European Languages and Societies Commons^™

Jill Fehleison. Boundaries Of Faith: Catholics And Protestants In The Diocese Of Geneva., Hannah Schultz

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In Boundaries of Faith: Catholics and Protestants on the Diocese of Geneva, Jill Fehleison structures the discussion of Reformation Catholicism around national, Confessional, denominational, and geographic lines. The primary focus of the work is the internal politics of the Catholic Church in the aftermath of the Council of Trent as the church attempted to adjust to, and respond to, a strong Protestant presence at Geneva. The discussion is couched in terms of the new political boundaries around France, Savoy, Geneva, and the Pays de Gex, the Catholic response to the Reformed presence in the area, and to the reform of …

Henry Hotze. Three Months In The Confederate Army, Jonathan D. Neu

Swiss American Historical Society Review

As scholars commemorate the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, it remains vital to consider the words of that era's contemporaries. Zurich-born Henry Hotze's Three Months in the Confederate Army is a particularly noteworthy example of valuable primary source material, though one with an unusual dual purpose. On the surface, it is the chronicle of a soldier's experiences during the heady early days of the war. Digging deeper, Hotze's work represents a piece of Confederate propaganda designed to glorify southern esprit de corps and endear a foreign public to the South's bid for independence. Indeed, readers will find the work …

The Ideas Of Jean Piaget: Using Theory To Better Understand Theory And Improve Learning, William E. Herman

Swiss American Historical Society Review

M ost readers will note the irony embedded in the title of this paper and the Einstein quote. There is an obvious and important thread of truth derived from such premises. Is it prudent and scholarly to employ Jean Piaget's theory in order to more deeply explore the meaning of Piaget's theory? Biblical scholars have long been known to use the writings of the Apostles and other Biblical voices as tools to understand sacred text. In this way, the Bible is used to understand the Bible. As the Swiss theologian Karl Barth once stated regarding the daring element of Christian …

Werner Rothweiler, Magdener Familien 1600-1875 Und Ihre Stammbaume, Leo Schelbert Professor Emeritus

Swiss American Historical Society Review

This large-size and attractively crafted book is the result of impressive and expert genealogical research undertaken by Werner Rothweiler, a retired chemist. The work deals with the agricultural village Magden located in the Fricktal that had been part of Upper Austria until 1803 when it became part of the Swiss Canton Aargau. On 24 January 2004, 1200 years to the day when the first known document concerning Magden was dated, the author presented to the people of Magden a history of their village. His new book complements that work and is in the form of a "microhistorical demography" a study …

Albert Einstein In Switzerland: The Education Of The Most Famous Swiss American, Kurt Winkler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The most famous Swiss American, by far, was Albert Einstein. It is well known that Einstein worked in Germany starting in 1914, but he was forced to leave in 1933 as someone the Nazis had "not yet hanged," and he came to the United States where he taught at Princeton University for many years. However, Einstein had earlier lived in Switzerland for many years. Even though he became an American citizen in 1940, the great physicist retained ties to Switzerland, and he kept his Swiss passport all his life . Einstein spent his most productive years in Switzerland where he …

William Jennings Bryan: One Of The Last Republican Secretaries Of State, Bradford Sample

Swiss American Historical Society Review

No abstract provided.

The Swiss Confederation In The Eyes Of America's Founders, Stephen P. Halbrook

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The Swiss experience had a positive influence on the American Revolution, figured in the debates on adoption of the United States Constitution, and was a matter of commentary in the political struggles of the early Republic. The American model influenced the Swiss Constitution of 1848,t but before that the Swiss Confederation-then 500 years oldhelped inspire the birth of the American Republic, particularly regarding the interrelated concepts of resistance to oppression, independence from foreign states, neutrality, a people's militia, and federalism.

Kurt 0. Wyss-Labasque. Paradise Bird In The Golden Cage, Fred Jenny

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Ambassador Kurt 0. Wyss began his diplomatic career in 1972, profiting in Geneva of the experiences of the well known American diplomat Georg.F. Kennan. The Swiss writer Friedrich Duerrenmatt once said: 'Who writes will always get the own chaos and the one of the world in order'.

Marc H. Lerner. A Laboratory Of Liberty: The Transformation Of Political Culture In Republican Switzerland, 1750-1848., Martin Kalb

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Few nation states embody ideals of freedom and liberty like Switzerland. Embedded within a complex European context while maintaining internal diversity, this Alpine nation with an intricate history remains a powerful case study for historians interested in revolutionary Europe , republicanism, and political modernity. Marc H. Lerner now adds the newest analysis to this broader field. In his view, "the Swiss case is important to the overall project of examining the origins of modern political liberty precisely because of the mixed and blended discourses that resulted from the pragmatic discussions found in republican Switzerland" (8). Rightfully describing Switzerland between 1750 …

Karl Friedrich Meyer, 1884-1974, Urs Gessner

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Karl Friedrich Meyer, the veterinarian scientist, the medical microbiologist and pathologist,theecologist,theepidemiologist, the public health promoter, and inspiring teache-the Swiss genius in the USAwhat an incredibly active, brilliant, and prodigious personality he was!

The Battle Of Murten, Albert Winkler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Frequent warfare was a harsh political reality in central Europe in the late Middle Ages as ambitious states tried to extend their power and influence by attacking and subjugating other territories. As a result of this frequent aggression, success on the battlefield was necessary for the survival and independence of many nations and peoples, including the Swiss Confederation. The most critical threat to the existence of the Swiss alliance in the fifteenth century was the invasion in1476 by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, one of the most powerful rulers in Europe. In two stunning victories, Granson (Grandson in German), …

A Special Tercentennial Invitation, H. Dwight Page

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Ir is with great joy that I, Dr. Dwight Page, Editor of the Swiss American Historical Society Review and a native of Laurinburg, North Carolina, invite you all to a very special meeting of the Swiss American Historical Society in New Bern, North Carolina, on Saturday, December 11, 2010, in honor of the Tercentenary of New Bern.

Valkyrie-A Film Review, Barry Maxfield

Swiss American Historical Society Review

It is uncommon for a historical fact to be so compelling that Hollywood would make a movie of it. It seems fictionalized history i~ the product that sells, with Saving Private Ryan being one such example it was a blending of fact and fiction into a blockbuster seller. Histor~ has accounts which are riveting yet overlooked. However, for writer Christopher McQuarrie and Na than Alexander one of those stories camt to light, a story that could be put on celluloid and sold.

The Purysburg Colonists Of South Carolina And Their Descendants, Claudette Holliday

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In October 2006 I took a trip to Switzerland in search of ancestors wit

a few members of the Purysburg Preservation Foundation. A genealogy

travel destination is common among those searching for their roots .

However, until you actually have experienced it yourself, the stories are just

words on a page.

Book Review: James Joyce: The Last Journey, Robert Means

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Although, James Joyce once had to make a large deposit in a Swiss bank to ensure that he and his family would not become welfare cases of the Swiss government (Edel 33) - this was in 1940 when Joyce and his family fled Paris for Zurich - it's not the city's financial reputation that is the most important connection that Zurich has to the life and work of the author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Zurich, with its deserved reputation as a cosmopolitan haven for exiles, as a center of medicine, and as the birthplace of psychoanalysis, provided Joyce with …

The Battle Of Morgarten In 1315: An Essential Incident In The Founding Of The Swiss State, Albert Winkler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Political realities in the German Empire at the beginning of the fourteenth century were harsh, and communities that wanted to gain or maintain their autonomy had to deal with serious external threats. Most frequently, this meant that military success was essential for survival. Many forces vied for authority, influence, and domination over the regions that formed the Swiss Confederation, which later developed into the modem state of Switzerland. The largest threat to Swiss sovereignty in this period was factions of nobles, most importantly the house of Habsburg, which were expanding their control over the region. By the early fourteenth century, …

Book Review: The Boat Is Full: Swiss Asylum Denied, Richard Hacken

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Das Boot ist voll (sometimes translated as "The Lifeboat is Full"), directed by Markus Imhoof, is a notable accomplishment in Swiss cinema of the late 20th century. It received the Silver Berlin Bear for Outstanding Single Achievement in 1981 at the Berlin International Film Festival, and the following year it was nominated for an Academy A ward in the category of Best Foreign Film. These honors presumably sprang not merely from recognition of Imhoof' s courage in recalibrating the past, in putting an alternate face on the Holocaust, and in documenting Swiss refugee policies during the Second World War. These …

Book Review: Lenin In Zurich, Axel Fair-Schulz, Katherine French

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The recent death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn on August 3rd of this year might prompt a fresh look at that writer's oeuvre. While Solzhenitsyn is mainly associated with well known works, such as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archipelago, one should not neglect his less widely known books. Among those is his Lenin in Zurich. This volume should be of particular interest to readers engaged with all things Swiss, given its overt subject matter. One learns much about Switzerland in the early years of the last century as a major locus for Russian emigres. Solzhenitsyn …

Book Review: School For Genius - The Story Of The Eth, The Swiss Federal Institute Oftechnology,From 1855 To The Present, Heinrich Medicus

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In various rank listings of the world's universities most of the top places are occupied by institutions in the English speaking world. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich is one of the few breaking into these prestigious positions. (The sister institute in Lausanne is much younger and smaller, hence did not yet have time enough to grow to fame.) However, in many people's view, ETH in Zurich is not as well known in the United States as it should deserve.

Book Review: Switzerland, National Socialism And The Second World War: Final Report, Joy Laudie

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In December of 1996, bowing to foreign pressure and criticism concerning the Swiss handling of dormant World War Two financial accounts, the Swiss government mandated an investigation. The Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War (ICE) was given broad power to look into the scope and fate of assets acquired during the Nazi dictatorship of Europe. This was an unprecedented move that allowed private records to be viewed with scrutiny. Swiss companies that had operated during the period in question were required to allow access of their archives and banned from destroying any relevant documents. After five years …

Book Review:The Swiss And The Nazis: How The Alpine Republic Survived In The Shadow Of The Third Reich, Louis B. Kuppenheimer

Swiss American Historical Society Review

For hundreds of years Switzerland has been recognized as a nation committed to not being involved in military conflicts. However, in WWII it was confronted by the most serious and credible threat to its neutrality since the inception of the policy. To begin with, Switzerland's wartime population of 4,200,000 was outnumbered nearly eighteen to one by its most lethal contiguous neighbor, Germany. When Austria and Italy were thrown in, the ratio jumped to thirty to one. In addition, the Axis powers of Italy and Germany shared over seventy percent of Switzerland's border. And although her industrial production was of the …

Book Review: Churches And The Holocaust: Unholy Teaching, Good Samaritans, And Reconciliation, Joy Laudie

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Yad Vashem was created in 1953 by the Israeli parliament as a memorial to the Holocaust. Since its inception over 21,000 non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis have been singled out as "Righteous Among the Nations." Mordecai Paldiel has been the director of the Department for the Righteous at Yad Vashem for the past twenty-five years. His position has allowed him to monitor the investigations of cases in which men and women are nominated for recognition in saving Jewish lives. The work has opened his eyes to a new aspect of human behavior; caring for …

The Impact Of Swiss Exile On An East German Critical Marxist, Axel Fair-Schulz

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Among many East German Marxists, who had embraced Marxism in the 1930s and opted to live in East Germany after World War II (between the 1950s until the end of the GDR in 1989), was a commitment to the Communist party that was informed by a more nuanced and sophisticated Marxism than what most party bureaucrats were exposed to.

The Approach Of The Black Death In Switzerland And The Persecution Of Jews, 1348-1349, Albert Winkler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

When the Black Death first arrived in Europe in 1347, it struck along the Mediterranean coast of Italy and southern France. In the following year, the plague swept into central Europe following major trade routes deep into the interior of the continent. The pestilence was one of the most virulent diseases ever to strike the human community, and its impact was devastating, because perhaps a third of the population of Europe died in the next several years. People were dying at an unprecedented rate, and no one knew precisely what the contagion was or how to stop it. 1 A …

Economic Complementarity And Political Solidarity: Concerning The Sources Of The First Treaty Of 1850 Between Switzerland And The United States, Cédric Humair

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The Civil War known as the Sonderbund and the institutionalization of the Federal State, in 1848, do not solely constitute important historical milestones in Swiss domestic politics. These events, which mark the advent of a modern Switzerland, also had repercussions upon Swiss international politics and diplomacy and, in particular, upon relations with the United States of America. Beginning in 1850, the new liberal-radical authorities concluded a General Convention of Friendship, Reciprocal Establishments, Commerce, and for the Surrender of fugitive Criminals with the "sister Republic."' For the first time in their histories, the two countries regulated several spheres of their relations …

Honorable Ancestors, Margot Ammann Durrer

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The story of the Ammann family of Schaffhausen sketches a cross section of the history of that town from the middle of the 15th century into the end of the 20th. Likewise, the events of history as they played out in Schaffhausen during those times very much shaped the history of the Ammann family.

Book Review: Dr. Ernst W. Alther, Ahnentafel Van Burgern St.Gallischen Ursprungs Mit Ausliiufern Nach Genf, Nancy, Nurnberg, Ulm, Lucca Und Florenz, Mario Von Moos, Wolf Seelentag, Leo Schelbert

Swiss American Historical Society Review

To compile a pedigree chart of a few generations, and have it printed, might be considered a private and personal pleasure. However, if such a pedigree is set out to cover all ancestors as far back as the sources allow, the author has achieved something important not only for his family, but for his home town, the canton or even a larger part of the country. Swiss genealogists, especially Komad Schulthess, have started projects like this during the 1920's; in 1939 Eduard Riibel and Wilhelm H. Ruoff have set new standards with their Rubel-Blass genealogy, covering mainly Zurich and Bern …

Book Review: Jonathan Steinberg, Why Switzerland?, Jurg K. Siegenthaler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

"Any decent biography," a New York Times book reviewer recently remarked, "is a work of drama." Jonathan Steinberg's Why Switzerland? is truly a biography of Switzerland, and the story often has the substance of drama. Since the book has no subtitle, the author explains the three ways in which he is intending to answer the question "why." Why has a place such as Switzerland come about? Why should readers abroad care? And why should Switzerland continue to exist? "No country is more frequently visited but less known" (p. 4). What Steinberg manages to do very well is to provide answers …

Erasmus And Switzerland, Edmund J. Campion

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Although Erasmus (1467?-1536) lived in Switzerland for ten years, a longer period of time than in any country except his native Holland, and was, in fact, buried in Basel, scholars have written very little of substance on his lengthy connections with Switzerland and Swiss intellectuals and publishers. This is surprising because links between Erasmus and specific European countries have attracted a great deal of interest from leading Erasmus scholars. In his 1954 book Erasme et l 'Italie, Augustin Renaudet examined the important connections between Erasmus and Italian theologians and philosophers. Not only did Erasmus earn his doctorate in sacred theology …

The Battles Over Swiss Liberty, Marc H. Lerner

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Between the French Revolution and the Revolutions of 1848, the European conception of freedom and liberty changed dramatically. Likewise with Switzerland, between the Helvetic Republic and the Sonderbund war of 1847, the conceptions of true Swiss liberty underwent radical alteration. In Zurich, Schwyz and Vaud a growing individualistic sense of liberty challenged a collective sense of freedom. To some extent an emphasis on guaranteed individual rights replaced the emphasis on local autonomy and self-rule. The changing understandings of Freiheit or liberte in Zurich, Schwyz and Vaud reflect the changes that occurred throughout Switzerland as well as Europe. The battle over …