Louise Elisabeth de Meuron (22 August 1882 – 22 May 1980), known as Madame de Meuron, was a well-known eccentric Swiss aristocrat from Bern. She owned several houses in the Bernese old town as well as the alpine meadowland known as Rämisgummen above

Eggiwil Eggiwil is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Eggiwil is first mentioned in 1323 as ''Eggenwile''. The village was probably settled in the 14th century. The Kyburg Minis ...

. In addition, she inherited

Amsoldingen Castle Amsoldingen Castle (german: Schloss Amsoldingen) is a castle in the municipality of Amsoldingen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The castle and associated former collegiate church of St. Mauritius are a Swiss heritage site of national sign ...

from her father and Rümligen Castle from her mother, the latter being her main residence for many years.

Biography

She was born in Bern, daughter of Ludwig von Tscharner, a doctor of philosophy and army engineer, and Anna (née de Watteville), in the family's Münsterplatz residence. Her family refused to grant permission for her to marry the man she loved, and she was obliged to marry her cousin, banker Frédéric-Alphonse de Meuron, in 1905. The marriage ended in divorce in 1923. Her father died in 1927, her son committed suicide in 1939 and her daughter emigrated to Morocco. The tragedy of her son's suicide caused her to dress in mourning for the rest of her life. She devoted herself to philosophy and wrote innumerable letters. She regularly staged equestrian jumping events (''concours hippiques'') and was noted for her imperious manner. Meuron's lifestyle gave rise to innumerable anecdotes which, however, while having substance, should not all be taken at face value. Her reputation was derived not only from her anachronistic appearance—old fashioned widow's weeds, walking stick, and ear trumpet ("So that I hear only what I want to hear")—but also on account of her eccentric behaviour. She was often seen in downtown Bern accompanied by her Russian greyhounds. Her staff were allowed to park her car anywhere; if police came she would exclaim, "That stays here!" She never bought a tram ticket, because, as she stated: "I was here before the tram!" She would ask total strangers, "Are you someone or do you get a salary?" When a farmer wanted to sit on the Frisching family

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

in church, she pulled him off, stating "Up in heaven we'll all be equal, but in the meantime, down here, we'll have a bit of discipline." Once, when a female

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

(crazy little beggar woman, as Meuron put it) was caught stealing fruit from her castle grounds, she locked her up in the coach house for two days. When charged with

false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...

, she produced in court a document dating from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

that authorized the owner of Rümligen Castle to administer

low justice High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. Low just ...

. She was let off with a small fine and a lecture on current law.

References

Bibliography

* Borle, R. et al. (1980). ''Madame de Meuron 22. August 1882 – 22. Mai 1980''. Bern: Erpf. . * Jenny, H. A. (1991). ''Schweizer Originale''. Rorschach: Nebelspalter. pp. 76–79. . * Langhans-Maync, S. (1984). ''Madame de ...'' Ostermundigen: Viktoria. . * Meuron, G. (1991). ''Histoire d’une famille neuchâteloise''. Hauterive: Attinger. . * Stettler, M. (1981). ''Machs na. Figuren und Exempel''. Bern: Stämpfli. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meuron, Louise 1882 births 1980 deaths People from Bern Swiss nobility Socialites Louise Louise