Sergius Golowin (31 January 1930 in

Prague, Czech Republic Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oc ...

– 17 July 2006 in

Bern, Switzerland german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

) was a

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, myths

researcher Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

, recording artist and

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

Life

Sergius Golowin was born in 1930 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

). In 1933, he and his mother, poet Alla von Steiger, emigrated to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, while Golowin’s Russian father, a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, lived in Paris without the family. After finishing school, Golowin became a library assistant at the "Berner Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek" (literally: "Bern City- and University-Library"). He took part in the "Jugendbewegung". During the 1950s he participated in "Tägel-Leist," one of Bern's subcultural discussion circles. From 1957 to 1968 Golowin worked as an

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

in Burgdorf. From 1971 to 1981 he served in a local government office in Switzerland as a member of the party Landesring der Unabhängigen ("LdU", which was established by

Gottlieb Duttweiler Gottlieb Duttweiler (15 August 1888 – 8 June 1962) was a Swiss businessman and politician, founder of both the Migros chain of grocery stores and the Alliance of Independents (''Landesring der Unabhängigen'') party. Life and work Duttweiler ...

and others). In his LdU office, Golowin was an advocate for youth culture and worked to solve numerous ecological problems. Afterward, he was a free writer living near Bern. Sergius Golowin wrote numerous books and articles, primarily about folklore and

esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

. For his work in folklore and exploring the counterculture, he was awarded the prize of the Schweizerische Schillerstiftung in 1974. Golowin was a contemporary of many notable people and events. He provided assistance to

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...

while Leary was in Swiss exile. Golowin was a friend of

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...

, and was portrayed by

H. R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

. Golowin was present at the first performance of

Polo Hofer Urs Alfred "Polo" Hofer (16 March 1945 – 22 July 2017) was a Swiss rock musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Swiss rock music and a ″national treasure″ of Switzerland. Career Hofer composed and sang in Bernese German, ...

's legendary Bern band "Rumpelstilz" and the band played on behalf of Golowin's election campaign. Golowin was an acquaintance of Martin "Tino" Schippert, founder of the Swiss

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...

. In 1973, Golowin teamed up with

Klaus Schulze Klaus Schulze (4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022) was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and The Cosmic Jokers ...

, Bernd Witthüser, Walter Westrupp, Jörg Mierke, Jürgen Dollase and Jerry Berkers (the latter two of

Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

) to record the album "Lord Krishna von Goloka". This very experimental and highly sought-after album featured chantings by Golowin over improvised electronic instrumentation and acoustic guitar, and is considered by many to be a classic example of cosmic

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

References

External links

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Bibliography

Necrology by Bernhard Giger
1930 births 2006 deaths Musicians from Prague Writers from Prague Politicians from Prague Alliance of Independents politicians Swiss archivists Swiss librarians Swiss writers Esotericists {{Switzerland-writer-stub