The Helvetische Gesellschaft / Société Helvétique, or Helvetic Society as it is known in English, was a patriotic society and the first Swiss

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

society. It was founded by Swiss philosopher Isaak Iselin, poet

Solomon Gessner Salomon Gessner (1730–1788) was a Swiss painter, graphic artist, government official, newspaper publisher and poet; best known in the latter instance for his ''Idylls''. Biography His father, Hans Konrad Gessner (1696–1775), was a printer, ...

and some 20 others on 15 May 1762, and was dissolved with the formation of the Helvetic Republic in 1798. It was revived again from 1819 on until 1849. The latter should not be confused with the contemporary Helvetic Society for the Natural Sciences, established in 1815.

History

The Helvetic Society was the first patriotic society in Switzerland aimed at all Swiss people. It was inspired by Franz Urs Balthasar's ''Patriotische Träume eines Eidgenossen von einem Mittel, die veraltete Eidgenosenschaft wieder zu verjüngen'', an essay from 1758 which was distributed in manuscript form and was discussed by Joseph Anton Felix von Balthasar (son of the author), Iselin, Gessner and

Hans Caspar Hirzel Hans Caspar Hirzel (21 March 1725 - 18 February 1803), also known or spelt as - Herzil John Caspar, Kaspar Hirzel, Johann Kasper Herzel, or John Kaspar Hirzel, was an eminent Swiss physician and writer on rural economy. Biography Hirzel was born ...

. After two years of discussion, and a change of scope from an historical society to a more socially directed one, the Society first met with 9 members in 1761, and was eventually formed on 15 May 1762 in Schinznach-Dorf, with statutes by Hirzel, with 25 initial members. While it had an open membership structure and advocated religious harmony, very few Catholics joined, and the members were predominantly German-speaking. The society tried to be more than just a philosophical debate club like most other similar European societies, and also organised social activities, and a yearly autumn meeting from 1763 on, first in Schitznach, and from 1780 on in

Olten Olten (High Alemannic: ''Oute'') is a town in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland and capital of the district of the same name. Olten's railway station is within 30 minutes of Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Lucerne by train, and is a rail hub of ...

, and finally in Aarau. New statutes were approved in 1766, focusing on the inclusiveness of the society towards all Swiss from all cantons. The aims of the Society included a democratic reform of the Swiss constitution, and education for all, influenced by the ideas of

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

as expressed in '' Emile: or, On Education''. The pedagogic reformer

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (, ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking ...

was an early member of the Society. He was one of the contributors for the Society's magazine ''Der Erinnerer'', established in 1765, but it was soon suppressed for being too radical and critical of the authorities. The 1766 statutes listed as the aim of the Society "The only goal and unique object of our Society must be to establish and conserve between the Swiss love and friendship, unity and concord; to maintain among them the taste for beautiful, noble and great acts; and to transmit for posterity liberty, peace and virtue through the care of good citizens". After a halting start, with a membership that stayed at around 80 until 1770, the society flourished, with 159 members by 1780 and 283 by 1797, with a steady rise in visitors as well, like some members of the

Bernoulli family The Bernoulli family () of Basel was a patrician family, notable for having produced eight mathematically gifted academics who, among them, contributed substantially to the development of mathematics and physics during the early modern period. ...

in 1763. Among the new members were a lot of cantonal magistrates and other members of the Swiss elite. Of the 386 members the society had between 1762 and 1798, some 90 percent held a political office at some time. In 1798, instead of an annual meeting, the members of the Helvetic Society started with the creation of the legislative assembly for the new Helvetic Republic, providing many members. The Society was abandoned, and was revived in 1819. The second version of the Society existed until 1849, when the society had become superfluous when most of its ideas were included in the new Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848.

Members

* Franz Urs Balthasar (1762, honorary member) * Joseph Anton Felix von Balthasar (1762) * Urs Glutz von Blotzheim * Johann Kaspar Bluntschli *

Johann Jakob Bodmer Johann Jakob Bodmer (19 July 16982 January 1783) was a Swiss author, academic, critic and poet. Life Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters. In 1 ...

* Charles Victor de Bonstetten *

Johann Jakob Breitinger Johann Jakob Breitinger (1 March 1701 in Zürich – 14 December 1776) was a Swiss philologist and author. Life Breitinger studied theology and philology and first earned recognition from 1730 through a new edition of the Septuaginta. From ...

* Jacques Clavel de Brenles (1765) *

Johann Rudolf Forcart Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

(1773) *

(1762) * Wilhelm Haas-Münch * Salomon Hirzel (1762) * Isaak Iselin (1762, first president) *

Johann Kaspar Lavater Johann Kaspar (or Caspar) Lavater (; 15 November 1741 – 2 January 1801) was a Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist and theologian. Early life Lavater was born in Zürich, and was educated at the '' Gymnasium'' there, where J. J. Bo ...

(1765) *

Christian von Mechel Christian von Mechel (4 April 1737 in Basel; † 11 April 1817 in Berlin) was a Swiss engraver, publisher and art dealer. He developed a broad trade in art, through business connections throughout northern and central Europe; although the French ...

Joseph Rudolf Valentin Meyer Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(1762) *

* Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel (1776, president in 1785) * Jacob Sarasin * Johann Heinrich Schinz (1762) * Johann Georg Stokar (president in 1777) *

Johann Rudolf Tschiffeli Johann Rudolf Tschiffeli (16 December 1716 - 15 January 1780) was a Swiss agronomist who founded the Economic Society of Berne in 1758. He was a wealthy merchant, economist and lawyer. Johann Rudolph Tschiffeli was born in Bern in 1716, in a pat ...

(1762) * Louis Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1765, honorary member)

Members (post 1819)

* Charles Monnard (1819) * Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (president in 1826) *

Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler (August 17, 1780 – March 6, 1866) was a Switzerland, Swiss physician, politician, and philosopher. Early life, education, and career Troxler was born in August 1780 in Beromünster, Switzerland. He studied in Jena a ...

* Heinrich Zschokke (president, 1820s)

History

Members

Members (post 1819)

Notes

Further reading