Johann Rudolf Wettstein
Encyclopedia
Johann Rudolf Wettstein (1594–1666) was a Swiss diplomat and one-time mayor of Basel. His father, a wine grower, had migrated from Russikon in the Zurich region and worked in the Basel hospital, eventually becoming hospital supervisor.
Five years later he temporarily moved to Venice for professional reasons.
In 1620, after his return to Basel, Wettstein was elected to city council. His career in the public service progressed with increasingly responsible positions. In 1635 he became senior guild master, and was elected mayor of Basel in 1645.
in 1646/47 as a delegate for the Old Swiss Confederacy
, without having been invited, and initially also without accreditation by the Confederacy. After long, hard, and skilful mediation he achieved official recognition of Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1648.
Wettstein died in Basel in 1666. He is generally acknowledged as one of the most competent politicians of his era, but also as a prominent exponent of the absolutist tendencies within the Swiss Confederacy.
A bridge built across the Rhine in Basel in 1879 bears his name. In addition, a local square, street and boulevard have been named after Wettstein.
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.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Rudolf_Wettstein
Career
Wettstein himself 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. In 1611 Wettstein married Anna Maria Falkner.Five years later he temporarily moved to Venice for professional reasons.
In 1620, after his return to Basel, Wettstein was elected to city council. His career in the public service progressed with increasingly responsible positions. In 1635 he became senior guild master, and was elected mayor of Basel in 1645.
Swiss independence
Wettstein participated in the negotiations for the Peace of WestphaliaPeace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
in 1646/47 as a delegate for the Old Swiss Confederacy
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
, without having been invited, and initially also without accreditation by the Confederacy. After long, hard, and skilful mediation he achieved official recognition of Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1648.
Later life, death and posthumous recognition
During the 1653 Peasants’ War in the Basel region Wettstein was responsible for the public execution of seven peasant leaders.Wettstein died in Basel in 1666. He is generally acknowledged as one of the most competent politicians of his era, but also as a prominent exponent of the absolutist tendencies within the Swiss Confederacy.
A bridge built across the Rhine in Basel in 1879 bears his name. In addition, a local square, street and boulevard have been named after Wettstein.
Sources
Julia Gauss / Alfred Stoecklin: Bürgermeister Wettstein. Der Mann, das Werk, die Zeit, Basel 1953.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.
External links
Literatur von und über Johann Rudolf Wettstein im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothekhttp://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Rudolf_Wettstein