Der arme Mann im Tockenburg

Der arme Mann im Tockenburg is essentially the autobiography of the Swiss writer Ulrich Bräker. Bräker was a self-made man. What sets him apart from other writers of this period is that he was poor, throughout his life.

Half-way through, Bräker mentions that he wrote voluminous diaries, and if he would have wanted he could have fleshed out his book with many more pages. However, what is most remarkable is that the book is only about 170 pages, and sometimes the description of two or three years only takes half a page. Before publication in two volumes in 1789, it was first serialized during 1788 through 89, perhaps in these typically short installments. At least they render the history in high speed.

Only in the earliest sections do we show more find some Swiss dialect words. He was born into a poor family of farmers. His father had a side job preparing chemicals for the production of gun powder. The young Bräker could only go to elementary school during 10 weeks each winter, and of these many classes were canceled due to snow or extreme weather conditions. At the age of 21 he joined the army. The diary describes the regiment as it marched from Berlin to Bohemia, where Bräker took part in the Battle of Lowositz. He deserted and returned home. His wife wouldn't marry him until he owned his own house. He took up his old employment as a small farmer, and produced cotton thread on the side, which brought in some extra money.

Throughout his life, Bräker kept pusueing literary studies, reading and writing. His wife blamed their poverty on this determination to be above all a literary man. Besides his autobiography he wrote a play, essays on Shakespeare and an unfinished novel. show less

Ulrich Bräker ist zeitlebens geblieben, was er war: Ein armer gutgläubiger Tropf ohne Falsch, der an der Schattenseite des Lebens baute,das Glück nie am Schopf zu fassen verstand und es nie auf einen grünen Zweig brachte. Einfach, transparent, frisch und quellklar, bisweilen auch kindlich unbeholfen wie sein Wesen, ist der Stil dieser seiner Lebensbeschreibung. Das Büchlein ist mit 7 Kupferstichen Johann Rudolf Schllenberg (1740 - 1806) ausgestattet.