Jakob Schaffner

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Jakob Schaffner (November 14, 1875—September 23, 1944) was a leading Swiss novelist who became a supporter of Nazism.

Born on 14 November 1875 in Basel, his father died at an early age before his mother emigrated to the United States, leaving him to be reared in an orphanage. His early experiences inspired his most celebrated novel Johannes (sometimes known as Roman einer Jugend), which was published in 1922 and was a semi-autobiographical story of life in an orphanage.

As an adult Schaffner moved to Germany and was driven by his German ethnic identity. He believed that Germany had a special mission to lead the world and as such rejoiced at the coming to power of Adolf Hitler in 1933. he would go on to join the Nazi Party and work as a propagandist for Joseph Goebbels. He rarely retuned to Switzerland, except for a private audience with cabinet minister Marcel Pilet-Golaz in 1940. He also endorsed the polcies of the National Front in his homeland.

He was killed in 1944 during an air raid on Berlin and was buried in his hometown.

[edit] Literary Works

Irrfahrten (Wanderings) 1905
Die Laterne und andere Novellen (The Lantern and other novellas) 1907
Konrad Pilater 1910
Der Bote Gottes (The Messenger of God) 1911
Die goldene Fratze (The Golden Fratze - a German term for a distorted or ugly face or grimace) 1912
Die Irrfahrten des Jonathan Bregger (The Wanderings of Jonathan Bregger) 1912
Die Weisheit der Liebe (The Wisdom of Love) 1919
Konrad Pilater (new version) 1922
Johannes 1922
Brüder (Brothers) 1925
Das grosse Erlebnis (The Grand Experience) 1926
Die Jünglingszeit des Johannes Schattenhold (The Young Manhood of Johannes Schattenhold) 1930 (sequel to Johannes)
Eine deutsche Wanderschaft (A German Journey) 1933 (third Johannes book)
Offenbarung in deutscher Landschaft. Eine Sommerfahrt (Revealing in German Landscape - A Summer Journey) 1934
Berge, Ströme und Städte. Eine schweizerische Heimatschau (Mountains, Rivers and Cities - A Swiss Homeland Show) 1938
Kampf und Reise (Struggle and Journey) 1939 (final part of Johannes tetralogy)