A new translation into American English of Gottfried Keller's handwritten article "Mixed Thoughts about Switzerland". Keller wrote this article in Munich for a handwritten pub newspaper in 1841, before he turned to poetry. He was studying in Munich at the time, and had joined a Swiss student fraternity and met with them once a week at the "Wagnerbräu" pub for a pub crawl, during which he read a weekly paper that he was both the main contributor to and editor of. The only pieces of this that survived were those that he kept in one of his study books. This is the only full article that survived. Here he dialogues about the nation as an expression of political self-determination and will-formation - not as a power structure defined in terms of a nation.
Why has Switzerland - a tiny, land-locked country with few natural advantages - become so successful for so long at so many things? In banking, pharmaceuticals, machinery, even textiles, Swiss companies rank alongside the biggest and most powerful global competitors. How did they get there? How do they continue to refresh themselves? Does the Swiss 'Sonderfall' (special case) provide lessons others can learn and benefit from? Can the Swiss continue to perform in a hyper-competitive global economy? Swiss Made offers answers to these and many other questions about the country as it describes the origins, structures and characteristics of the most important Swiss companies. The authors suggest success is due to a large degree to sound entrepreneurial thinking and an openness to new ideas. And they venture a surprising forecast on the country's ability to keep pace in an age of globalisation.
A new complete translation of Gottfried Keller's Zurich Novellas, followed by an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of his life and works and an index of his works. This edition contains all of the Zurich novellas, Parts I and II, in one volume. "The Zürich Novellas," written as "Züricher Novellen," constitute a novella cycle by Gottfried Keller. The first volume comprises three novellas interwoven by a framing narrative that itself constitutes a novella. In the second volume, this interconnection is not present. The novellas included are "Hadlaub," "Der Narr auf Manegg," and "Der Landvogt von Greifensee" in the first volume, while the second volume features "Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten" (The Banner of the Seven Upright Men) and "Ursula." These novellas were initially serialized between November 1876 and April 1877 in the "Deutsche Rundschau" magazine and were later published as the first volume in 1877. The second volume combined Keller's previously published "Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten" with the newly written concluding novella "Ursula," 17 years after its initial release. In contrast to his earlier work "Die Leute von Seldwyla," Keller shifted his focus to historical settings, incorporating elements such as the Manesse Codex and the Manegg Castle ruins. The first three novellas are linked by a framing narrative in which an old uncle aims to impart the values of the past to his inquisitive nephew. This cycle, notable for its didactic undertones, illustrates Keller's evolution in thematic and stylistic approaches.
A new translation of Gottfried Keller's 1861 At the MythStone (Am Mythenstein) followed by an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of his life and works and an index of his works. This is a philosophical essay related to the "Mythenstein", also called the Schillerstein, which is a natural rock made into a monument to Schiller, located in seelisberg, Switzerland, and standing around 80 feet tall. It is only accessible by boat. The monument had a large inauguration ceremony in 1859, called the Schiller Festival, which Keller attended. It celebrated his greatest story, Wilhelm Tell, which Keller refers to as merely "Tell". Schiller's daughter read his poetry at the proceedings, and Keller describes the event in detail. "Schiller never saw Switzerland in the flesh; but all the more certainly his spirit will walk over the sunny slopes and ride with the storm through the rocky gorges, even after the Mythenstein will finally have long weathered and crumbled."
A new translation of Gottfried Keller's 1849 "Jeremias Gotthelf", followed by an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of his life and works and an index of his works. In this work, Keller reviews the short stories by his fellow author Jeremias Gotthelf that appeared at length between 1849 and 1855 in Brockhaus' sheets for literary entertainment . After Keller's death, Baechtold brought the four treatises together, including their postscript commenting on Gotthelf's death, in the order in which they appeared and gave the whole thing the title “Jeremias Gotthelf”. This work is important because it is a main source for Keller's views on poetry and the political and social responsibility of the poet.
A new translation of Gottfried Keller's Romanticism and the Present (Die Romantik und die Gegenwart) followed by an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of his life and works and an index of his works. Here Keller makes a clear argument that he basically shares the views of the German realists in the field of aesthetics. He argues that poetry requires a favorable terrain or good soil on which its entities can operate and live accordingly but also that every landscape also needs "its poetic inhabitants." Here he elucidates his political philosophy which he dramatically and artistically extrapolates upon in his later works. To Keller, literary moderation results from the historical fact that the liberal revolution of 1848 was successful in Switzerland.
The People of Seldwyla (Die Leute von Seldwyla) is a two-part novella cycle. The first five novellas, Part I, were written by Keller between 1853 and 1855 in Berlin, and they were published in 1856 by the Vieweg Verlag. The subsequent five novellas, Part II, were composed in several stages between 1860 and 1875, primarily during Keller's tenure as State Secretary in Zurich. It comprises ten "life portraits" (the working title during the Berlin phase), interconnected by a shared setting—the fictional Swiss town of Seldwyla. With the exception of "Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe," an adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, the Seldwyla stories are comedies in novella form, characterized by a strong satirical and grotesque element. Two of the novellas, "Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe" and "Kleider machen Leute," hold a place in world literature and are among the most widely read narratives in German-language literature. They have been adapted into films and operas multiple times, translated into numerous languages, and are available in an extensive array of editions. "The People of Seldwyla," is regarded as a masterpiece of 19th-century German narrative art and is representative of the poetic realism style. If one disregards Goethe's writings, the best German book there is: what actually remains of German prose literature that deserves to be read again and again? Lichtenberg's aphorisms, the first book of Jung-Stilling's Lebensgeschichte, Adalbert Stifter's Nachsommer and Gottfried Keller's The people of Seldwyla, - and that will be the end of it for the time being. Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human ("Menschliches, Allzumenschliches") Part I Pankraz, the Schmoller Pankraz, der Schmoller is the first story in Die Leute von Seldwyla, which was published in Braunschweig in 1856. The title character works his way up from a day thief in Seldwyla to a colonel in the French legion, but is unable to find happiness. Romeo and Juliet in the village In this tale, Keller adapted a true incident that he had taken from a newspaper report. Two neighboring farmers live together in harmony until they begin to quarrel over a small piece of land. Frau Regel Amrain and her youngest Frau Regel Amrain und ihr Jüngster is a story from the cycle of novellas Die Leute von Seldwyla, published in Braunschweig in 1856. It is about the education of a boy to become an upright man and citizen. Franz Duncker had the text printed in the Berlin Volks-Zeitung in 1855. Mr Amrain, a former button-maker, had mixed with the speculators of Seldwyl and bought a quarry on the outskirts of the small town. He never quarried any stone, however, but merely speculated on the new property. When a conservative financier saw through the liberal Mr Amrain, he withdrew his capital from the quarry. Mr Amrain then left his wife Regula and their three children in Seldwyla and left for North America. The Three Righteous Comb Makers (Die drei gerechten Kammacher) The story is about three German journeymen craftsmen who work for a master craftsman in Seldwyla, all three of them hardworking, thrifty, frugal, calculating, and conflict-averse. Despite this - or perhaps because of it - they become fierce rivals: each wants to buy the comb-making business, and each wants to marry the same wealthy maiden to do so. A decisive race ensues, which ends badly for two of the Mirror, the kitten (Spiegel das Kätzchen) An animal fable within the tradition of the classical-romantic art fairy tale. His tomcat "Spiegel" (Mirror in German), so called because of his shiny fur, is inclined to philosophical contemplation like Puss Murr and, like Reineke Fuchs (a famous fairy tale by Goethe), possesses the gift of saving his head through tall tales and cunningly contrived intrigues. This novella is one of Keller's best-known tales and has been adapted several times.
A new translation of Gottfried Keller's famous The Sense Poem (original german title Das Sinngedicht) followed by an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of his life and works and an index of his works. The Sense Poem ("Das Sinngedicht" in German) is a novella cycle authored by Swiss poet Gottfried Keller. Its inception commenced in Berlin around 1851 when Keller conceived initial ideas, followed by the composition of introductory chapters in 1855. The major portion of the text, however, was crafted in Zurich during 1881, concomitant with its serialization in the "Deutsche Rundschau." The Sense Poem garnered substantial acclaim among contemporary readers and literary critics, becoming a pinnacle of his literary career. Keller's innovative structuring, including chapter titles reminiscent of Cervantes' "Don Quijote," imbues the work with a playful-ironic ambiance. The male protagonist's perspective shapes the framing narrative, analogous to Cervantes' Don Quijote, contributing to the novella cycle's narrative charm. Its initial success was underscored by successive editions, with reviewers likening the work's stature to that of Boccaccio's "Decameron." Boccaccio' was a major artistic influence at the time- Herman Hesse wrote a Pathographic essay on him and his influence in Germany. The cycle derives its name from an epigram, or "Sinngedicht," by Baroque poet Friedrich von Logau. The epigram reads "How will you turn white lilies into red roses? / Kiss a white galathee: she will laugh blushing!" and alludes to Galateia, the embodiment of female beauty's dual nature—provocative allure and tempering influence. Logau's composition serves as a poetic discourse on gallant advice. The cycle's seven novellas are entwined within a framing narrative—a love story set in the romantic environs of a 19th-century German university town. The protagonist, Herr Reinhart, a young naturalist, engages in a spirited exchange with Lucie, a hostess of wit and beauty. Through the exchange of Logau's epigram, they embark on a discussion revolving around the equality of genders in fostering successful marriages, evoking tales exemplifying diverse love choices. The narrative culminates in Reinhart and Lucie's burgeoning affection.
This is a new translation of both Gottfried Keller's (1819-1890) personal diary and his dream book, followed by an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of his life and works and an index of his works. In 1838, when he was barely 20 years old, Heller stated that he felt that the independence of anyone who did not keep a diary was threatened, because "... this independence can only be preserved by constant reflection on oneself, and this is best done by keeping a diary". The poet himself did not adhere to this maxim for the rest of his life- in 1843, he kept a short diary that gives a deeper insight into the poet's life and work. In the Dream Book, which he kept from 1846, he recorded his dreams but also reflected on political events such as the revolutionary year of 1848. These two works are deeply intertwined, so they are presented in one volume.
