Swiss Review 1/2018

17 Swiss Review / January 2018 / No.1 Literature series editor of the “Zürcher Tat” and as the National Councillor for Landesring, maintaining a vibrant farming community was just as important to himas keeping upwith newdevel- opments. In 1934, he sought to combat unemployment in Swit- zerland by setting up a farming cooperative in Brazil, and in 1949 illustrated in the two-volume book entitled “Wir durchbohren den Gotthard” (Tunnelling through the Got- thard) how the high-risk project of the first Gotthard Tun- nel, which claimed many lives, ultimately proved a bless- ing for the nation. The fact that Moeschlin – who was President of the Swiss Literature Society from 1924 to 1942 and died in Basel in 1969 – played a significant role inmany of his fellowauthors, who had fled from Hitler, being prohibited to work or deported during the Sec- ondWorldWar is one of the darker chapters in this author’s life. However, in “Amerika-Johann”, his most successful novel, heman- aged to combine the struggle be- tween old and newworlds, which also had far-reaching ramifica- tions for Switzerland, with an in- spirational homage to Sweden. CHARLES LINSMAYER “I’msurrounded by nature day and night. I arrived here two weeks ago but it feels as though I’ve been living in this for- est for years. Haven’t I always been here?” Felix Moeschlin, whowrote this in the NZZ in 1908, fell in lovewith Sweden. He lived there from 1908 to 1914 and met the painter Elsa Hamar, who would become the mother of his three chil- dren. This is alsowhere the author fromBasel, born in 1882, chose to set his third novel entitled “Der Amerika-Johann”, which followed his rustic novel “Die Königschmieds”, set in his local Leimental valley, and the artistic novel “Her- mann Hitz”. An astute homecomer The setting is the rural village of Äppelvik, behind which lies Leksand on Lake Siljan, whereMoeschlin built his own house single-handedly. This is where his character “Amer- ika-Johann” returns home to after many years to open up themodernworld to villagers through a sawmill, shop and new financing strategies. All goes well until the hastily launched business venture collapses and the farmers sell their farms to the charlatan for a pittance for a project which is something akin to a Swedish version of Ballenberg, where ancient traditions are reduced to profit-making folklore for affluent tourists from all over the world. Only when it emerges that the new owner plans to sell the farms he has amassed to a dubious millionaire do the farmers stir from their lethargy, unceremoniously beat the strange prophet to death and face the consequences of the murder – the adults end up in prisonwhile the young have to rebuild this corrupted community based on proven methods but also by embracing moderate change. Retaining the farming community Had Moeschlin not possessed such clear insight into Swe- den and its culture, Äppelvik could have been replacedwith Zermatt or Grindelwald. The author of the novel “Ameri- ka-Johann”, whichwaswell received in Switzerland in 1912, was a top appointment when he became director of the re- sort of Arosa in 1915. And not just there but also in his later roles as a columnist on the “Basler Nationalzeitung”, as the Äppelvik between the old and newworlds Basel-born Felix Moeschlin highlighted the dangers of overhasty modernisation in his novel “Amerika-Johann” using the example of a Swedish village. “What farmers owned in the past was inherited and not chosen or desired. They were farmers because their fathers had been farmers. That is why their very existence was so easily shaken. We choose our lives, and they are not governed by duty and custom but rather by curiosity, enjoyment and enthusiasm.” From: Felix Moeschlin: “Der Amerika-Johann”. A novel. Ex Libris-Verlag 1981. (out of print) Bibliography: “Der Amerika-Johann” was last published in 1981 with an epilogue by Egon Wilhelm in the Ex Libris series “Frühling der Gegenwart” and is available second-hand. CHARLES LINSMAYER IS A LITERARY SCHOLAR AND JOURNALIST IN ZURICH