Johannes Scherr (3 October 1817 – 21 November 1886) was a German-born

cultural historian Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

, writer,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, educator and politician who spent most of his working life in Switzerland.

Biography

Scherr was born in Hohenrechberg (today part of

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

on October 1817. After studying

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

(1837–1840), he became master in a school conducted by his brother Thomas in

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...

. In 1843 he moved to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, and, entering the political arena with a pamphlet ''Württemberg im Jahr 1843'', was elected in 1848 a member of the Württemberg House of Deputies; became leader of the democratic party in south Germany and, in consequence of his agitation for parliamentary reform in 1849, was obliged, to take refuge in Switzerland to avoid arrest. Condemned '' in contumaciam'' to fifteen years hard labor, he established himself in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

as ''

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

'' in 1850, but moved in 1852 to Winterthur. In 1860 he was appointed professor of history and

Swiss literature As there is no dominant national language, the four main languages of French, Italian, German and Romansch form the four branches which make up a literature of Switzerland. The original Swiss Confederation, from its foundation in 1291 up to 1 ...

at the Polytechnicum in Zürich, in which city he died on 21 November 1886.

Personal life

In 1845, Scherr married the Swiss writer

Maria Susanna Kübler Maria Susanna (also Susanne) Kübler (1814–1873) was a Swiss writer who is remembered for her housekeeping guides and cookbooks, especially the popular ''Das Hauswesen'' (Housekeeping, 1850) which also contained recipes. Biography Born on 27 F ...

who is remembered for her early cookbooks and household guides.

Works

Scherr was a voluminous writer in the field of historical investigation into the civilization, literature, and manners and customs of his country. His works, characterized by their caustic wit and many peculiarities in point of diction, have largely a political bias, but are characterized by clearness of exposition and careful research. Noteworthy among his books are the following: *''Deutsche Kultur-und Sitten-Geschichte '' ("History of German culture and customs," 1852–1853, new ed. 1897) *''

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

und seine Zeit'' ("Shiller and his times," 1859, new ed. 1876) *''Geschichte der deutschen Frauenwelt'' ("History of German women," 1860, 4th ed. 1879) *''Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur'' ("A history of literature," 1851, 9th ed. 1895–1896) *''Geschichte der englischen Literatur'' ("History of English literature," 1854, 2nd ed. 1883) *'' Blücher, seine Zeit und sein Leben'' ("Life and times of Blücher," 1862, 4th ed. 1887) *''Germania. Zwei Jahrtausende deutschen Lebens'' ("Germania. Two millennia of German life," 1879, 6th ed. by Hans Prutz 1905) Scherr also wrote the humorous ''Sommertagebuch des weiland Dr Gastrosophiae, Jeremia Sauerampfer'' (1873); as a novelist he published the historical novels, ''Schiller'' (1856), and ''Michel, Geschichte eines Deutschen unserer Zeit'' (1858) which have passed through several editions. With the exception of some of his stories (''Novellenbuch'', 10 vols 1873–1877) Scherr's works have not appeared in a collected edition.

References

* ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scherr, Johannes 1817 births 1886 deaths 19th-century German educators 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German politicians Cultural historians Academic staff of ETH Zurich Forty-Eighters German emigrants to Switzerland German literary critics German male novelists German schoolteachers Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Deputies People from the Kingdom of Württemberg University of Tübingen alumni