Alberich Zwyssig
Encyclopedia
Swiss Psalm
The Swiss Psalm is the national anthem of Switzerland. It was composed in 1841, by Alberich Zwyssig . Since then, it has been frequently sung at patriotic events. The Federal Council declined however on numerous occasions to accept the psalm as the official anthem. This was because the council...
, the present Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
national anthem
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
.
Life
Johann Josef Maria Zwyssig (he took the name "Alberich" later as his name in religion) was born in 1808 in BauenBauen
Bauen is a municipality on Lake Lucerne in the Swiss canton of Uri.-Geography:Bauen has an area, , of . Of this area, 13.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 74.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.9% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...
, Canton of Uri
Canton of Uri
Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...
. From 1821 to 1841 he lived in Wettingen Abbey
Wettingen Abbey
Wettingen Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Wettingen in the Swiss canton of Aargau. It was founded in 1227 and dissolved during the secularisation of 1841, but re-founded at Mehrerau in Austria in 1854...
, first as a choir boy and pupil in the monastery school, and later as a monk and priest. He was also a teacher, secretary to the abbot and choirmaster.
After the dissolution of the abbey by the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau
Aargau
Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. It comprises the lower course of the river Aare, which is why the canton is called Aar-gau .-History:...
on 13 January 1841 the monks wandered from place to place for several years. After the Sonderbundskrieg Zwyssig spent six years as a guest in Wurmsbach Abbey
Wurmsbach Abbey
Wurmsbach Abbey is a monastery of Cistercian nuns located in Bollingen near Rapperswil-Jona, in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is located on the north shore of Lake Zurich...
at Jona
Jona
Jona is a former municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.- Geography :Jona is located at the eastern shore of Lake Zürich...
on Lake Zürich
Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates ....
. He was in charge of teaching music at their newly founded daughter institute, and wrote many compositions both religious and secular. In 1854 the wandering monks at last came to Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...
on 8 June 1854 the former monastery at Mehrerau in Bregenz
Bregenz
-Culture:The annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele is a world-famous festival which takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year.-Sport:* A1 Bregenz HB is a handball team....
, which had been secularised in 1806 by the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n state, was re-founded as a Cistercian monastery by Abbot Leopold Hoechle from Wettingen with seven priests and three brothers. Zwyssig participated in the new foundation as a cantor but died there within a few months, on 18 November 1854.