelm Wackernagel and historian Jakob Burckhardt. From 1863 he studied law at the University of Zurich. In 1865–1870 he studied theology in the same institution, at Heidelberg and Basel, though when a position as pastor was offered him, he felt that he must decline it. He had begun to realize his mission as an epic poet and therefore refused to work in the field for which he had prepared himself.[1]
Later he worked in Russia as tutor, starting from August 1871, remaining there (with some periods in Finland) until 1879. Later he was elementary teacher in Bern and La Neuveville, as well as journalist for the Der Kunstwart and as editor for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. In 1883 Spitteler married Marie op der Hoff, previously his pupil in Neuveville.
In 1881 Spitteler published the allegoric prose poem Prometheus and Epimetheus, published under the pseudonym Carl Felix Tandem, and showing contrasts between ideals and dogmas through the two mythological figures of the titles. This 1881 edition was given an extended psychological exegesis by Carl Gustav Jung in his book Psychological Types (published in 1921). Late in life, Spitteler reworked Prometheus and Epimetheus and published it under his true name, with the new title Prometheus der Dulder (Prometheus the Sufferer, 1924).
In 1882 he published his Extramundana, a collection of poems. He gave up teaching in 1885 and devoted himself to a journalistic career in Basel. Now his works began to come in rapid succession. In 1891 there appeared Friedli, der Kalderi, a collection of short stories, in which Spitteler, as he himself says, depicted Russian realism. Literarische Gleichnisse appeared in 1892, and Balladen in 1896.
In 1900–1905 Spitteler wrote the powerful allegoric-epic poem, in iambic hexameters, Olympischer Frühling (Olympic Spring). This work, mixing fantastic, naturalistic, religions and mythological themes, deals with human concern towards the universe. His prose works include Die Mädchenfeinde (Two Little Misogynists, 1907), about his autobiographical childhood experiences, the dramatic Conrad der Leutnant (1898), in which he show influence from the previously opposed Naturalism, and the autobiographical novella Imago (1906), examining the role of unconscious in the conflict between a creative mind and the middle-class restrictions with internal monologue.
During World War I he opposed the pro-German attitude of the Swiss German-speaking majority, a position put forward in the essay "Unser Schweizer Standpunkt". In 1919 he won the Nobel Prize. Spitteler died at Lucerne in 1924.
Carl Spitteler's estate is archived in the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern, in the Zürich Central Library and in the Dichter- und Stadtmuseum in Liestal.
Works:
Prometheus und Epimetheus (1881)
Extramundana (1883, seven cosmic myths)
Schmetterlinge ("Butterflies", 1889)
Der Parlamentär (1889)
Literarische Gleichnisse ("Literary Parables”, 1892)
Gustav (1892)
Balladen (1896)
Conrad der Leutnant (1898)
Lachende Wahrheiten (1898, essays)
Der olympische Frühling (1900–1905, revised 1910)
Glockenlieder ("Grass and Bell Songs", 1906)
Imago (1906, novel)
Die Mädchenfeinde (Two Little Misogynists, 1907)
Meine frühesten Erlebnisse ("My Earliest Experiences", 1914, biographical)
Prometheus der Dulder ("Prometheus the Suffering”, 1924)
Spitteler was born in Liestal. His father was an official of the government, being Federal Secretary of the Treasury from 1849–56. Young Spitteler attended the gymnasium at Basel, having among his teachers philologist Wilhelm Wackernagel and historian Jakob Burckhardt. From 1863 he studied law at the University of Zurich. In 1865–1870 he studied theology in the same institution, at Heidelberg and Basel, though when a position as pastor was offered him, he felt that he must decline it. He had begun to realize his mission as an epic poet and therefore refused to work in the field for which he had prepared himself.[1]
Later he worked in Russia as tutor, starting from August 1871, remaining there (with some periods in Finland) until 1879. Later he was elementary teacher in Bern and La Neuveville, as well as journalist for the Der Kunstwart and as editor for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. In 1883 Spitteler married Marie op der Hoff, previously his pupil in Neuveville.
In 1881 Spitteler published the allegoric prose poem Prometheus and Epimetheus, published under the pseudonym Carl Felix Tandem, and showing contrasts between ideals and dogmas through the two mythological figures of the titles. This 1881 edition was given an extended psychological exegesis by Carl Gustav Jung in his book Psychological Types (published in 1921). Late in life, Spitteler reworked Prometheus and Epimetheus and published it under his true name, with the new title Prometheus der Dulder (Prometheus the Sufferer, 1924).
In 1882 he published his Extramundana, a collection of poems. He gave up teaching in 1885 and devoted himself to a journalistic career in Basel. Now his works began to come in rapid succession. In 1891 there appeared Friedli, der Kalderi, a collection of short stories, in which Spitteler, as he himself says, depicted Russian realism. Literarische Gleichnisse appeared in 1892, and Balladen in 1896.
In 1900–1905 Spitteler wrote the powerful allegoric-epic poem, in iambic hexameters, Olympischer Frühling (Olympic Spring). This work, mixing fantastic, naturalistic, religions and mythological themes, deals with human concern towards the universe. His prose works include Die Mädchenfeinde (Two Little Misogynists, 1907), about his autobiographical childhood experiences, the dramatic Conrad der Leutnant (1898), in which he show influence from the previously opposed Naturalism, and the autobiographical novella Imago (1906), examining the role of unconscious in the conflict between a creative mind and the middle-class restrictions with internal monologue.
During World War I he opposed the pro-German attitude of the Swiss German-speaking majority, a position put forward in the essay "Unser Schweizer Standpunkt". In 1919 he won the Nobel Prize. Spitteler died at Lucerne in 1924.
Carl Spitteler's estate is archived in the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern, in the Zürich Central Library and in the Dichter- und Stadtmuseum in Liestal.
Works:
Prometheus und Epimetheus (1881)
Extramundana (1883, seven cosmic myths)
Schmetterlinge ("Butterflies", 1889)
Der Parlamentär (1889)
Literarische Gleichnisse ("Literary Parables”, 1892)
Gustav (1892)
Balladen (1896)
Conrad der Leutnant (1898)
Lachende Wahrheiten (1898, essays)
Der olympische Frühling (1900–1905, revised 1910)
Glockenlieder ("Grass and Bell Songs", 1906)
Imago (1906, novel)
Die Mädchenfeinde (Two Little Misogynists, 1907)
Meine frühesten Erlebnisse ("My Earliest Experiences", 1914, biographical)
Prometheus der Dulder ("Prometheus the Suffering”, 1924)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 17, 2018
ITALIAN: Interessante libro, scritto negli anni novanta del ottocento, poco dopo l'apertura del tunnel ferroviario del Gottardo. Il libro include la descrizione di molte escursioni che possono essere fatte a piedi, utilizzando la ferrovia per raggiungere il punto di partenza. C'è anche un'interessante appendice in cui l'autore difende la neutralità svizzera nella prima guerra mondiale.
ENGLISH: Interesting book, written in the eighteen nineties, a little after the Gottard railway tunnel was opened. The book includes the description of many hikes that can be done on foot, using the railway to reach the starting point. There is also an interesting appendix where the author defends the Swiss neutrality in the First World War.
ESPAÑOL: Un libro interesante, escrito en los años noventa del siglo XIX, poco después de que se inaugurara el túnel ferroviario del Gotardo. El libro incluye la descripción de muchas excursiones a pie, en las que se utiliza el ferrocarril para llegar al punto de partida. También hay un apéndice interesante en el que el autor defiende la neutralidad suiza en la Primera Guerra Mundial.
ENGLISH: Interesting book, written in the eighteen nineties, a little after the Gottard railway tunnel was opened. The book includes the description of many hikes that can be done on foot, using the railway to reach the starting point. There is also an interesting appendix where the author defends the Swiss neutrality in the First World War.
ESPAÑOL: Un libro interesante, escrito en los años noventa del siglo XIX, poco después de que se inaugurara el túnel ferroviario del Gotardo. El libro incluye la descripción de muchas excursiones a pie, en las que se utiliza el ferrocarril para llegar al punto de partida. También hay un apéndice interesante en el que el autor defiende la neutralidad suiza en la Primera Guerra Mundial.
October 13, 2019
Beautiful account of excursions on the St. Gotthard Massif, with the train and on foot, from Lucerne to Bellinzona. Better to read with the map in front, to view all the peaks, valleys and rivers that he points out along the way.
This book was commissioned over 100 years ago to celebrate the opening of the Gotthard Tunnel (now the Old Tunnel), and in the years before WWI it was available in many European hotels and cruise ships, to attract tourists to visit the area. I learned about this book in the small but amazing Glacier Museum of Lucerne (next to Thorvaldsen's Lion), where they had a relief map of the St. Gotthard Massif with a history of the engineering of the tunnel.
Spitteler's descriptions are full of light and poetic enchantment with the mountains. He encourages everybody, the travelers who prefer the train and those who prefer to hike: pointing out where to sit on the train to catch the best views, which excursions on foot are doable with children since he did them with his 8-year-old daughter, what is the best time to depart and where to stop for the night.
This book was commissioned over 100 years ago to celebrate the opening of the Gotthard Tunnel (now the Old Tunnel), and in the years before WWI it was available in many European hotels and cruise ships, to attract tourists to visit the area. I learned about this book in the small but amazing Glacier Museum of Lucerne (next to Thorvaldsen's Lion), where they had a relief map of the St. Gotthard Massif with a history of the engineering of the tunnel.
Spitteler's descriptions are full of light and poetic enchantment with the mountains. He encourages everybody, the travelers who prefer the train and those who prefer to hike: pointing out where to sit on the train to catch the best views, which excursions on foot are doable with children since he did them with his 8-year-old daughter, what is the best time to depart and where to stop for the night.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews