Johann Rudolf Wettstein

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Johann Rudolf Wettstein
Bildnis des Johann Rudolf Wettstein.jpg
Johann Rudolf Wettstein by Samuel Hoffmann in 1649
Mayor of Basel Stadt
Personal details
Born27 October 1594
Basel
Died12 April 1666
Basel
Spouse(s)Anna Maria Falkner

Johann Rudolf Wettstein (27 October 1594, Basel – 12 April 1666, Basel) was a Swiss diplomat and mayor of Basel, who achieved fame through his diplomatic skills, culminating in Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1648.

Early life and education[]

Johann Rudolf Wettstein was born in Basel in October 1594 and attended attended the “Schule auf Burg,” the present-day secondary school located at the Münsterplatz in Basel. Afterwards he concluded a chancellery apprenticeship in Yverdon and Geneva.[1] In 1611, as he was 17 years old, he married Anna Maria Falkner a noble woman from Basel.[1] The Historical Lexicon of Switzerland records that Wettstein's marriage was not a happy one. Apparently for that reason he moved to Italy in 1616, where he served in the military.[2]

Excerpt of his diary he held during the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia

Political career[]

In 1620, after his return to Basel, Wettstein was elected to the city council. His career in the public service progressed with increasingly responsible positions and in 1626 he became the sheriff in Riehen.[3] In 1635 he became senior guild master in the city of Basel, and by June 1645 he was elected its Mayor,[1] which he stayed for twenty-one years.[4]

Swiss independence[]

Wettstein participated in the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia in 1646/47 interested to gain juridical independence for the merchants of Basel from the Roman Empire.[5] As Wettstein travelled by ship to Münster in 1646,[6] he was not invited much less did he have an accreditation by the Confederacy.[5] He was only provided with a mandate by the reformists.[6] From the Swiss confederacy he received the official accreditation only in 1647 and after a long and skillful mediation, he achieved the official recognition of the Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1648.[5] In memory of this achievement Basel minted a coin and the merchants of Basel donated a trophy.[6]

Later life, death and posthumous recognition[]

He had a second diplomatic journey accompanied by Sebastian Peregrin Zwyer in winter 1650/51, this time before Emperor Ferdinand III.[7] The German Court withheld some goods from the merchants in Basel, and they achieved their liberation.[7] During the Peasants’ War of 1653, Wettstein was responsible for the public execution of seven peasant leaders.

Wettstein died in Basel in 1666. He was not buried in the Münster in Basel as his wife, but in the  [de].[8] He is generally acknowledged as one of the most competent Swiss politicians of his era,[4] but also as a prominent exponent of the absolutist tendencies within the Swiss Confederacy.

Associated with Switzerland's independence, Wettstein's name first became prominent around 1750, and reached its zenith during World War II, when the country's sovereignty was challenged once more.

A bridge built across the Rhine in Basel in 1881 bears his name.[5] In addition, a memorial-fountain, a local square and a street beside the bridge,[9] as well as a march of the Basler Carnaval were named after Wettstein.[3]

Family[]

His parents Jakob Wettstein and Magdalena Betzler had migrated from Russikon in the Zurich region around 1580.[1] His father worked in the Basel hospital, eventually becoming hospital supervisor.[1] In 1611 Johann Rudolf married Anna Maria Falkner. His wife died in 1647 while he was negotiating the Peace of Westphalia in Münster.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Internet-Portal 'Westfälische Geschichte'". www.lwl.org (in German). 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  2. ^ "Wettstein, Johann Rudolf". hls-dhs-dss.ch (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Erlanger, Simon. "Jubiläum - 350. Todestag: Ein Kranz für Wettstein". bz - Zeitung für die Region Basel (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Burckhardt, Paul (1942). Geschichte der Stadt Basel von der Zeit der Reformation bis zur Gegenwart. Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn. p. 61.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d swissinfo.ch, Mattia Balsiger. "Johann Wettstein – der erste Diplomat der Schweiz". SWI swissinfo.ch (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Burckhardt, Paul (1942), p.62
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Burckhardt, Paul (1942), p.63
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Egger, Franz (1998). ""Der frölichen Auferständnis durch Jesum Christum erwertig" : das Epitaph für Bürgermeister Wettstein" (in German). p. 49. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  9. ^ Wanner, Gustav Adolf (1975). Rund um Basels Denkmäler. Basel: Verlag Basler Nachrichten. pp. 36–39.

Sources[]

  • Julia Gauss / Alfred Stoecklin: Bürgermeister Wettstein. Der Mann, das Werk, die Zeit, Basel 1953.
  • Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Article on Wettstein prepared by Franz Egger: http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D19086.php
  • Historisches Museum Basel (Hg.): Wettstein - Die Schweiz und Europa 1648, Begleitpublikation zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung, Basel 1998.
  • Stefan Hess: Der Weinberg des Herrn Burgermeister. Johann Rudolf Wettstein als Weinproduzent, in: Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde 98 (1998), S. 35–47.
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